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Divorce lawyer OC

colenighthawk

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My buddy for 35 yrs is at the beging of a nasty divorce. He's looking for a good if not the best layer, any recommendations. He's been married to the same lady for 3o yrs
Thanks
 
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Melloyellovector

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30 years, if it’s shitty before lawyers, he’s fukt. Fees to fight are goin to be astronomical

Amy Von Esch, in Fullerton
951CCE91-648C-44D4-A6A9-9082C54FACE0.jpeg
 

bk2drvr

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By any chance is he self employed and show no income?
 

colenighthawk

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So here's what he has

House in Riverside- in escrow, closes Dec 1st... ( her name only, they bought it 2 yrs ago )
House in Havasu... ( on her name only, they bought it 2 yrs ago )
House in OC- bought in 1998 ( his name only)
Business - her name only ( since 2016 )
They both work at the business
I don't think he cares if she gets half, he's going to be happier he said , when she's gone
Kids all grown up, over 21
His ex is a bitch, fat and ugly
Wants to win every argument, 😆 🤣
 

FlyByWire

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So here's what he has

House in Riverside- in escrow, closes Dec 1st... ( her name only, they bought it 2 yrs ago )
House in Havasu... ( on her name only, they bought it 2 yrs ago )
House in OC- bought in 1998 ( his name only)
Business - her name only ( since 2016 )
They both work at the business
Kids all grown up, over 21
His ex is a bitch, fat and ugly
Wants to win every argument, 😆 🤣

Won’t matter whose name what is in in a community property state.
 

sonicss31

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Give her half and don’t look back. Change jobs if possible so he doesn’t have to see his “ fat, ugly, bitch ex-wife” again.
 

COCA COLA COWBOY

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So here's what he has

House in Riverside- in escrow, closes Dec 1st... ( her name only, they bought it 2 yrs ago )
House in Havasu... ( on her name only, they bought it 2 yrs ago )
House in OC- bought in 1998 ( his name only)
Business - her name only ( since 2016 )
They both work at the business
I don't think he cares if she gets half, he's going to be happier he said , when she's gone
Kids all grown up, over 21
His ex is a bitch, fat and ugly
Wants to win every argument, 😆 🤣
Whose name is on it means nothing. In California, each in entitled to half for the existence of the marriage. If your buddy inherited something from his parents or someone, that may be retained by him and him only.
 
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sirbob

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You all assume he makes more than her. Could be the other way around.
Haha - I thought I was the only one thinking…

He is getting half not giving / and he will get alimony not pay it. No wonder he doesn’t mind splitting everything in half !
 

Wizard29

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Won’t matter whose name what is in in a community property state.
Not necessarily. If one party can trace back that an asset was bought and paid for with separate property and the cost of acquisition was not with any "community" funds, that party can retain sole ownership of the asset.

This being a 30 year marriage, that is probably going to be very difficult and unlikely to achieve, but it can be done in some instances.

I was able to do it for a number of things in my divorce and thank god for that. I didn't have to buy some of my assets twice.
 

racektm

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California uses the software "Dissomaster" its pretty simple. Alimony could go either way. Pensions, savings, retirement accounts, 401K's , etc. will be split 50/50 unless both parties agrees on another percentage.
 

Backlash

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Well, I lost my ass after a 20 year marriage. She got the house as I didn't want me kids to be homeless. Per the court order, I paid her alimony for a short time until she married a second time.....to someone who I thought was a close friend. 🙄 I ended up paying her almost $250K over a period of 10 years in the form of alimony and child support. She kept the kids from me and essentially drove a wedge between both of my boys and me. The part that sucks the most is the lacking relationship I now have with my two sons. I don't give a shit about all the money I've lost. For that, she can rot in hell.

Yes, I had an attorney and I live in California. No, I can't recommend an attorney because as far as I'm concerned, they are all greedy whores.

I've bounced back financially and now have an amazing wife whom I adore. I miss my kids though, especially around the holidays.
 

MonkeyButt70

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No attorneys, they do not have the best interest of the client. They prefer to keep the battle going to keep sucking you dry. Tell him to give it all if they can cut ties 100% with no further payments. Better to start over and live in a trailer then to drag it out.
 

Wedgy

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File FIRST. Move out. Yesterday. Decent Atty, Different legal jurisdiction. If She's a Bitch, make it a Bitch. Alimony is paid out based on earned income. Key word, earned.
 

F.U.IRS

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Alimony until the receiving party marries again, cohabitates with another partner, or dies.
The only good thing my attorney did for me was also include or until there is a new court order. I was able to get free of the spousal support order (that's what it's called now) by retiring and going to court and getting a new order. Oddly enough I was told quitting your job does not relieve you of the existing support order, but if you are of retirement age they can't force you to work. This was after a 40 year marriage, I only paid support for 4 years. My advice would be go to a mediator for around $4000 and work it out there if at all possible, I tried that ,but the bitch went and hired the biggest prick lawyer in the Inland Empire and between us we paid about $150k in legal fees. The lawyers and the judges don't give a fuck about you. The only reason my case finally ended after almost 3 years was I quit paying everybody. Somehow it was miraculously settled the next time we went to court.
 

Uncle Dave

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Alimony until the receiving party marries again, cohabitates with another partner, or dies.

Correct on marries again and dies.

might as well add- or until a judge orders otherwise.

I dont believe mere cohabitation is enough, unless somethings changed.

Singing taxes together also triggers a change.
 

Lumpy

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The best way to go about this is with a mediator. Hire a mediating attorney and bust it all in two...done. Unfortunately most women
are crazy bitches at this point and think they are entitled to it all at which time the attorneys will milk the money out of the estate for as long as
they can with frivolous phone call, emails and court appearances. Filing first or second makes no difference in California...I wouldn't move out until you have consulted
an attorney on the side. Been there done that...my ex ended up paying me child support for seven years. Do it right and you can get out of it with half...let your
ego get involved and you will lose.


Read the "List" and apply it as best you can.
 

Dan Lorenze

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It's too bad that emotions play such a big part of a divorce, but that's how it goes. Divorce is a scam, just a bunch of nonsense for months or years and once the Lawyers drain all the money out of your accounts they hand you a spreadsheet on the payout then it's over. But, it's totally worth it in the long run.
 

Yldboyz

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So here's what he has

House in Riverside- in escrow, closes Dec 1st... ( her name only, they bought it 2 yrs ago )
House in Havasu... ( on her name only, they bought it 2 yrs ago )
House in OC- bought in 1998 ( his name only)
Business - her name only ( since 2016 )
They both work at the business
I don't think he cares if she gets half, he's going to be happier he said , when she's gone
Kids all grown up, over 21
His ex is a bitch, fat and ugly
Wants to win every argument, 😆 🤣
The narrative changed all of a sudden, he's entitled to his half plus some. 😁
 

C_J_J_C

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No advice, just my favorite divorce story.

My dad was an attorney for over 40 years and at the end did mediation. He would only do divorces with no kids so he would end up with all the complicated money issues. Businesses, houses, Inheritance, "Separate Property", gifts, ect. Dad always started divorces by separatimg the parties and asking them to write down what each party wanted and what they would give up.

One time the Wife wrote for over an hour using multiple pages. Husband wrote for only seconds and wrote he wanted "Freedom" and would give anything to get it.

My dad had an agreement signed before end of the day. Guy ended up giving her everything but he kept his pension and had no support payments.

Guys was all smiles and gal was still unhappy. Dad always said that said it all.
 

Singleton

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File FIRST. Move out. Yesterday. Decent Atty, Different legal jurisdiction. If She's a Bitch, make it a Bitch. Alimony is paid out based on earned income. Key word, earned.
My moms lawyer told her not to leave the house. My moms second husband was told the same.
Luckily, the house was in my moms name only and the $$ used to purchase the house came from my mom selling her first house. She ended up having to evict her second husband from the house. She was going to end up paying alimony, but offered a 1 time payment equal to 5 years of alimony and he took it. He tried to go after the house, but we paid him out 20% of value to make him go away.
 
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Gonefishin5555

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Ask her what she thinks the business is worth and when she comes back with a high number tell her she can keep it and pay him half the price she came up with. There won’t be a covenant not to compete so he can go down the street and open his own business. Divorce is fucking war play to win.
 

cofooter

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The only good thing my attorney did for me was also include or until there is a new court order. I was able to get free of the spousal support order (that's what it's called now) by retiring and going to court and getting a new order. Oddly enough I was told quitting your job does not relieve you of the existing support order, but if you are of retirement age they can't force you to work. This was after a 40 year marriage, I only paid support for 4 years. My advice would be go to a mediator for around $4000 and work it out there if at all possible, I tried that ,but the bitch went and hired the biggest prick lawyer in the Inland Empire and between us we paid about $150k in legal fees. The lawyers and the judges don't give a fuck about you. The only reason my case finally ended after almost 3 years was I quit paying everybody. Somehow it was miraculously settled the next time we went to court.
This^^^^ Try to avoid a lawyer if possible. The end result is going to be the same essentially anyway. Half of all assets and possessions and enough alimony likely for life to basically bring you both to the same income level. Give up $50 or $100K in assets/possessions to try to get her to settle instead of hiring a lawyer. It will be money better spent in the long run and a quicker end to a miserable situation.
 

bk2drvr

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People think they lose half in a divorce but its actually a lot more. People usually lose about 75% of their net worth in a divorce and thats if everything goes relatively smooth. Agree with the advice above, try not to use attorneys if at all possible and mediate. And get through it as quickly as possible. Don't argue over the wagon wheel coffee table.

 

ONE-A-DAY

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Half plus alimony for life.
I got out of alimony after paying it for the same length of the marriage, 14 years. Reason being, my ex did not make any efforts in those 14 years to "become self-sustaining". She just sat on the couch, ate more food and then waddled her fat ass out to the mailbox for 14 years. $1.4 million over 14 years and she doesnt have a dime of it today. In hindsight I should have just had her killed, would have saved me a ton of money and aggrivation.

But at the end of the day, best money I ever spent.
 

mbrown2

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If someone had an idea it was going to NOT end well...would it not benefit them to play the long game.... maybe NOT work so hard and allow your comp to go down for 2-3 yrs and then file....maybe I am missing something...most of this stuff you can't control but I would not want to be at the peak of your earning years having to do math that looks like the winning lottery... you only get half the value of the jackpot and are taxed 50% of the remaining... freedom's costly...
 

Singleton

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Doesnt matter, its called a forensic account.
Yep.
Helping a buddy with that currently.
His soon to be ex-wife, dropped down to 75% FTE 3 months before she filed for divorce. Then dropped to 50% the week she filed, claiming she needed more time with the kids. She wanted alimony from him. We already proved she was moving money out of the family account to her account and a couple payments to lawyers were made prior to that drop to 75%. Judge ruled her income in any decision will be based on her income prior to the drop in hours worked. Huge win for my buddy. Also found a few other items that question her motives when they refinanced a house he owned in VA (refinanced from his name only to both their names).

She is now trying to prove she has the kids 65% of the time and should get child support.
They have a 2-2-3 schedule, so not sure how her math is working on that one.

shit gets ugly quickly in divorces!
 

cofooter

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Yep.
Helping a buddy with that currently.
His soon to be ex-wife, dropped down to 75% FTE 3 months before she filed for divorce. Then dropped to 50% the week she filed, claiming she needed more time with the kids. She wanted alimony from him. We already proved she was moving money out of the family account to her account and a couple payments to lawyers were made prior to that drop to 75%. Judge ruled her income in any decision will be based on her income prior to the drop in hours worked. Huge win for my buddy. Also found a few other items that question her motives when they refinanced a house he owned in VA (refinanced from his name only to both their names).

She is now trying to prove she has the kids 65% of the time and should get child support.
They have a 2-2-3 schedule, so not sure how her math is working on that one.

shit gets ugly quickly in divorces!
Correct, it's called imputing income. Income is "imputed" based on your earnings potential using historical actuals, not your actual earnings today or tomorrow. You cannot get out of paying alimony for being underemployed........ on the flip side, her income should also be imputed. Meaning, even if she is underemployed today, her earnings potential may be much higher, and should be the basis for the alimony calculation vs todays lower number.
 

LuauLounge

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One lawyer is good, if you are still talking. It will save you issues down the road if someone has regrets.
 

dribble

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30 years? That’s an easy one, half.
Yup. When I divorced after 30 years we had a little over a mil in net worth to split up Got married with a net worth of about 15 bucks between the two of us. Spilt it up ourselves. Only thing we argued about were the tools. She said she wanted to be paid for half (about 30K worth). I told her that we would instead go out to the garage, split them up and she could take half of them to her new apartment in Santa Monica. She looked at me and said never mind. Pain an attorney 1800 bucks to write up and file the agreement. Done.
 

bk2drvr

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Doesnt matter, its called a forensic accountant.
all depends how much you want to pay for that research. The forensic accountant makes almost as much as the attorney. Its a losing battle unless there is millions involved.
 

LuauLounge

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How the 1% splits things up, in 2005

Divorces often involve conflicting testimony — he said, she said. The breakup of San Diego County’s wealthiest couple is also a case of she spent, he spent.

Her Mercedes Maybach: $341,192. His Enzo Ferrari: more than $1.3 million.

Her main residence: bought for $4,097,693. His main residence: bought for $7 million.

Her gambling: Up to $30,000 a month, dropped in casinos. His gambling: Millions, spent in court.

Numbers from the Brandes divorce case​

6,908: Days Charles and Linda Brandes were married
2,018: Days since the divorce was granted
$500,000: Her monthly spousal support
$16,000,000: His monthly income
6: Homes, hers
1: Home, his
$2,818,495: 2010 appraised value of her main residence
$35,545,266: 2010 appraised value of his main residence
210: Pairs of shoes in her closet
$4,457,150: Value of his fleet of 10 Ferraris
$82,545: What she spent on gifts in December 2007
$1,000,000: What he reportedly paid Christina Aguilera to perform at his 2010 Halloween party
269: His ranking on Forbes’ 2010 list of richest Americans
655: His ranking on Forbes’ 2010 list of richest people on earth
Sources: Court documents; Forbes
Since Charles Brandes filed for divorce from Linda Brandes in July 2004, the couple have been playing for high stakes. On July 15, 2005 — one month and one day before their 19th anniversary — the couple was divorced. But the battle over the money still rages.

While Linda has received roughly $65 million to $70 million in assets from Charles, her lawyers insist that’s not enough.

“There’s $140 million at issue,” said Stephen Wagner, one of Linda’s lawyers.

After all, Charles Brandes is worth an estimated $1.5 billion. He’s the richest person in the county.

While the case has not been covered in the media, it is being watched by high society and the legal profession.

“In the grand scheme of divorces, it’s way up there,” said Myra Fleischer, a prominent divorce lawyer based in Del Mar. “In the top echelon, that’s for sure.”
 

Uncle Dave

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I got out of alimony after paying it for the same length of the marriage, 14 years. Reason being, my ex did not make any efforts in those 14 years to "become self-sustaining". She just sat on the couch, ate more food and then waddled her fat ass out to the mailbox for 14 years. $1.4 million over 14 years and she doesnt have a dime of it today. In hindsight I should have just had her killed, would have saved me a ton of money and aggrivation.

But at the end of the day, best money I ever spent.

Are you in california?

In cali they use a program to compute this called "the dissomaster" and it doesnt care about effort.

Sorry man - sounds like a totally raw deal.

In terms of her showing up dead, that would have been cheaper no doubt.
 

ONE-A-DAY

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all depends how much you want to pay for that research. The forensic accountant makes almost as much as the attorney. Its a losing battle unless there is millions involved.
She requested it, I paid for it, Merica.
 

ONE-A-DAY

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Are you in california?

In cali they use a program to compute this called "the dissomaster" and it doesnt care about effort.

Sorry man - sounds like a totally raw deal.

In terms of her showing up dead, that would have been cheaper no doubt.
Yes, CA, it was $8600 a month, and it was lifetime but CA law has a clause that the recipient must make efforts over time to become self sufficient. After I paid for the length of the marriage, 13 years we gave it a shot and filed. She didnt even show up to court, she had moved to Florida where it was much cheaper to live since she was "struggling" with the $8600. No show really pissed off the judge, who we had chosen, she was a hard working powerful woman who was not a big fan of entitled women. She says asks where is your client, guy says she had a conflict she couldnt change. My attorney presents the airline ticket receipts that I paid for to have our kids go visit her in Florida, she took them on a cruise. It was awesome, judge goes off on her her attorney, starts going on and on how I am the poster child for a divorced dad, never late on payment, bought the kids cars, paid for their college, nothing I had to to. She says I am ruling. Dropped it to $3000 a month for two years and then done. Attorney flips out, makes a big scene. Judge says, one more word and I will end spousal support right now. It was awesome, i was kicking my attorney under the desk when all the shit was going down.
 

bonesfab

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Yes, CA, it was $8600 a month, and it was lifetime but CA law has a clause that the recipient must make efforts over time to become self sufficient. After I paid for the length of the marriage, 13 years we gave it a shot and filed. She didnt even show up to court, she had moved to Florida where it was much cheaper to live since she was "struggling" with the $8600. No show really pissed off the judge, who we had chosen, she was a hard working powerful woman who was not a big fan of entitled women. She says asks where is your client, guy says she had a conflict she couldnt change. My attorney presents the airline ticket receipts that I paid for to have our kids go visit her in Florida, she took them on a cruise. It was awesome, judge goes off on her her attorney, starts going on and on how I am the poster child for a divorced dad, never late on payment, bought the kids cars, paid for their college, nothing I had to to. She says I am ruling. Dropped it to $3000 a month for two years and then done. Attorney flips out, makes a big scene. Judge says, one more word and I will end spousal support right now. It was awesome, i was kicking my attorney under the desk when all the shit was going down.

Now that was a happy ending.
 
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