A divorce, child custody case or other family law case does not always have to be a traumatic, combative experience. Even when the issues are complex, your future is at stake and emotions are running high, Lancaster, California family law attorney Jesus Zuniga protects your legal rights while avoiding unnecessary conflict and stress.

Attorney Jesus Zuniga guides his clients through the most difficult and emotional legal problems that a parent can experience. Parental rights are important and sacred, and Jesus Zuniga has the know-how and experience to defend them.

 

Contac Attorney Zuniga when you need help with:

• Divorce
• Child Custody
• Child Support
• Child Visitation
• Restraining Orders
• Jurisdictional Issues

Parents Need to Protect Their Rights in Custody Cases:
No area of family law brings to the courtroom the tension, anxiety and raw emotion as child custody and visitation litigation. Many factors influence an award of custody, and the way a case is presented in court can have a large impact on the result for you and your children.

The clients of Attorney Jesus Zuniga always receive the benefits of his best efforts. His office provides excellent, conscientious service to parents with child custody, child support and family-related issues in Lancaster and the surrounding cities and counties of California. Special attention is given to interstate custody and child support cases where the other parent lives in another state.

The Importance of Child Support:
Child support covers everything a child needs, and even more, during the growth and formative years. A parent's first and principal obligation is to support his or her minor children according to the parent's circumstances and station in life, and children should share in the standard of living of both parents.

The amount of a child support award is more than a question of bare necessities. If the child has a wealthy parent, that child is entitled to, and therefore needs something more than the bare necessities of life. Where the supporting parent enjoys a lifestyle that far exceeds the custodial parent's living standard, child support must to some degree reflect that more opulent lifestyle. This is so even though, as a practical matter, the child support payments may incidentally benefit others in the custodial household whom the payor parent has no obligation to support (e.g., custodial parent owed no spousal support, adult children, or children from custodial parent's other relationships). Children are entitled to share in the non-custodial parent’s elevated standard of living despite custodial parent's lower income.

"Our sophisticated, congenial practice can litigate and try cases against firms of any size while maintaining the quality representation and the personalized service that our clients have come to expect of us, and that we demand of ourselves.  We will find the quickest, least-expensive, and most fair resolution of your legal matter."

- Lancaster, California Family Law Attorney Jesus Zuniga

If you or someone you know in Lancaster or throughout California needs the assistance of an experienced family law attorney, please call Jesus Zuniga today at 866-653-3045, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your initial consultation.

Practice Areas and Legal Definitions

Divorce:
A court of law is the only way one can obtain a divorce decree, dissolution, legal separation, nullity or other form of terminating a marriage.  Other than the termination of the marital estate, the court also has jurisdiction to resolve other issues that are intertwined in the existing marriage which include, but are not limited to: custody and visitation rights, division of property of the marital estate, spousal support, child support, restraining orders, etc. 

Child Custody:
Custody is the charge and control of a child, including the right to make all major decisions such as education, religious upbringing, training, health and welfare.  Custody usually refers to a combination of physical custody and legal custody.  Many factors influence an award of custody and the way a case is presented in court can have a large impact on the result for you and your children.  If you are awarded the children as a primary custodial parent, it has far reaching consequences both to you and to their well-being and development. 

Child Support:
Child support is a periodic payment made to a custodial parent from a non-custodial parent to help compensate a child's living expenses, i.e. food, clothes, etc., and any other related debts.  When one parent is awarded sole custody, as in the event of a divorce, the non-custodial parent is required to fulfill his or her child support obligation by making set payments, whereas the custodial parent meets his or her support obligation through the custody itself.  When parents are awarded joint custody in a divorce, however, the support obligation is shared and is based on a ratio of each parent's income and the amount of time the child spends with each parent. 

The obligation to support minor children cannot be waived by either parent and is a right enjoyed by the child, not the parent.  Each state has guidelines that factor the amount of child support, such as the amount of time spent with the child, the income of both parents and the standard of living the child is accustomed to.  The court may allow deductions for items such as catastrophic medical expenses and travel expenses for visitation. 

Jurisdictional Issues:
When faced with a relocating custodial parent, the court will general require that parent to give the other parent a minimum amount of notice prior to the anticipated move.  This notice gives the non-custodial parent an opportunity to go to court and seek orders restraining the relocation of the child. 

These so-called move away cases have gone back and forth on allowing and disallowing a move by the custodial parent with the minor children for over 20 years.  While the best interests of the child have always been central to the decision, the uncertainty has made this area murky.  Prior to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, when parents sought an advantage in a custody tug-of-war, they would move to a "friendly" jurisdiction (that is, a region with a history of rulings favorable to their position). However, after the UCCJA was adopted by all 50 states, family law courts were forced to defer jurisdiction to the home state, and this custody battle tactic lost favor. 

If you or someone you know in Lancaster or throughout California needs the assistance of an experienced family law attorney, please call Jesus Zuniga today at 866-640-2751 or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your initial consultation.

The Law Offices of Jesus Zuniga provide a comfortable setting for you to retain top legal representation to resolve your case as quickly, inexpensively and as fairly as possible.

If you or someone you know in Lancaster or throughout California needs the assistance of an experienced family law attorney, please call Jesus Zuniga today at 866-653-3045, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your initial consultation.

FIRM ADDRESS:
Jesus Zuniga
43545 17th St W Ste 602
Lancaster, CA 93534
Phone: 866-653-3045
Hours: M-F, 8:00AM-5:00PM.
Appointments also available after hours.

Se habla Espanol

MEMBERS OF THE FIRM:
Jesus Zuniga 

EDUCATION:

• Hastings College of the Law
• University of California, Los Angeles 
  

COURTS ADMITTED:
State of California