Family Law

We frequently receive calls in our San Diego office from people who have fallen behind on their child support payments. Sometimes, they have not paid the ordered child support for years and their arrears have added up to tens of thousands of dollars. They call us wanting to know how they can reduce their child support balance.

One thing to consider is whether or not the San Diego child support order actually reflected who had custody of your child. For example, you could cut your child support obligation if the child support order was based on you having no custody or visitation with your child at all, when actually your child had been living with you for some period of time.

For example, we had one San Diego client who had child support arrears backed up for a number of years. It turned out that during that time, he had actually had custody of his child for about half that time. Our San Diego child support lawyers were able to convince the judge not to enforce all of the child support arrears that had accumulated during that time. The end result was that Wallin and Klarich was able to cut our client’s child support obligation by approximately 75%. Can you imagine what effect that would have on your daily life if you were able to cut your child support obligation by that much?

If you have child support arrears in San Diego court, make sure to speak to a qualified and knowledgeable San Diego child support lawyer about your options. You can give us a call anytime. Please contact Wallin & Klarich today via phone at 1-877-230-1529 or fill out our consultation form for a free evaluation of your San Diego County family law case.

The term “best interest of the child” is frequently used in child custody cases. But what determines “the best interest of the child?” If you currently are involved in a child custody case in San Diego, you can turn to an experienced San Diego Family Law attorney to assist you in your child custody case and help you understand the law. California Family Code Section 3011 sets the standard for determining the best interest of the child. The code states the following:

3011.In making a determination of the best interest of the child in a proceeding described in Section 3021, the court shall, among any other factors it finds relevant, consider all of the following:

(a) The health, safety, and welfare of the child.
(b) Any history of abuse by one parent or any other person seeking custody against any of the following:
(1) Any child to whom he or she is related by blood or affinity or with whom he or she has had a caretaking relationship, no matter how temporary.
(2) The other parent.
(3) A parent, current spouse, or cohabitant, of the parent or person seeking custody, or a person with whom the parent or person seeking custody has a dating or engagement relationship. As a prerequisite to the consideration of allegations of abuse, the court may require substantial independent corroboration, including, but not limited to, written reports by law enforcement agencies, child protective services or other social welfare agencies, courts, medical facilities, or other public agencies or private nonprofit organizations providing services to victims of sexual assault or domestic violence. As used in this subdivision, “abuse against a child” means “child abuse” as defined in Section 11165.6 of the Penal Code and abuse against any of the other persons described in paragraph (2) or (3) means “abuse” as defined in Section 6203 of this code.
(c) The nature and amount of contact with both parents.
(d) The habitual or continual illegal use of controlled substances or habitual or continual abuse of alcohol by either parent. Before considering these allegations, the court may first require independent corroboration, including, but not limited to, written reports from law enforcement agencies, courts, probation departments, social welfare agencies, medical facilities, rehabilitation facilities, or other public agencies or nonprofit organizations providing drug and alcohol abuse services. As used in this subdivision, “controlled substances” has the same meaning as defined in the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act, Division 10 (commencing with Section 11000) of the Health and Safety Code.
(e) (1) Where allegations about a parent pursuant to subdivision (b) or (d) have been brought to the attention of the court in the current proceeding, and the court makes an order for sole or joint custody to that parent, the court shall state its reasons in writing or on the record. In these circumstances, the court shall ensure that any order regarding custody or visitation is specific as to time, day, place, and manner of transfer of the child as set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 6323. (2) The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply if the parties stipulate in writing or on the record regarding custody or visitation.

Although these standards have been determined, the California family court or a California judge will ultimately determine the child custody arrangement. An experienced San Diego family law attorney can help you work with the judge or family court to ensure the best possible outcome for you and your child.

If you or someone you love is seeking custody of a child or children in San Diego County, please contact Wallin & Klarich today via phone at 1-877-230-1529 or fill out our consultation form for a free evaluation of your San Diego County criminal case.

In San Diego, California, the courts are often faced with deciding who will be granted custody of a child due to a variety of circumstances. Do you currently find yourself or a loved one involved in a child custody case? If so, it is important to understand all of the child custody laws in the state of California, especially as they are applied in San Diego. To begin, child custody can be petitioned by parents, stepparents, grandparents, or as the California Family Code Section 3040 states “any other person or persons deemed by the court to be suitable and able to provide adequate and proper care and guidance for the child.” Once all of the parties have been determined in your case, the courts must then decide who should be granted custody. The code also addresses this by stating that “custody should be granted in… [an] order of preference according to the best interest of the child.”

In San Diego, the best way to make sure you are the party that prevails, and that gains custody of your child, is to make sure you have a good San Diego child custody lawyer. The San Diego child custody lawyer that you hire can make all the difference in your case. Your San Diego child custody lawyer can help determine a plan to demonstrate that you are the best guardian of your child and that you continually have the best interest of your child in mind.

If you or someone you love is seeking custody of a child or children in San Diego County, please contact Wallin and Klarich today via phone at 1-877-230-1529 or fill out our consultation form for a free evaluation of your San Diego County criminal case.

If you are going through a divorce or other child custody dispute in San Diego, you might have noticed that there are many family law lawyers in San Diego.  With so many attorneys out there, it can be difficult to know which lawyer to hire.  Should you hire a man or a woman?  Should your lawyer be young or old?  Should your lawyer be super aggressive or friendly?  The answer to these questions may depend on your own personality or your own needs, but here is one piece of advice: you need a San Diego family law attorney who knows the law.

Not enough can be said about lawyers who know the law and know how to use the law to your advantage.  Here’s a quick example from a case I recently saw.  When a party wants to go to court to ask the judge to make an order about child support, child custody, child visitation, and the like, the party will file either a Motion or an Order to Show Cause (OSC) with the court and obtain a court date.  Most lawyers will tell you that a normal Motion is exactly the same thing as an OSC—that the two are interchangeable.  There are even judges who do not recognize any difference between the two.  In fact, when a party files a Motion with the court, the Motion will show up on the calendar as an OSC.  Despite all this, the truth is that a Motion and an OSC are not the same.  The two share the same purpose and the same function, however, there are times when a party must file a Motion instead of an OSC.  In some cases, filing an OSC instead of a Motion can be a huge disadvantage to a party if the other attorney knew the difference between the two.  This little issue can be so important in some cases that it could mean the difference between either winning or losing the case.

This is just one example of a bit of the law that most San Diego divorce and family lawyers do not even know about.  If you have a family attorney in San Diego that knows the law, that can give you a huge advantage over the opposing party.  When you are in the process of deciding which lawyer to hire, we at Wallin & Klarich recommend that you spend enough time to sit down and talk to your lawyer about the law applicable to your case.  Ask the lawyer what legal strategies he or she would use to maximize your chances of success.  Ask all the questions necessary to find out whether or not the San Diego lawyer really knows the law.

If you or someone you love is going through a child custody dispute in San Diego County, please contact Wallin & Klarich today via phone at 1-877-230-1529 or fill out our consultation form for a free evaluation of your San Diego County family law case.