Act I: Why the Start of Your Divorce Is the Most Dangerous
Act I: The Temporary Orders
The time to hire a lawyer is early in the process. A divorce happens in three acts, like a play. It is scripted. First, there are the initial filings: the Petition for Marital Dissolution, where one of you asks for a divorce and says how you want your assets and debts divided, how you want to share the children, who should get child support and alimony, and whether one of you should pay the other’s attorney’s fees. Act I also includes a statement about where the children have lived the last five years to establish the court’s jurisdiction over them (called a UCCJEA Declaration). Act I includes the Response to and Request for Marital Dissolution, where the other spouse says how they want assets and debts divided, how you want to share the children, who should get child support and alimony, and whether one of you should pay the other’s attorney’s fees. Learn More
Act I can sometimes include a Request for Temporary Orders, normally a request for temporary custody and visitation orders and child and spousal support. Sometimes, Act I includes a Request for a Domestic Violence Restraining Order.
Act I temporary hearings are usually conducted in a big rush. There is almost no time to prepare. These hearings can affect who will live in the house, who will pay the mortgage, how much you will see your children and how much support you will pay (or receive). We cannot overstate the importance of Act I hearings. Judges make decisions on a shortened time basis with almost complete discretion on limited facts and then you have to live with those decisions sometimes for months or years. Once a judge has made up her mind, even on a temporary basis, under the theory that anything can be fixed later, with more time, it gets harder and harder to change the judge’s mind.
If you have been served an Act I document, whether a Petition for Marital Dissolution or a Request for Temporary Orders, contact us right away. You have limited time to act. If you do nothing for 30 days, the Court could enter a default judgment against you for what your spouse requested. If you do not respond to the Request for Temporary Orders, the request will be granted. The most important time to have a lawyer is during Act I. This is where you do not want to be on your own.
The Importance of Great Legal Writing and Board Certification
I cannot tell you how many times I get calls from people who are desperate after facing Act I alone, against their spouse who has counsel. They leave an Act I hearing with very limited time with their children, often removed from the family home, often paying a huge part of their paycheck for child support and alimony. It’s awful. And then we begin the process of rebuilding them, step by step, slowly but surely. But that process takes time. It takes strategy and it takes money. It is so important to have counsel at the beginning of Act I, from the moment you get served paperwork. Learn More
Having any counsel is better than no counsel, but having wise, experienced counsel who knows how to both negotiate, on the one hand, and litigate on the other, is worth the investment. The best negotiators have a reputation for thoughtful, fierce litigation. So much of the law happens outside the courtroom. Yes, a fierce advocate knows how to rumble in the courtroom, but the fiercest advocates are thoughtful, methodical writers. Ask around, there is no one better than the lawyers at Egan Law.
Jude is an accomplished writer, in addition to his new book Better Divorce: A Handbook for Getting through the Most Difficult Time in Your Life, Jude has published dozens of articles (both peer-reviewed, for other lawyers and for the popular press), written more than a dozen Appellate briefs, written approaching a thousand trial and hearing briefs and equally as many declarations for and with clients. Helen is equally accomplished as a writer, having been a trial advocate for clients for more than 30 years. Helen and Jude have both represented scores of children as a service to the Court and the community. Both are Certified Family Law Specialists, Certified by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization.
This Board Certification is more than just a little seal we get to put on our website. Board Certification means we have years of trial practice, settlement negotiations, written thousands of pleadings and declarations and taken hundreds of cases to trial. Specialists have to take a rigorous exam and do dozens of hours of education and training each year. To specialize in family law is a bit of a misnomer. Family Lawyers have to know about everything from how to torch a real estate appraiser or business valuation expert on the witness stand to valuing unvested stock options, how to value and divide CalPERS, FERS and Military Retired Pay pensions, understanding childhood trauma, knowing parenting plans, understanding mixed character assets (like a 401(k) you had before and during the marriage), and understanding inherited wealth and other assets.
Negotiation is an Art
The best negotiators, and you should settle your case about 95% of the time (even if you think yours is in the 5% that shouldn’t settle, most of the time, your case should settle) talk softly and carry a big stick. The threat of trouncing opposing counsel is what leads to settlements. A willingness to try difficult cases and bring out tough facts gets cases settled. A track record of success in the courtroom gets cases settled. Our proven track record in the courtroom gets cases settled. There is no lawyer we fear. There is no judge we will not advocate in front of.
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But settlement is not enough. You deserve to have your case settled your way. Of course, there is still the law; we cannot change the law. But we can make it work for you.