Napa Divorce Lawyers
Protect your assets and maintain relationships with your children by retaining a trusted Napa divorce lawyer. Napa divorces often exhibit complexities that require legal counsel from a seasoned family law attorney. The sheer scope of a typical dissolution of marriage in Napa County could easily overwhelm the uninitiated.
At napadivorce.com, our veteran divorce attorneys, paralegals, and support staff draw on decades of combined experience to deliver an unparalleled client experience. Let us guide you through the entire divorce process, so we can achieve a winning resolution and preserve your private wealth.
Family Law
FAMILY LAW
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Divorce
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Follow our lead as we pave a path toward your fresh start. After years of litigating and negotiating family law matters in Napa Valley, our empathetic divorce attorneys appreciate the acute stress felt by sophisticated clients at various points in the dissolution process. That is why discerning clients choose us to reduce tension by minimizing their involvement when needed.
Our Legal Services
As one of the preeminent family law firms in Northern California, napadivorce.com offers a full suite of legal services. Most of the legal services we offer involve:
- High-net-worth divorces
- LGBTQIA+ divorces
- Legal separations and annulments
- Terminations of domestic partnerships
- Spousal support
- Child custody and visitation
- Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
- Domestic violence restraining orders (DVROs)
Complex Asset Divisions
California remains a community property state, which means that all assets acquired and debts accrued during marriage belong to both spouses equally. Some of the assets we frequently deal with during complex asset divisions include:
- Residential real estate, including family homes, rental homes, vineyards, and land
- Commercial real estate, including office buildings, individual units, and land
- Vehicles, including automobiles, marine vessels, and aircraft
- Substantial cash savings, including offshore bank accounts
- Stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, etc.
- Retirement plans, including 401(k) accounts, IRAs, and others
- Other specialized business interests
High-net-worth individuals require meticulous representation from a Napa family law attorney. The added protection provided by erudite legal advice can save a divorce client many millions of dollars at trial or during a settlement. The sooner you retain the services of a divorce lawyer in Napa, the sooner you can take a proactive approach to asset protection.
Spousal Support
Alimony and palimony, or spousal support, remain at the center of most divorce proceedings. At napadivorce.com, our experienced Napa divorce lawyers have successfully litigated and negotiated spousal support disputes for some of the valley’s most distinguished residents.
What Is Spousal Support and When Will a Court Award It?
In the most basic sense, spousal support is a court order that requires one party to pay a predetermined amount of money to the other party every month. A court might award spousal support as part of a divorce, termination of a domestic partnership, annulment, or legal separation.
Temporary vs. Long-term Spousal Support
When an individual files a claim for alimony or palimony, the court often awards temporary spousal support until the case reaches its conclusion. This temporary award helps the financially dependent party survive the entire divorce process. Once the court determines the amount of long-term spousal support, the payee receives funds every month.
Some of the reasons that long-term spousal support may terminate include:
- Death of one of the parties
- Remarriage of the supported spouse
- Revocation of support by subsequent court order
- Expiration of spousal support order for a marriage lasting less than ten years
How Does a Court Determine the Amount of Long-term Spousal Support?
When deciding how much a party will need to pay in spousal support each month, the court is legally required to consider various factors found in California Family Code. Those factors include:
- Earning capacity of each party relative to the standard of living enjoyed during marriage
- How much the supported party helped their spouse receive education, training, etc.
- Supporting party’s ability to pay
- The needs of each party based on the standard of living during marriage
- Assets and debts of each party
- Marriage duration
- Supported party’s job prospects and potential impact on dependents
- Age and health of each party
- Documented evidence of domestic violence
- Tax considerations
- Balance of hardships between the parties
- Ability of the supported party to self-support within a reasonable amount of time
- Criminal convictions
- Other just and equitable factors acknowledged by the court
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) and Complex Asset Divisions
At napadivorce.com, our team of legal professionals feels at home when dealing with high-profile divorces and their concomitant complex asset divisions. We frequently work with clients who wish to protect their interests in multiple investment properties, RSUs, and substantial retirement accounts.
Startup Founders and RSUs
Founders, executives, and high-level employees of California startups often control considerable assets, including RSUs. Our experienced attorneys and their affiliates execute professional asset valuations to the advantage of our high-value clients. We perform all assessments with a keen eye toward a determination of community property under California law.
Startup Employees and RSUs
Employees that later joined a startup need professional, nuanced legal advice. Depending on when their interests in RSUs became vested and when distribution took place, their stakes in the companies may constitute separate property, community property, or a mix of both. The implications regarding the final divorce settlement cannot be understated.
Child Custody Agreements and Modifications
During divorce proceedings, child custody often represents one of the most contentious issues. When spouses can come to terms and execute a child custody agreement, it benefits everyone, including the children and the court system.
Child Custody Agreements
In the State of California, there are two types of child custody: legal and physical. Legal custody involves the decision-making powers of one or both parents regarding the child’s health, education, and welfare. Physical custody refers to the child’s living situation as it relates to both parents.
If two parents cannot agree on legal and physical custody, the court will have to decide. However, when parents remain on sufficient terms to come together and advance their child’s welfare, they can stipulate where the child will live and who makes all of the important decisions for the child. If the judge believes the agreement benefits the child, s/he needs only to approve it.
Child Custody Modifications
At napadivorce.com, we understand that a parent’s circumstances can change dramatically after the approval of a child custody agreement or the issuance of a custody order. Fortunately, you can take steps to modify custody agreements and orders based on changed circumstances. In all cases, you should engage a qualified Napa divorce lawyer to help you.
Some of the changes in circumstances that may lead to child custody modifications include:
- Emergence or cessation of drug abuse
- Sudden inability to provide for the child
- New risks to the health and safety of the child
- Criminal convictions
- Child neglect or abuse
- Violation of a custody order
- Work schedule alterations
- Child’s express preferences
- Relocation
- Death
