There’s lots of gossip and rumors floating online these days, and divorce is no exception. Many half-truths and misrepresentations about custody, visitation, alimony, and more are often shared across social media, videos, forums, and more. At the White Oak Law, we’ve heard them all, and to that end, we want to spend some time dispelling some of the more common misconceptions. 

Stepparents often play an important role in a child’s life. As the spouse of their biological parent, stepparents may fulfill an important parental role and they play a hand in raising and providing support for the child. Children and stepparents can form strong bonds and become as attached as any other family members. 

When a parent is unable to provide proper care, guidance, support, or ensure the safety of a child, the state of California may determine that the parent is unfit. This can lead to additional actions such as a formal investigation, loss of custody or visitation, and loss of parental rights. 

People usually get married with the intention of staying together for the rest of their lives. However life doesn’t always play out how we expect and marriages don’t always work out for a variety of reasons. Perhaps financial strain pushed the two apart, maybe one decided to step out of the marriage with infidelity, or sometimes people just realize they aren’t truly as compatible as they thought they were. 

Does the reason behind the divorce matter? Today, we’re taking a look at how California determines grounds for divorce. In other words, what are the valid reasons someone can get divorced in CA?

In CA, unmarried couples who live together are defined under the category of cohabitation. There’s no common law marriage in the state, which means that the legal rights of co-habitating couples vary significantly from those of married couples.

Today, we want to talk about the legal specifics of how unmarried cohabitating couples operate under family law in CA. Note that this differs from a domestic partnership, where a couple formally applies and are awarded similar benefits to those enjoyed by married couples.