Family Law

I have practiced family law in Fullerton, County of Orange, for over 25 years, and mediation since 1986. Now I limit my practice to guiding people through the divorce process, whether through mediation with both spouses or by consulting with one spouse.

I have mediated divorces filed in the counties of Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles, as well as Orange County. My clients do not need to go to court when the legal paperwork is properly prepared and filed in the appropriate county.

• Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

• Adoptions
• Child Support
• Custody
• Paternity
• Visitation

• Civil Unions
• Common Law Marriage
• Domestic Partnerships
• Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender Rights
• Living Together/Cohabitation
• Marriage
• Power of Attorney
• Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements

• Powers of Attorney
• Advanced Health Care Directive

Divorce

I have practiced family law in Fullerton, County of Orange, for over 25 years, and mediation since 1986. Now I limit my practice to guiding people through the divorce process, whether through mediation with both spouses or by consulting with one spouse.

I have mediated divorces filed in the counties of Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles, as well as Orange County. My clients do not need to go to court when the legal paperwork is properly prepared and filed in the appropriate county.

• Alimony/Palimony/Spousal Support
• Annulment
• Child Support
• Custody/Visitation Rights
• Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR)
• Uncontested Divorce

CA, Dec 1976
Bar Number: 71402

Superior Court of the State of California which encompasses all counties of the state including Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Los Angeles County and Orange County.

State Bar of California; Orange County Bar Association; California Women Lawyers; Southern California Mediation Association.

I attend the monthly meetings of the Family Law Bar Association, Orange County, as well as seminars on divorce and family law. I attend Southern California Mediation Association events and annual conference at Pepperdine University Malibu.

Currently, I write for the Fullerton Observer, a community newspaper.

In one divorce mediation, the parents, both doctors, reviewed their parenting plan with their 15 year-old daughter. She objected to being told which parent she had to be with and when. So I helped mom and dad devise a plan whereby they would alternately be responsible for their daughter during their agreed times, no matter whose house the child chose to remain in. That way, the parents were able to plan for their separate free time, as well as assuring the child was appropriately supervised.

After the second session, another couple was too high-conflict for mediation, and I informed them of this. Their marriage counselor telephoned me and said they just had to continue in mediation. They came in every week, then twice a week. I finally obtained closure with the help of their therapist. The couple behaved as if they were addicted to conflict.

A key element of divorce mediation is knowing when to tell the wife or husband that he or she needs to consult with a divorce lawyer to best evaluate a particular part of the contemplated settlement. On one occasion, the husband needed independent advice as to whether a piece of real estate he claimed was separate had an element of community, as wife claimed.

A "free consultation" with a lawyer had led him to believe it was entirely separate property. After he consulted with a family law lawyer, for which he paid the appropriate fee, he acknowledged that his wife had an interest, and they reached a full property settlement to complete their divorce through mediation.

Another couple owned a house and a small trucking business. Husband was willing to sign over the house to wife, and she was willing to sign over the business to him, but she wondered if the trucking business might be worth more than the house. I said a forensic appraiser could tell them the value of the business at a cost (then) of at least $3,500. They hesitated to spend that amount of money for an appraisal. I suggested wife consult with a family law lawyer to decide if an appraisal was warranted. She did so, and they completed their divorce property settlement without an appraisal of the business.

As a neutral third party in divorce mediation, I do not give legal advice to either husband or wife.

1

California

I began practicing law in 1976 when the "no fault" system was just three years old, courthouse mediation for "custody" was being developed, and an awareness of domestic violence was growing. I was part of a consortium convened by Alice Oxman in Los Angeles in 1989-90 to develop protocols to deal with domestic violence in court mediation departments.

At first, I had a great many divorce cases involving domestic violence. Now, there is a program at the court to assist people in obtaining restraining orders. In 1986, a friend, Mildred Daley Pagelow, a sociologist, had taken training for divorce mediation, and she asked me to be her attorney consultant. I began learning mediation through this sort of internship. I liked it, and began taking training myself. I have over 60 hours of mediation training, as well as continuing education through the Southern California Mediation Association.

My focus is on problem-solving. I guide people through the processes required to obtain court orders or judgments when needed for a family law or divorce matter.

I consult with people who are doing their own legal work, as well as assisting people through negotiation and mediation. I have been listed with "How to Do Your Own Divorce in California," Nolo Press, for many years.

Most often, couples who reach an agreement for identifying, valuing and dividing their property and debts, and have worked out plans for parenting their children (termed "custody and visitation" by the courts), will ask me to take care of their legal paperwork to file with the court, and I do that also.

My chief previous employment was raising seven children. I also wrote for The Menomonee Falls News and The Milwaukee Journal, did some promotion work for Sears Roebuck and Co., and inspected floor tile one summer at Johns-Manville. I also taught two semesters of Criminal Law at California State University Fullerton.

Founder of the Women's Caucus at Western State University College of Law; legal counseling through Women's Transitional Living Center; organizing committee, first Mediation Week recognition in Orange County, 1992; speaker, Women's Forum of Congressmembers Patterson and Ferraro, 1982; speaker, Law Day Orange County 1978.

We are available by appointment, including evenings and occasionally on Saturday mornings.

No

My rate for mediation is $250 an hour for each session. My rate for preparing all the court forms, including service of process and a judgment, is $1,900 for a divorce with children and a parenting plan.

I sometimes consult with people for less than my hourly rate of $250.

I offer an initial consultation at no charge to explain the mediation and divorce process, fees and costs, and to help decide if mediation is the appropriate way for a couple to obtain a divorce.

For mediation, I have a one-time administrative fee of $500. Each party receives a divorce mediation packet. I prepare a Memorandum of Understanding after each session, included in that fee, until a final memorandum is signed.