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LONICH PATTON EHRLICH POLICASTRI
1871 The Alameda, Suite 400, San Jose, CA 95126
Phone: (408) 553-0801 | Fax: (408) 553-0807 | Email: contact@lpeplaw.com
LONICH PATTON EHRLICH POLICASTRI
Phone: (408) 553-0801
Fax: (408) 553-0807
Email: contact@lpeplaw.com
1871 The Alameda, Suite 400
San Jose, CA 95126
Located in San Jose, Lonich Patton Ehrlich Policastri handles matters for clients in northern California, specifically San Jose and Silicon Valley. Our services are available to anyone within the following counties: Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito, and San Francisco. For a full listing of areas where we practice, please click here.
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This web site is intended for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Nothing in the site is to be considered as either creating an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Lonich Patton Ehrlich Policastri or as rendering of legal advice for any specific matter. Readers are responsible for obtaining such advice from their own legal counsel. No client or other reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information contained in Lonich Patton Ehrlich Policastri Web site without seeking appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue.
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What is a California Emergency Protective Order?
/in Family Law /by David PattonNote: People can tell what internet sites you have visited on your computer. Be safe, and use the internet at a local library, friend’s house, or at work!
An emergency protective order (EPO) is a court order that protects victims from domestic violence by prohibiting the victims’ abusers from coming within a certain distance of the victim. You can obtain an EPO by calling 911 and reporting domestic violence to the police. You can ask for this order at any time – day or night. An EPO may also grant the victim temporary custody of his or her children. However, an EPO and other restraining orders do not guarantee the safety of you and/or your children. If you continue to fear for your safety after the issuance of an order, the California Bar suggests you consider moving into a domestic violence shelter or the home of a friend or relative who is not known to the abuser.
An EPO remains in effect for five court days or seven calendar days, whichever is shorter. For a longer-term restraining order, you must apply for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) at the local courthouse. If a TRO is granted, it will take effect as soon as the restrained party is served a copy of the court papers. The TRO will stay in effect for a period not exceeding three weeks, pending a court hearing. At the hearing, the judge will decide whether a “permanent” restraining order is warranted, which can stay in effect up to three years.
It is important to note that under California law, a wide variety of activity can constitute grounds for a domestic violence protective order. California law defines domestic violence as abuse towards an intimate partner or family member. Domestic violence stems from the abuser’s need to control. It includes threats, annoying phone calls, stalking, unwanted sexual touching, hitting, the destruction of personal property, and other actions. Victims may be a spouse, dating partner, someone you lived with, or a relative related by blood or marriage. It affects same-sex partners as well as heterosexual couples. Both children and adults can be the victims of domestic violence.
For more information about emergency protective orders and temporary restraining orders, please contact the San Jose family law attorneys at Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri. Please remember that each individual situation is unique and results discussed in this post are not a guarantee of future results. While this post may include legal issues, it is not legal advice. Use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship.
An Action to Establish Parentage Might Help You Obtain Child Support from Your Child’s Other Parent
/in Family Law /by Gina PolicastriA parentage action is a court proceeding in which the court makes a determination of child’s legal parents. Quite often this is not in dispute, but sometimes parentage is disputed for various reasons. Where the parents are not married, a parentage action or at least a determination of parentage is required as part of any effort to obtain child support, visitation, or custody. Either the mother father (even if disputed) of the child can file this type of action.
It is important to know that the legal parents of a child have an obligation to financially support their child. A legal parent also has the right to obtain custody and/or visitation rights in relation to the child.
For more information about how you can establish parentage of your child, please contact our family law attorneys at Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri for more information. Please remember that each individual situation is unique and results discussed in this post are not a guarantee of future results. While this post may include legal issues, it is not legal advice. Use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Marital Debts: What You Need to Know
/in Family Law /by David PattonThe community estate (i.e. a married couple’s community property and quasi-community property) is generally liable for either party’s premarital and pre-separation debts. This rule applies regardless of which spouse has management and control of the property, and regardless of whether the debts were incurred to benefit both spouses.
The community may be liable for child support and spousal support obligations arising from one spouse’s prior marriage even though the other spouse did not personally incur the original obligation. The community, however, may be reimbursed when community property is used to pay the other spouse’s child/spousal support if the obligor spouse had separate property income available to use to satisfy the debt. The community estate is generally not liable for debts one spouse incurs while the spouses are living separate and apart from each other.
For more information about California divorces, please contact the Santa Clara divorce attorneys at Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri. Please remember that each individual situation is unique and results discussed in this post are not a guarantee of future results. While this post may include legal issues, it is not legal advice. Use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Special Rules that Regulate Transfers to Non-U.S. Citizen Spouses Can Affect Estate Planning
/in Estate Planning /by Michael LonichEstate planning can be particularly challenging for couples if one spouse is the citizen of another country. It is important for California residents, who are married to non-citizen spouses, to consider the special regulations surrounding estate tax marital deductions when creating an estate plan.
First, there is no standard estate tax marital deduction for a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen. While this may seem unfair, the rationale behind the estate tax marital deduction was to defer the tax until the death of the second spouse. If the non-citizen spouse moved out of the country after the death of the first spouse, he or she could not be subjected to the deferred taxation. However, if the non-citizen spouse becomes a citizen before the federal tax return is filed, the standard unlimited marital estate tax deduction will apply.
Second, while there is no gift tax marital deduction for lifetime transfers to a noncitizen spouse, there is an annual gift tax exclusion. The exclusion amount allowed for transfers during life to a non-citizen spouse was $133,000 in 2009.
For more information on how to create an effective estate plan, please contact our attorneys at Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri. Please remember that each individual situation is unique and results discussed in this post are not a guarantee of future results. While this post may include legal issues, it is not legal advice. Use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Premarital Agreements vs. Marital Agreements vs. Marital Settlement Agreements
/in Family Law /by Mitchell EhrlichCalifornia family law is quite complex. For those who are not familiar with the workings of California law, it may be very difficult to differentiate between the terms “premarital agreement,” “marital agreement,” and “marital settlement agreement.”
A premarital agreement is a contract that is executed between two prospective spouses. The premarital agreement, or “prenup,” is entered into in anticipation of marriage with the idea that it will become effective upon the marriage of the two prospective spouses. Premarital agreements often address issues of the parties’ present and future property rights. Premarital agreements must comply with certain formalities to be enforceable.
A marital agreement, or postnuptial agreement, is a contract that is executed by spouses during marriage. This type of contract affects the rights and obligations incident to an ongoing marriage, both during life and after death. Post-nuptial contracts can be broad in scope, laying out in comprehensive detail the parties’ rights and duties towards each other and the characterization of property. This category also includes “transmutation” agreements, which are contracts changing the property status of a specific asset from its current form to another form (e.g. separate property to community property). Like a prenuptial agreement, marital agreements must comply with certain formalities in order to be enforceable. Additionally, spouses entering into postnuptial agreements must comply with their fiduciary obligations and act with the “highest good faith and fair dealing” towards one another.
A marital settlement agreement (MSA) is executed as part of a dissolution of marriage or legal separation. The MSA typically addresses the parties’ ownership of marital property and other rights and obligations in relation to divorce or separation. Usually, an MSA is incorporated into a judgment of dissolution, and the rights and obligations of the ex-spouses are governed by the terms of the final judgment.
Note that the same rules governing these agreements between spouses also generally apply to domestic partnerships. For more information about prenuptial agreements, marital agreements, or marital settlement agreements, please contact us.
Please remember that each individual situation is unique and results discussed in this post are not a guarantee of future results. While this post may include legal issues, it is not legal advice. Use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship.