California Family Law: Custody & Visitation Agreements (Parenting Plans)

Custody and visitation agreements – more commonly known as “parenting plans” – are written documents that are filed with the court that include schedules for when children will be with each parent; how health, schooling, and the children’s welfare decisions will be made; and include ways in which the children can stay in contact with each parent. A parenting plan allows you and your children to develop routines, reduce conflicts, and provide for a sense of security during a time of great change for your child(ren).

A parenting plan will become a court order once you and the other parent sign it, the judge signs it, and it is filed with the court. A parenting plan should include items that provide for the children’s needs for love, guidance, protection, health, diet, rest, and education. The ages of children should be considered while drafting your parenting plan, as younger children will need different things than older children will. Additionally, you know your children better than anyone; your children’s needs are going to be unique and your plan should be written to be flexible, so your plan adapts to your children, not the other way around.

Some specifics to consider for your parenting plan include day-to-day parental time, overnight time, vacation, holidays, and special activities. It is important to address these factors during the drafting process so that they do not cause problems later. The parenting plan should be detailed enough to avoid most conflicts but flexible enough to account for unforeseen circumstances, such as sicknesses, travel, or work or school schedules. It should be easily understood by all parties involved so it can be easily enforced. The main goal of a custody and visitation agreement is to make the situation as reliable and secure for the children as possible.

Most parenting plans should include provisions for both parents to get information about the children, get records for the children, and that the children can contact the parents, and vice versa.

There are several forms that you will need to file (and some that you may need to file, based on your situation) with the California court system when you file your parenting plan. We are providing some links here:

·        Child Custody and Visitation Order Attachment (Form FL-341)

·        Child Custody and Visitation Application Attachment (Form FL-311)

·        Supervised Visitation Order (Form FL-341(A))

·        Child Abduction Prevention Order Attachment (Form FL-341(B))

·        Children's Holiday Schedule Attachment (Form FL-341(C))

·        Additional Provisions — Physical Custody Attachment (Form FL-341(D))

·        Joint Legal Custody Attachment (Form FL-341(E))

The forms linked to here have information about how to include weekends, weekdays, vacations, holidays, driving/transport costs, and other details into your parenting plan, including moving.

The preceding information is not legal advice and should not be construed as such. For legal advice, please contact our offices at (562) 634-1115 or another, qualified, family law attorney for advice specific to your case and circumstances.

Bankruptcy & Lawsuits

The Law Offices of Damian M. Nolan can help
you with your  Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.
Call our offices at (562) 634-1115 today!

If you’ve recently been threatened with a lawsuit or someone has already filed suit against you, you may be considering bankruptcy protection. Most people have many questions when someone files suit against them. Many of those questions are general to the lawsuit, such as:

Should you answer the complaint?

What happens if the other party gets a judgment against you?

What happens if you ignore the lawsuit?

Some questions are specific to bankruptcy, such as: Can bankruptcy stop a garnishment for the judgment?

If the complaint goes unanswered, the court presumes that you agree with it. In most cases, you should answer the complaint. Doing nothing means that the court will, more than likely, award the plaintiff what he or she asks for or prove damages. Not answering the complaint most likely means that you won’t be a participant in the hearing. If the plaintiff wins a judgment against you, he or she can get a lien against your assets to recover damages, garnish your wages, or levy your bank accounts. Negotiating payments may be possible in some cases.

A bankruptcy petition shouldn’t be based on the timeline of the lawsuit, as weeks or months can pass between you being served notice of a lawsuit and the plaintiff getting a judgment against you.

In a bankruptcy, the judgment will probably be dischargeable, regardless. If, however, the judgment is attached to some asset, the only way to avoid it is if the attachment to the asset impairs an exemption in bankruptcy. If you have a judgment against you and your wages are being garnished, a bankruptcy filing will stop the garnishments on any income earned after the date of the bankruptcy filing. The only judgment against you that cannot and will not be discharged are orders for support.

California Court Forms & Fees

In the majority of cases, there are fees to file paperwork with the court system. The fees can vary depending on the county, but most counties have their fees posted on their web sites. Here are links to those web sites for use (the links will open in a new window or tab).

Los Angeles
Orange
Riverside
San Bernardino
San Diego

There are cases – such for a Domestic Violence restraining order – there are no fees associated with filing. Low income filers may not have to pay fees, but there are forms to fill out to get a fee waiver.

Description	Fillable Form	Instructions
Order on Application for Waiver of Court Fees and Costs	982(a)(18)	Instructions for form 982(a)(18)
Application for Waiver of Court Fees and Costs	982(a)(17) (form does calculations)	Instructions for form 982(a)(17)

If you decide to apply for a fee waiver later in your case, you will need these forms:

Description	Fillable Form
Order on Application for Waiver of Additional Court Fees and Costs	982(a)(18.1)
Application for Waiver of Additional Court Fees and Costs	982(a)(20)

Please note that these forms are for the court only and should not be served on the other party.

Debunking the Top 8 Bankruptcy Myths

The Law Offices of Damian M. Nolan can help you with your
Chapter 7 bankruptcy questions and concerns.
Call (562) 634-1115 for a free, no-obligation consultation today,
and get advice from the best!

Myth #1: Bankruptcy is no longer available for most people.

Answer:  Though the 2005 Bankruptcy Amendments have made the process of filing and getting a bankruptcy more complicated, bankruptcy protection is still available to almost everyone.

Myth #2: If you file for bankruptcy, the government will seize everything you own.

Answer: Since most bankruptcy cases are considered “no asset” cases – meaning that everything the bankruptcy petitioner owns is exempt from seizure and sale – it’s absolutely untrue that your property will be seized. In fact, some pensions and other assets are not considered part of the bankruptcy estate.

Myth #3: Married couples must file for bankruptcy protection together.

Answer: Though married couples can file for bankruptcy together, they are not required to.

Myth #4: If you have a job, you cannot file for bankruptcy protection.

Answer: The 2005 Amendments to the bankruptcy code instituted a “means test” which may prohibit some filers with steady income from filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, but this does not mean every person with a job cannot file for bankruptcy. An experienced bankruptcy lawyer can help you find out if you will be eligible under the means test to file for bankruptcy.

Myth #5: Your credit will be ruined for 10 years if you file for bankruptcy.

Answer: Although a bankruptcy remains on your credit report for 10 years, recent bankruptcy petitioners are regularly deluged with offers for credit. These offers generally have low limits and high interest rates, credit agencies often target recent filers because they cannot file for bankruptcy again for several years.

Myth #6: Medical bills cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.

Answer: Although collection agencies like to tell this story to those who owe medical debt, the truth is that, if the medical bills are unsecured debt (which most are), you can be almost certain that the medical debt will be discharged in bankruptcy.

Myth #7: Your debt has to be of a certain amount before you can file for bankruptcy.

Answer: Bankruptcy laws have no set minimum of debt required before filing. It’s really as simple as this: if you can’t pay what you owe, bankruptcy may be a viable solution for your situation.

Myth #8: Society will consider you a failure if you file for bankruptcy.

Answer: Whether a person is considering bankruptcy or not, the vast majority of people want to pay back what they owe. When debt is overwhelming and situations such as job loss, illnesses, death of a spouse, or other circumstances prevent a person from living a normal life and paying back the debt, sometimes bankruptcy is the best course of action.

Living Wills in California - Part One

The Law Offices of Damian M. Nolan can help you
with your will, living will, or living trust. Give us a
call at (562) 634-1115.

There are certain situations where a living trust can transfer assets at death and bypass the probate process in court. There are a few misconceptions about living trusts, however. The first of these myths is that a living trust can replace a will. This is not the case.

Even if you have a living trust, you should also have a will; in these cases, they are called “pour-over” wills. This type of will allows your executor to transfer assets to the trust if those assets weren’t part of the trust at the time of death. A will is also the only way for you to provide your instructions for the guardianship of any minor children.

For finances and health-related decisions, it is important for you to have a durable power of attorney. An important aspect of a living trust is that, if you don’t have someone you trust for these matters, you can appoint a company (a bank, for example) as a trustee, but the company won’t have durable power of attorney. For these cases, a living will may be your best bet. A living will details your final wishes regarding your health and any life-saving technology. A living will is in effect when you are unable to speak for yourself due to a health problem, accident, or illness.

To talk with an experienced attorney about your options for living trusts, living wills, power of attorney, standard wills, or probate questions, feel free to call The Law Offices of Damian M. Nolan for a free, no-obligation consultation at (562) 634-1115.

Welcome to the Blog of the Law Offices of Damian M. Nolan!

Welcome to the new blog for the Law Offices of Damian M. Nolan! Thanks for stopping by!

On this blog, we will talk about issues relating to divorce, child custody and visitation, child support, spousal support (spousal maintenance or alimony), bankruptcy, estate planning legal issues, probate, and more. We will look at family law, probate, and bankruptcy news and issues that may affect you and your family, and comment on news stories from our experienced legal perspective.

Our law offices serve the greater Los Angeles area and Orange County. We look forward to talking with you about your family law issues and questions, as well. Feel free to contact our offices any time to speak to a courteous, plain-speaking attorney about your legal issues.

Contact us by phone at (562) 634-1115.