Child Custody & Visitation

Halloween: Co-parenting Doesn’t Have to be Scary

October 31, 2018 | by Roy M. Doppelt

The Law Offices of Doppelt and Forney, APLC is a full-service family law firm located in the Rancho Bernardo Area of San Diego County. We specialize in all aspects of family law including divorce, legal separation, child custody, child support, spousal support, attorney’s fees, residence exclusion orders and more. At the consultation, your lawyer will provide you with legal analysis and offer techniques and strategies to obtain your goals. We can assist with income withholding orders for wage garnishments. We can run guideline child and spousal support calculations so you have realistic expectations. We will perform and conduct legal research as needed. We prepare the petition and summons and all the initial dissolution pleadings for filing with the San Diego Superior Court. We can prepare the marriage settlement agreement and judgment pleadings. Our firm assists with the preparation of all pleadings and court appearances as necessary including the family resolution conferences. We also handle post judgment motions including motions for modification of child and spousal support and the parenting plan as well as motions to set aside the judgment and enforcement of the judgment.

Call today to learn how The Law Offices of Doppelt and Forney, APLC can help you with your family law case in San Diego.

With the holiday season just around the corner, many parents are starting to feel the anxiety that comes with co-parenting during the holiday season. While many larger holidays and breaks are written down and agreed upon in the parenting plan, Halloween is often left out. That doesn’t mean both parents and the kids can’t have a fun Halloween.

What are Temporary Orders?

October 26, 2018 | by Roy M. Doppelt

Trust the lawyers at The Law Offices of Doppelt and Forney, APLC to assist you in your divorce, legal separation or paternity case in San Diego County. During the free consultation, we will provide you with legal analysis and potential techniques to help you obtain your legal goals and protect your rights. We represent clients in family law court in all of the court houses in San Diego County including downtown, Vista, Chula Vista and El Cajon. Our firm assists with the preparation of all pleadings and court appearances as necessary including the family resolution conferences. We also handle post judgment motions including motions for modification of child and spousal support and the parenting plan as well as motions to set aside the judgment and enforcement of the judgment, among many other services.

To fully understand our range of services and how we could help you in your San Diego divorce case, call us today to schedule a free consultation.

Once the divorce is final, you and your ex-spouse will have figured out how to handle things such as child custody and visitation, child support and spousal support. But what do you do until then?

Millenials are Lowering the Divorce Rate

October 17, 2018 | by Roy M. Doppelt

Do you need legal representation for your family law case in San Diego County? We specialize in divorce, child custody and visitation, child support, legal separation and more. From negotiations to court appearances, we are here to help every step of the way. Call The Law Offices of Doppelt and Forney, APLC today to schedule your free consultation with one of our experienced lawyers. With over 50 years combined experience, you can count on us to protect your rights as a spouse or parent and help you achieve your legal goals.

Millennials have been blamed for killing off a lot of things. From postcards, top sheets, to bar soap, millennial trends have affected how many companies do business. But now, are millennials killing divorce?

According to University of Maryland professor Philip Cohen, from 2008 to 2016, the U.S. divorce rate dropped by 18 percent.

California Surrogate Loses Legal Battle for Custody in Headline-Making Case

March 28, 2017 | by Roy M. Doppelt

What began as a seemingly routine surrogacy situation evolved into an international news story and a protracted court case, due to the emergence of some unique twists and turns in the case. Ultimately, the California courts rejected a surrogate’s efforts to be declared the legal parent of the triplets she delivered. The Second Appellate District Court concluded that the agreement the woman signed was legal and was entered into knowingly and voluntarily, meaning it was enforceable, and the surrogate was not entitled to parental rights.

California Court Allows Father to Seek Restraining Order Against Mother’s New Boyfriend

February 21, 2017 | by Roy M. Doppelt

As a parent, one of the chief objectives most people seek to accomplish is to protect their children, particularly their minor children. This is especially true when the threat posed involves an element of sexual overtones. That was the scenario allegedly faced by one Los Angeles County dad, with regard to whom the Second Appellate District indicated that the law allowed the father to take action, not only in family court but also in civil court in the form of a restraining order.

Wife’s Motions that ‘Purposely Delayed and Frustrated’ Case Trigger Award of Attorney’s Fees

February 21, 2017 | by Roy M. Doppelt

Sometimes, divorce cases are extremely contentious. Sometimes, a party will make extremely incendiary and potentially damaging allegations, even though the courts would later declare that “not one iota of proof” supported those claims. Even when facing unfounded claims, it is important to take them seriously, retain counsel, and contest them aggressively. If the courts conclude, as they did in the recent case of one California father, that your ex-spouse purposely prolonged the case and delayed resolution, you may be entitled to an order demanding that your ex-spouse pay some of your attorney’s fees.

California Mother Not Allowed to Use Privileged Information from Father’s Therapy in Custody and Visitation Case

February 7, 2017 | by Roy M. Doppelt

In cases involving issues of child custody and visitation, parents may seek to introduce a wide array of relevant evidence to persuade the court of the correctness of their arguments. One thing a parent cannot do, however, is disclose information from her ex-spouse’s therapy that is protected by the psychotherapist-patient privilege when the patient did not waive the privilege. In one Northern California case, a mother sought to do exactly that but lost because, regardless of relevance or the children’s best interests, the information was covered by the privilege and had not been waived.

Dealing with a Major Move in California When You Share Joint Custody of Your Children

January 17, 2017 | by Roy M. Doppelt

A famous book and an accompanying menagerie of merchandise counsels us, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.” In law, however, this isn’t always good advice. Sometimes, it’s the small stuff that makes all the difference between a successful outcome and an unsuccessful one. In a recent Southern California case, the Fifth District Court of Appeal upheld a lower court’s ruling denying a mother’s request to move herself and her daughters from Bakersfield to the Los Angeles suburbs. The mom lost because none of the custody orders in her case had “the words ‘final,’ ‘permanent,’ or ‘judgment,’ or words to that effect.”

Determining Your Child’s Legal “Home” State and Whether You Can File for Custody in California

October 4, 2016 | by Roy M. Doppelt

There are many things you have to consider when you decide that it is necessary to go to court regarding the custody of your child. Aside from the many factual elements that may go into your case, there are some very basic legal issues that could make or break your effort to get your case heard and decided in your favor. One such issue is jurisdiction because, if the court where you file your case doesn’t have it, the judge cannot give you the relief you’re seeking, no matter how strong the factual side of your case is. In one case originating from San Bernardino County, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled that a father could pursue custody in the California courts, since this state qualified as his child’s “home” state, and, as a result, the court here did have jurisdiction to rule on his petition.

Drug/Alcohol Testing and California Custody and Visitation Decisions

August 16, 2016 | by Roy M. Doppelt

When you go to court in a custody or visitation matter, there are a variety of options available to the judge in your case. As a recent ruling from the Second District Court of Appeal demonstrates, one component of your custody or visitation order may involve making drug screening a condition of custody or visitation if one of the parents has a history of drug or alcohol abuse. What’s more, the law covering this testing says that the court can make the parent continue getting tested for as long as the court deems appropriate.