Men's Family Law

This question is asked of us daily, and luckily the Judicial Council of California is there to help with information for people who want to get a divorce. This form was created by the Judicial Council to explain the process in broad easy to understand terms for anyone seeking a divorce.

As lawyers in Los Angeles we follow this basic process, though frequently with our cases there are many complex and confusing events that happen, but for the basic divorce process, this form makes it easy to understand.

Legal Steps for a Divorce in California

Continue Reading

The question everyone wants to know is what does a Los Angeles Divorce Lawyer cost? This question is like asking what type of car do you want to buy? Do you want a Mercedes-Benz or a Kia? There are divorce attorneys who charge $750 an hour and have $50,000 retainers, there are divorce lawyers who charge $175 an hour and will let you pay as you go.

The average Los Angeles Divorce attorney will cost a few hundred dollars an hour, depending on their age, skill, education, experience and ability. The bigger the law firm the more expensive they will be. Attorneys in Santa Monica, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Venice and throughout West Los Angeles, are more expensive than attorneys in Lancaster.

The better question is what can my lawyer get done for me? The attorney who is a straight shooter and tells you the reality of what you are facing, no matter what they charge, is a better lawyer than the attorney who tells you what you want to hear rather than the truth.

Continue Reading

Pisarra & Grist is a law firm in Los Angeles County that represents parents in child custody cases where one parent is trying to move-away to another state or country. We have represented parents in many child custody battles. Whether the fight involved moving a child from Downey to Kansas, or from Santa Monica to Portugal, we have fought in the Los Angeles Superior Courts for our clients rights.

Move-Away cases are tremendously difficult for the left-behind parent, because the courts give so much power to the primary custodial parent to relocate as they wish, the left-behind parent needs to fight to make sure they have enough parenting time (visitation) with their child, either through video chat, vacation make up times or other measures to ensure that the parent-child relationship remains strong.

We recently represented a father who relocated from a South Asian country and because of the facts we were able to secure him primary physical custody of his daughter, which means she will be growing up and educated in California.

Continue Reading

As attorneys in Los Angeles County we have seen Child Custody Evaluations evolve. As they have become more commonplace, due to the allegations by alienating parents of child abuse and sexual molesting, courts such as the Los Angeles Superior Court are focusing their court orders to be more issue specific in an effort to reduce costs.

The traditional child custody evaluation is a Full Child Custody Evaluation and that involves home visits, meeting and/or interviewing collateral people such as grandparents, aunts and uncles. This is a costly and time consuming process that can take up to a year to complete but usually takes only a few months. Our cases in Los Angeles County and Orange County have generally taken about 4-6 months with us as the lawyers keeping the child custody evaluation on track. Often times the alienating parent tries to stall the process as much as possible.

The Focused child custody evaluation is generally ordered when there are limited funds or a clear situation that the court needs additional information on. In Los Angeles County the courts can order a Solution Focused Evaluation when they need a “down and dirty” analysis of what is going on. This utilizes the social workers of the county to interview the parties in the morning session of court and then there is a hearing in the afternoon. We generally prefer that a private evaluator be appointed who can take more time and care.

Continue Reading

Parental Alienation cases in Los Angeles County generally require that a Child Custody Evaluation be ordered by the court. A child custody evaluation can be ordered by the Los Angeles Superior Court ( or whatever court you are in) to be paid for at county expense, or at the parties expense. As budget cuts throughout the state of California such as Ventura county, Los Angeles County or Orange County, have made county paid Child Custody Evaluations harder to come by, more judges are ordering private pays.

In parental Alienation cases, the alienating parent will usually be shown to be a narcissistic personality or a borderline personality, when a good evaluator determines that there is a personality disorder involved they will make recommendations based on the severity of the disorder and on ways to reunify the targeted parent and child.

Child Custody Evaluations in Parental Alienation cases should be approached carefully, and the targeted parent should be aware of what is required, the costs, and how to best approach the process. As family law attorneys who have handled many Parental Alienation cases, we can advise you as experienced lawyers, based on the circumstances, how to handle yourself and the alienating parent. We have represented child custody and divorce clients from San Diego to the Oregon border. Primarily we practice in Los Angeles County, Ventura County and Orange County.

Continue Reading