HOW SHOULD I DOCUMENT MY SPOUSE LEAVING OUR HOME?

QUESTION: My spouse left home. I want to document this issue with some authority so I may use this for any further procedures. How do I do this?

MY RESPONSE:

If you intend to divorce your spouse, and the last date that your spouse left the house you decided that your marriage was over, in your Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, you can set forth that date as the date of separation.

Post-separation earnings of each party are the separate property of the respective parties.

If the parties reconciled after a prior separation, that reconciliation would likely result in the court's finding that the earnings during the prior separation were community property. Otherwise, a party could temporarily separate for a brief period of time to convert anticipated windfall income to separate property, and then reconcile.

However, after the final separation, earnings are separate property.

Prior separations may be relevant under Family Code Section 4336(b) in the calculation of the duration of the marriage for purposes of long-term spousal support, where it states that the court may consider periods of separation during the marriage in determining whether the marriage is in fact of long duration.


This educational blog is brought to you by DONALD F. CONVISER, an effective and aggressive Los Angeles Family Law Attorney and Divorce Lawyer serving clients in the courts of Los Angeles and Ventura County for over 35 years,owner of Warner Center Law Offices, with offices in Woodland Hills and Century City. Call 888.632.4447 or 818.880.8990 for a free confidential consultation with a Certified Family Law Specialist to discuss your divorce or family law issues. | www.conviser.net | www.conviserfamilylaw.com |