Our firm’s practice areas include all aspects of family law services for our clients in Northern California.
Family law is one of our firm’s core practice areas thanks to our brilliant attorneys who extend their skill and experience to family matters with emotional intelligence and objectivity. With an office in San Francisco and Roseville, we can offer our family law services to clients in the surrounding counties. Below are some of the main services that make up our family law practice.
Legal Separation
As a precursor to divorce (or for other reasons), married couples may elect to legally separate. For California couples, a legal separation is a continuation of the marriage that involves many of the same procedures and issues as divorce. You file a petition with the court, separate your finances, and agree to terms for child custody and support, if applicable.
We help our clients understand the implications of the decision to legally separate compared to alternatives such as divorce or staying married. We then provide you with the necessary guidance and representation through every stage of the process, always keeping an eye on your family’s goals and personal interests.
Divorce Proceedings
Every divorce is unique due to the different motivating factors, financial positions, and family dynamics of each client. As a result, our firm remains conscious of the varying emotions you may feel as we do our best to make the divorce experience as straightforward and goal driven as possible. We handle divorce proceedings from start to finish, including:
- Filing the divorce petition
- Preparing financial disclosures
- Negotiating key terms (e.g., spousal support, property division, child custody)
- Representation at hearings
- Post-judgment and settlement matters
- Divorce modifications
Same-Sex Divorce
We also proudly serve our clients seeking a same-sex divorce. The dissolution of a marriage in this context may present additional legal considerations like support and custody of adopted children or children born in vitro along with the other aspects of divorce.
Domestic Violence
Your health, safety, and well-being are our top priorities in aiding you with a legal matter involving domestic violence. Domestic violence can take many forms (i.e., mental, emotional, and physical), and we recognize the wide range of legal issues that may arise depending on specific needs. We help our clients connect with important resources and find security through available legal processes, including:
- No-contact and other protective orders
- Legal separation or divorce
- Civil recovery for past abuse
Property Divisions
Divorce is often a decision made with the intent of improving your quality of life along with managing other personal thoughts and feelings. However, your financial well-being is also at stake during a divorce. You deserve an understanding of your rights with respect to separate and marital property. The ownership and distribution of assets during a divorce commonly include interests tied to:
- Real estate (e.g., primary residence, vacation home, rental property, etc.)
- Joint bank accounts
- Investment accounts
- Retirement accounts
- Businesses
- Inheritances
We help you identify and locate valuable assets and work to protect your property interests during divorce through the equitable division of property. Property division also includes the allocation of liabilities between spouses (e.g., mortgage, credit cards, other personal loans, etc.). Closely related to this issue is the award of spousal support on a temporary or permanent basis to support lifestyle and other needs.
Child Custody and Visitation
As a parent, the well-being of your children will always be a top concern during divorce or while navigating other co-parenting relationships. Having a court-approved parenting plan agreement that addresses custody and visitation is an important step in protecting your children by setting clear expectations.
We help parents and children alike to advocate for their interests during this process, whether in the context of a dispute or amicable separation. In situations where a spouse is unfit to parent, we work hard to protect your child’s safety through the pursuit of sole custody and supervised visitations arrangements.
Grandparent Rights for Visitation or Custody
California recognizes and values the importance of maintaining relationships between minor grandchildren and grandparents. Under certain circumstances, grandparents can successfully petition a California court for visitation rights. We represent grandparents seeking visitation, and, vice versa, we defend parents who believe a grandparent’s visitation would not be in the best interest of their child.
We also handle matters of grandparent custody over a minor child in situations where parents are unwilling or unable to provide care due to events like death, incapacitation, substance abuse, or abandonment.
Child Support
A key component of your child’s well-being is their financial security. For unmarried, separated, or divorced parents, this sometimes requires the establishment of child support through a judicial order. We help parents and their children to determine and obtain awards for child support. This includes the collection of owed support or the modification of current support obligations due to changes in a parent’s finances or a child’s needs.
Consult with a Family Law Attorney at GAJP, P.C. Today
Our attorneys at GAJP, P.C. leverage their 25 years of combined experience to bring the firm’s clients throughout Northern California real, effective results in matters of family law. We always welcome the opportunity to meet with prospective clients to discuss their needs and to see how our firm may be able to assist.
Schedule your consultation with one of the attorneys in our firm’s family law practice area today.