Someone who had found my website through a Google search sought my services to "untie the knot" in his divorce to enable him to marry his fiance', whose visa in the U.S. was going to expire within six months. He had filed a divorce case in Pro Per (representing himself), and had it served just a day short of five (5) years later, but had failed to proceed with his divorce case.
My first concern was to preserve the case, for a number of reasons:
Code of Civil Procedure Section 583.210 required service of his divorce case within three (3) years after the case was filed [and he had failed to timely accomplish that];
Code of Civil Procedure Section 583.250 required that the case be dismissed without further prosecution;
Code of Civil Procedure Section 583.310 [Dismissal for Delay in Prosecution] required his case to be brought to trial within five (5) years of its filing; and
Code of Civil Procedure Section 583.360 required that the case be dismissed by the court on its own motion or on his estranged wife's motion, if not brought to trial within five (5) years of its filing.
If my client's divorce case were dismissed, he would have to file a new divorce case, but he would be unable to obtain a status dissolution of his marriage until a date at least six (6) months following service of the new divorce case on his estranged wife... which would be substantially beyond the date that his fiance's visa expired.
My job: how to resolve that dilemma. He needed a bifurcation of his marital status [i.e., splitting that issue from the balance of the issues in his divorce], and a status dissolution of his marriage, reserving jurisdiction for the Court to determine the balance of the divorce issues later.
I will deal with the details of bifurcation law at another time in another blog.
Today's blog is focused on the creative approach that I employed to resolve my client's dilemma.
My client's estranged wife was unaware that he was engaged to be married once the parties' marital status was dissolved, and my client assured me that she would not cooperate if she knew his plans.
His dilemma became my challenge.
I immediately researched and determined that Code of Civil Procedure Section 583.161 provides that no Divorce Petition shall be dismissed if an order for child or spousal support has been issued or a bifurcated marital status dissolution has been entered in the case.
Since the divorce case had been filed over five years before, I opined that to seek a bifurcation of marital status first would risk dismissal by the Court of its own motion at any moment, since a Motion for Bifurcation of Marital Status must be given on 45 days' advance notice, and the dismissal alarm on the ticking clock was about to ring . Further, I opined that to even seek the wife's cooperation to sign a Stipulation for Bifurcation of Marital Status might raise suspicion in the wife that my client may be seeking to remarry and jinx any other effort of mine to expedite the resolution of his issues within his fiance's visa expiration time limit. I chose to use Child Support as the method I would use in an effort to preserve the divorce case against the impending dismissal, because Child Support is a priority of the legislature and the Court, and I figured that the wife would welcome and cooperate with a Stipulation which would quickly result in an enforceable order for Child Support.
His dilemma became my challenge.
I immediately researched and determined that Code of Civil Procedure Section 583.161 provides that no Divorce Petition shall be dismissed if an order for child or spousal support has been issued or a bifurcated marital status dissolution has been entered in the case.
Since the divorce case had been filed over five years before, I opined that to seek a bifurcation of marital status first would risk dismissal by the Court of its own motion at any moment, since a Motion for Bifurcation of Marital Status must be given on 45 days' advance notice, and the dismissal alarm on the ticking clock was about to ring . Further, I opined that to even seek the wife's cooperation to sign a Stipulation for Bifurcation of Marital Status might raise suspicion in the wife that my client may be seeking to remarry and jinx any other effort of mine to expedite the resolution of his issues within his fiance's visa expiration time limit. I chose to use Child Support as the method I would use in an effort to preserve the divorce case against the impending dismissal, because Child Support is a priority of the legislature and the Court, and I figured that the wife would welcome and cooperate with a Stipulation which would quickly result in an enforceable order for Child Support.
It is (nearly) always best and most expedient to seek resolution via mutual cooperation of the parties.
I prepared a Stipulation and Order for "generous" temporary child support, providing that the wife may revisit the issue of child support at any time without the need to show a change of circumstances. My client feared that if I appeared as his attorney of record, his wife would immediately retain her own counsel, resulting in intolerable delays, given his fiance's upcoming visa expiration. We decided that to minimize the risks of delays, I would "ghost" the Stipulation and Order for him, so I prepared that Stipulation and Order with my client remaining in Pro Per.
It worked - his wife signed that Stipulation, I filed it, the Court signed its Child Support Order, and I was thereby able to preserve the divorce case and prevent its dismissal.
I then prepared, again in Pro Per, a Stipulation and Order for Bifurcation of Marital Status, a Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure for my client[including an Income and Expense Declaration and a Schedule of Assets and Debts] which is required for the Court to order the bifurcation, and a Status Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage which complied with the requirements of Family Code Section 2337 [among other documents required to obtain a status dissolution]. My legal assistant immediately served his Declaration of Disclosure .
Unfortunately, my client's estranged wife didn't cooperate - she suspected that he had consulted an attorney; she dragged her feet and ultimately refused to sign the Stipulation and Order for Bifurcation of Marital Status.
Time was running short for my client - his fiance's visa was then going to expire in three months. A Motion for bifurcation of marital status has to be given on 45 days' advance notice [as opposed to 16 Court days' advance notice of other Family Law Motions]. I made my client aware of the deadlines and we met to take an aggressive approach to resolve his dilemma.
I substituted in as attorney of record for my client, prepared, prepared, filed and served a Motion for bifurcation of marital status, the matter was heard 45 days later, the Court ordered the bifurcation and granted my client his Marital Status Dissolution, and my client married his fiance' in time!
I enjoy challenges and the opportunity to employ my creativity in solving them. Whereas most attorneys wait until the last minute to get the job done [with inherent risks that there may not be adequate time to do it well, or that something may happen that makes it impossible for the attorney to do that last minute job], I snap into action when presented with a challenge.
This dilemma afforded no time for delay.
I brainstormed at our first meeting, acted immediately and successfully to preserve a case that risked immediate dismissal, then diligently attempted a resolution of the exigent issue through cooperation of the adverse party, but I did not put all my eggs in that basket. When prompt cooperation wasn't received, I aggressively, diligently and timely sought and obtained my client's needed bifurcated status dissolution.
I consider putting all your eggs in one basket risky. A lot of attorneys put all their eggs in one basket, expecting cooperation from the other side, sometimes waiting for cooperation that never comes, missing deadlines, harming their clients, and risking malpractice suits.
A couple of weeks ago, three of my blogs addressed violation by an adverse wife of ATROs: it appeared that she had removed my client as beneficiary of her life insurance policy during the pendency of a divorce case. I didn't put all my eggs in the basket of the lip-service given by her attorney that she would have her client sign an authorization that I FAXed to the attorney; a month later, the attorney told me that she didn't remember agreeing to have her client sign the authorization [although when I called the attorney a week after I had sent the authorization, she told me that she had sent it to her client.]
In an abundance of caution, I had already subpoenaed documents from the life insurance company, because the wife is drinking herself to death and I need the records to verify whether the wife changed her life insurance beneficiary to enable me to quickly file an Ex Parte Application for an order restoring my client as the beneficiary, and perhaps to file a Contempt of Court ... before the wife kills herself with her drinking while her designated beneficiary is someone other than my client. A stitch in time saves nine.
My happily-remarried bifurcation client considers me a hero and contributed a testimonial that is set forth on the testimonal page of my website.
I invite you to call me at 818-880-8990 for a free confidential consultation about your divorce or family law dilemma.
Posted by Donald F. Conviser, owner of Warner Center Law Offices in Woodland Hills, California, a Certified Family Law Specialist serving clients throught Los Angeles and Ventura counties for over 35 years, including all of the San Fernando Valley, Northridge, Granada Hills, Encino, Van Nuys, Reseda, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, West Hills, Agoura, Calabasas, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Simi Valley, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and beyond, employing a creative approach to the practice of divorce and family law, in all aspects of divorce and family law, including Divorce, Mastering Divorce, Premarital Agreements, Prenuptial Agreements, Child Custody, Visitation, Child Support, Spousal Support, Property Division, Nonmarital Dissolution, Paternity, Stepparent Adoption, and creative problem solving. I will be happy to answer your questions.
I prepared a Stipulation and Order for "generous" temporary child support, providing that the wife may revisit the issue of child support at any time without the need to show a change of circumstances. My client feared that if I appeared as his attorney of record, his wife would immediately retain her own counsel, resulting in intolerable delays, given his fiance's upcoming visa expiration. We decided that to minimize the risks of delays, I would "ghost" the Stipulation and Order for him, so I prepared that Stipulation and Order with my client remaining in Pro Per.
It worked - his wife signed that Stipulation, I filed it, the Court signed its Child Support Order, and I was thereby able to preserve the divorce case and prevent its dismissal.
I then prepared, again in Pro Per, a Stipulation and Order for Bifurcation of Marital Status, a Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure for my client[including an Income and Expense Declaration and a Schedule of Assets and Debts] which is required for the Court to order the bifurcation, and a Status Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage which complied with the requirements of Family Code Section 2337 [among other documents required to obtain a status dissolution]. My legal assistant immediately served his Declaration of Disclosure .
Unfortunately, my client's estranged wife didn't cooperate - she suspected that he had consulted an attorney; she dragged her feet and ultimately refused to sign the Stipulation and Order for Bifurcation of Marital Status.
Time was running short for my client - his fiance's visa was then going to expire in three months. A Motion for bifurcation of marital status has to be given on 45 days' advance notice [as opposed to 16 Court days' advance notice of other Family Law Motions]. I made my client aware of the deadlines and we met to take an aggressive approach to resolve his dilemma.
I substituted in as attorney of record for my client, prepared, prepared, filed and served a Motion for bifurcation of marital status, the matter was heard 45 days later, the Court ordered the bifurcation and granted my client his Marital Status Dissolution, and my client married his fiance' in time!
I enjoy challenges and the opportunity to employ my creativity in solving them. Whereas most attorneys wait until the last minute to get the job done [with inherent risks that there may not be adequate time to do it well, or that something may happen that makes it impossible for the attorney to do that last minute job], I snap into action when presented with a challenge.
This dilemma afforded no time for delay.
I brainstormed at our first meeting, acted immediately and successfully to preserve a case that risked immediate dismissal, then diligently attempted a resolution of the exigent issue through cooperation of the adverse party, but I did not put all my eggs in that basket. When prompt cooperation wasn't received, I aggressively, diligently and timely sought and obtained my client's needed bifurcated status dissolution.
I consider putting all your eggs in one basket risky. A lot of attorneys put all their eggs in one basket, expecting cooperation from the other side, sometimes waiting for cooperation that never comes, missing deadlines, harming their clients, and risking malpractice suits.
A couple of weeks ago, three of my blogs addressed violation by an adverse wife of ATROs: it appeared that she had removed my client as beneficiary of her life insurance policy during the pendency of a divorce case. I didn't put all my eggs in the basket of the lip-service given by her attorney that she would have her client sign an authorization that I FAXed to the attorney; a month later, the attorney told me that she didn't remember agreeing to have her client sign the authorization [although when I called the attorney a week after I had sent the authorization, she told me that she had sent it to her client.]
In an abundance of caution, I had already subpoenaed documents from the life insurance company, because the wife is drinking herself to death and I need the records to verify whether the wife changed her life insurance beneficiary to enable me to quickly file an Ex Parte Application for an order restoring my client as the beneficiary, and perhaps to file a Contempt of Court ... before the wife kills herself with her drinking while her designated beneficiary is someone other than my client. A stitch in time saves nine.
My happily-remarried bifurcation client considers me a hero and contributed a testimonial that is set forth on the testimonal page of my website.
I invite you to call me at 818-880-8990 for a free confidential consultation about your divorce or family law dilemma.
Posted by Donald F. Conviser, owner of Warner Center Law Offices in Woodland Hills, California, a Certified Family Law Specialist serving clients throught Los Angeles and Ventura counties for over 35 years, including all of the San Fernando Valley, Northridge, Granada Hills, Encino, Van Nuys, Reseda, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, West Hills, Agoura, Calabasas, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Simi Valley, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and beyond, employing a creative approach to the practice of divorce and family law, in all aspects of divorce and family law, including Divorce, Mastering Divorce, Premarital Agreements, Prenuptial Agreements, Child Custody, Visitation, Child Support, Spousal Support, Property Division, Nonmarital Dissolution, Paternity, Stepparent Adoption, and creative problem solving. I will be happy to answer your questions.
1 comment:
Very informative blog.keep updating the blog.los angeles family law attorney
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