PRACTICE AREAS

DIVORCE AND SEPARATION

Our Exceptional Legal Representation Will Protect Your Rights
If you are contemplating divorce or legal separation, it is imperative that you seek skilled legal counsel in this trying time. You have substantial personal rights at stake, and your rights to child custody, child visitation and support are implicated as well. This is no time to rely on anyone but the best legal representation.

We at the Law Offices of Mark A. Reed have been there. We know what you will face, both now and in the future. Our passionate, aggressive and caring approach can successfully get you through this difficult process.

California Divorces Involve Many Issues

Divorce is also legally known as dissolution of marriage. Thousands of divorce proceedings are filed in California courts every day. We know California divorce law and are experienced at handling all types of divorce situations, from simple agreements to major court cases. Divorce involves issues such as:

Alimony or Spousal Support
Investigation and evaluation of assets
Business valuation
Debt apportionment
Community property

To ensure an equitable distribution of your marital assets, it is vital to determine what assets are available and what they are worth. We can help you gain a true picture of family assets with the investigative tools at our disposal. Our thorough approach will ensure an equitable distribution. If you are searching for a divorce attorney, you are at the right place.

Legal Separation Can Affect Your Rights

Short of divorce, you may be considering a legal separation. Legal separation has important consequences relating to property rights and debt liabilities. The purpose of a legal separation order is to ensure that you rights are protected while still maintaining the marriage relationship.

A legal separation order may divide property and debts. Child custody rights and/or child support may be awarded. Yet, spouses are still married, and may be covered as a dependent for health insurance purposes or may participate in filing joint tax returns. We can draft an appropriate legal separation order which meets your needs.

We Can Advise You On Annulment Issues

Annulment or nullity of marriage is based on mental illness, fraud, forced consent, physical incapacity to consummate the marriage, underage marriage, or bigamy. If children are born from an annulled marriage, custody issues and child support may be decided by a court. We can advise you if an annulment is appropriate to your circumstances.

CUSTODY, VISITATION AND SUPPORT

Child Custody and Child Visitation Are Our Specialty

When children are involved, the stakes go up in any divorce or separation situation. It is imperative that you protect your children and your parental rights. Determining how to share parental responsibilities can be done informally through agreement or in litigation by Court order. Issues to resolve include:

The primary residence of the child
Awarding legal custody and physical custody rights
Child visitation rights and arrangements

Parents often consider some type of joint custody. But, determining the type of joint custody is unique to every case. Where the child lives now, accessibility to family, friends and school, and appropriateness of a living situation are all important concerns. Child visitation involves similar consideration of the child's schedule, location, and supervision.

We are able to effectively advocate your rights within the law in conjunction with the child's best interests. Importantly, in this age of mobility, we are familiar with and can help formulate an interstate visitation agreement. Interstate visitation agreements require knowledge of uniform and conflicting state laws. Let us make sure your interstate visitation agreements are enforceable.

We Can Help You Get Child and/or Spousal Support

Termination of a relationship can cause obvious financial hardships. To a custodial parent, child support is necessary to maintain the child's standard of living after a separation or divorce. Child support is based on a formula which determines support based on the non-custodial parent's income and the number of children. Child support can be part of a divorce or separation order, or it can be a separate action conducted through the State of California.

At the Law Offices of Mark A. Reed, we are very familiar with both processes,

Spousal support, or alimony, is also based on a schedule. We can determine whether alimony should be paid, what it should be, whether it should be temporary or permanent, and the appropriate payment schedule.

We can also bring an enforcement action if you have an order but payment is not being made.

Modification of Custody, Child Support or Spousal Support Orders

Modification actions are filed after support and custody terms are entered into a final divorce judgment. In order for a child custody modification or modification of child support or spousal support action to be filed you must show that a material change in personal or financial circumstances has occurred since the initial judgment or last order.

Child support orders can be modified based upon a change of time that a parent spends with the children. Child support can also be modified if one or both party's income has changed. You cannot agree to never ask for a modification of child support. Support is the right of the child, not the parent.

Unless the judgment states that spousal support is non-modifiable it can be modified after judgment. A material change of circumstances is required to obtain a spousal support modification order. Typically these circumstances are financial and involve reduction in income or loss of job of either spouse or increased income of the paying spouse.

PATERNITY

A Paternity Action Legally Establishes Fatherhood

As the term implies, paternity establishes rights and obligations for non-married fathers. Legally establishing paternity gives fathers the opportunity to establish visitation, contact and access to their child. Additionally, paternity actions can be instituted to obtain child support. If paternity is an issue regarding your child, we can help.

BANKRUPTCY

Bankruptcy and Debt Restructuring Services

We assist our clients in stopping lawsuits, foreclosures, creditor harassment, tax collections and repossessions through the filing of petitions under Chapter 7, 11 and 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

Because of our knowledge and years of experience dealing with complex financial matters, we can often recommend actions which avoid business bankruptcy and preserve your assets. If bankruptcy is necessary though, you should remember that bankruptcy is not the end of your financial life. In many ways it is a new beginning – a fresh start.

We offer a free initial consultation. Based on your situation, we have numerous strategies which we can employ to help you. Contact the Law Office of Mark A. Reed for a free initial consultation. 858-277-0232

ESTATE PLANNING

Estate Planning is the process whereby a person develops a plan and prepares documents to conserve, protect, and distribute estate assets before and after death for the benefit of loved ones and charities, taking into consideration the effect of state and federal tax and administrative laws and regulations. It can also involve planning for the use of your assets for your care if you become unable to manage your affairs during your lifetime.

If you own a home, have some savings, or own any goods such as a car or furniture, then you have an estate. Planning for the future will affect the financial security of those you love. If you don't plan for what happens to your estate upon your death, the government will make those decisions for you.

You should have an estate plan if:

*you care about who inherits your property;
*you care about your health care treatment;
*you are the parent of minor or disabled children; and/or
*you want to avoid the public proceedings of a possible guardianship and/or probate.

We can help you preserve your assets. We have a Living Trust Package that includes the following:

*Living Trust
*Pour Over Will(s)
*Durable Power of Attorney(s)
*Power of Attorney(s) over Health Care
*General Transfer of Assets
*Funding Instructions
*Final Instructions

GENERAL CIVIL LITIGATION

Civil law refers to the area of law governing relations between private individuals. It also is used to describe all law outside of the criminal law context.

Distinguished from criminal law

Unlike criminal law, civil law regulates relationships amongst persons and organizations. Civil law, in this sense, is usually referring to redress to civil law courts (as opposed to criminal courts) and is often used as a means to resolve disputes involving accidents (torts such as negligence), libel and other intentional torts, contract disputes, the probate of wills, and trusts, and any other private matters that can be resolved between private parties.

Violations of civil law are considered to be torts or breaches of contract, rather than crimes. Depending upon the regional government, this field of law contains commercial law and some kinds of administrative law remedies, though sometimes administrative law judges adjudicate penal law violations such as parking tickets and other minor offenses.

Contractual law enforces contracts by allowing a party(the plaintiff), whose rights have been violated or breached, to collect damages and penalties from a defendant. Where monetary damages are deemed insufficient, civil courts may offer other remedies; such as forbidding someone to do an act (eg; an injunction) or formally changing someone's legal status (eg; divorce or change of name). Civil lawsuits sometimes occur as a result of criminal action, and such a lawsuit can be successful even when the defendant was found not guilty under criminal law. See the area under “Process of a Lawsuit and Mediation.”

At the Law Office of Mark A. Reed we can help you when you have been “wronged.” Call us for a free initial consultation. 858-277-0232