Law Office of Allison F. Zieman

A DISSOLUTION ACTION ALLOWS FOR DISCOVERY UNDER THE CIVIL DISCOVERY ACT This post is in response to an AVVO question I recently saw posted on their Q&A board as well as my own experience in the area of family law with numerous people telling me I didn’t know I could get that information. There are several different types of family law actions dissolutions, legal separations, child custody and visitation, domestic violence, etc. The particular focus of th...is post is on dissolutions, more commonly called divorces. In California, if both parties respond to the lawsuit (a petitioner and a respondent) at minimum to get a divorce both parties have to do a preliminary financial disclosure. In a divorce in California the court has among its powers the power to handle support as well as settlement of property rights. California is a community property state and by law each spouse is entitled to half the value of the community estate unless agreed otherwise or the couple has a negative asset estate. Often determining a spouse’s income and identifying and valuing each spouse’s property can be difficult. Often when a relationship goes bad it can take a while before it’s completely broken down and one spouse opts to petition for divorce. Sometimes one or both spouses in anticipation of a divorce will start hiding or moving assets. In some relationships one spouse was the one always controlling the finances living the other in the dark as to the couple's true financial status. So often a question is How do I make sure to get as much information as possible about the assets? The answer is discovery. A family law action falls under the umbrella of a civil action and unless otherwise specified in the family code the code of civil procedure is applied. In short, the civil discovery act in the code of civil procedure applies. You can locate the code on-line. The civil discovery act starts at section 2016.010 of the California Code of Civil Procedure. Options for discovery include 1) Subpoenas 2) Depositions 3) Interrogatories- form, special 4) Demand for Production and Inspection of Documents, Electronically Stored Information- etc. 5) Physical or Mental Examination 6) Request for Admissions 7) Use of Experts Discovery can become the most expensive part of the divorce process so I typically never recommend all methods of discovery, but I believe it is important people are aware of their options and can weigh the pros and cons of what steps they might want to take to feel comfortable with the final outcome of their divorce. As always this information is provided as general knowledge and not meant to be construed as specific advice for any one person’s specific situation. Attorneys exist for a reason and if in doubt one should always consult an attorney. If you read this article and found it helpful please like the post and if you haven’t already please like the page. See more

SETTING ASIDE A JUDGMENT: MOTION TO SET ASIDE AND VACATE I hope everyone is having a wonderful month. This post is based on an AVVO question whereby a person inquired about setting aside a stipulated judgment. First, it is possible to set aside judgments both default and/or stipulated judgments. However this motion to set aside and vacate has statutory timelines and specific requirements to do so. This means if you want to set aside a judgment, you have to file the necess...Continue reading

THWARTING THE OTHER PARENT’S PARENTING TIME- WHAT, IF ANY, COULD BE THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES? It has been awhile since I have done a Facebook post. Along with being busy in my practice, I have been consistently answering questions on AVVO’s question platform taking away from my Facebook posting time. I have decided to be efficient with my time and attempt to use the information in my AVVO questions toward a Facebook post. This brings me to my current topic- What, if any, coul...Continue reading

MORE INFO ON CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATIONS This post is in follow up from my previous post on July 24, 2015 entitled 730 EVALUATIONS IN CHILD CUSTODY DISPUTES. Through this post my plan is to address possible answers for the following questions-...Continue reading

WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU HAVE A DOCUMENT YOU WANT TO SHARE IN COURT, BUT YOU WANT IT KEPT CONFIDENTIAL? Notice of Lodging Sometimes in family court there are documents (aka evidence) a side wishes to share as part of their case. However, typically any documents filed with the court are scanned and uploaded to the court record and then, as a result, the information becomes public record. This means anyone who takes the time or effort to look up your case on-line can see and...Continue reading

TOOLS FOR SAFE PARENT COMMUNICATION DURING A SEPARATION OF ANY KIND I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother’s Day. This post is designed to inform parents about technology currently out there that is designed to help parents who are separating communicate safely about their children. In my line of work sometimes a couple is separating and the end of their relationship is so contentious that they can no longer communicate without a conversation ending in upset, anger, frustra...Continue reading

UPDATES RE: COURT & THE OFFICE It has been a long time since I have posted, for a lot of reasons. Now seemed the best time to give a post with updates about the courts as well as how my own office is handling the COVID-19 pandemic. First, on or around June 1, 2020, the court started their "soft" re-opening. Various executive orders have been issued by the courts for how they are handling the corona virus. Updates are posted regularly on-line and for anyone wanting more specif...ic information about Orange County you are encouraged to check out www.occourts.org and in particular the COVID-19 webpage. If you go to the COVID-19 link and click on the "Family Law & Family Court Services" box you will have access to the most recent court orders in family law with regard to the pandemic. Second, based on my personal experience so far with the court, no judges are allowing any attorney or self-represented party to appear in person unless it has been specifically ordered. Almost all departments are conducting hearings virtually. Depending on which department you are assigned to, a judge may be handling his/her caseload through either a telephone conference, WebEx, or Microsoft Teams. Typically, the court tries to send out written notice about the procedure for how to inform a particular department of how best to reach you virtually for a scheduled hearing. Usually, this involves an attorney or self-represented party sending an e-mail to the department at least 3 days before the hearing or status conference with the court's requested information included in the e-mail. The court's are doing their best to ensure people are still being heard and cases are going forward. Most judges are doing status conferences and setting future dates for evidentiary hearings as needed at the status conference. Third, with regard to my office, I am still conducting business. However to ensure everyone's health and safety, in person office meetings are not occurring at this time. All work is being handled via phone, e-mail, secure message, and/or videoconferencing. So far this has allowed me to continue to provide quality services to clients while maintaining the recommended safety precautions such as social distancing . Fourth, since it has been a while since I have posted, a new website was published for my law office- www.ziemanlaw.com. Feel free to check the new website out. I hope everyone is able to stay safe, sane and healthy during these unprecedented times.