Innovative Practice, Strategic Solutions
Located in Southern California’s Inland Empire, Empire Family Law is an innovative, cost-effective, and client-centered law firm dedicated to providing personalized attention and strategic solutions.
Divorce & Legal Separation
Divorce and legal separation services.
Let’s face it, you don’t enter a marriage expecting it to fail. You enter it with love and excitement. However, sometimes people realize that despite their best efforts, it’s time to close that chapter of their lives and open a new chapter. While this is difficult decision, it is one that can be simplified by understanding your rights and responsibilities associated with divorce. What happens to your health insurance? Who keeps the house? What about my car? What about my kids? How much will I pay or get in support? Where will I live? These are all questions that often come up in family law matters. Let’s make a plan to get you through this chapter and move into the next chapter of your life.
Property Division
Identification, characterization, valuation, and division.
California is a community-property state. That means that there’s a presumption that from the date you were married, until the “date of separation” (which is a legal tem) all assets and liabilties beling to the community, not the individual party. While there are exceptions to this rule, it is important to clearly identify and characterize property and debts.
This is a four-step process. 1- Identify; 2- Characterize; 3- Value; 4- Divide.
Child Custody
Establish custody & visitation timeshare, and modify existing orders.
When parents are going through a divorce or legal separation, one of the most challenging matter is establishing child custody and visitation rights. As not only an experienced law firm, but as parents – we have the sensitivity necessary to guide you and your family through this stressful time. Striving for your child’s best interest, we focus on establishing a child custody and visitation plan that considers your child, their needs, family dynamics, and parental fitness. In addition to representing parents, at Empire Family Law, we represent same sex partners and grandparents in custody/visitation disputes as well.
Child & Spousal Support
Establish and modify child support and spousal support.
Child and spousal support can be quite the sensitive matter when it comes to family law cases. It’s a balancing act between providing fair support while taking into consideration each other’s financial standing. When calculating child support and alimony, a number of different factors must be taken into consideration to ensure fair calculations. Therefore, it’s highly recommended that you consult with an attorney, such as Tony Luzuriaga, when determining and deciding on child and spousal support agreements.
Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements
Pre/Postnuptial Agreements for avoiding future disputes.
First off, neither a prenuptial (before marriage) nor a postnuptial (after marriage) agreement suggests your marriage will fail. Rather, these agreements are negotiated and drafted to clarify how property will be divided and/or how much spousal support shall be given should divorce or legal separation arise. Given the complexity of California laws and to avoid any future misunderstanding, we strongly suggest implementing a prenuptial / postnuptial agreement.
Paternity
Establish parental rights.
In California, when a married couple has a child, there is a legal presumption that the husband is the father and the wife is the mother. Similarly, as of 2005, it is legally presumed that when registered domestic partners have a child, both domestic partners are the child’s parent. In other cases, however, if a father is not married to the child’s mother when she becomes pregnant or gives birth, the father (even if he is the child’s biological father) is not considered the legal father until parentage is established. Consequently, the father does not have any legal rights or responsibilities over the child. Accordingly, parentage, which is a legal determination stating who the parents are, must be established prior to obtaining child support, child custody, and/or visitation orders.
Domestic Violence
Restraining Orders Protecting Victims & Defense for the Accused
Rightfully, California takes physical and sexual domestic violence matters seriously. First off, if you’re in danger of domestic violence, if all possible, please leave your residence and get to a safe shelter. If you’re in danger of immediate abuse, please contact the police or someone nearby to get help right away. Second, once you’re in a safe place, contact our office to file a restraining order with the court. Conversely, if you have been accused and/or convicted of domestic violence, we can also help. Such accusations and/or convictions should not be taken lightly. At Empire Family Law we can offer legal guidance and strategic defenses to help with such cases.
