How are Custody issues decided?
No area of family law brings to the courtroom as much tension, anxiety, hostility and raw emotion as child custody and visitation litigation. Reaching an agreement regarding custody significantly decreases the stress and tension of a divorce. Sometimes the parties are unable to reach the goal of what is best for the children involved because anger and resentment clouds their judgment.

Most often a judge will take great pains to get parents themselves to come to a mutually acceptable custody agreement, if that is possible. A decision made by a stranger is rarely completely acceptable to all. The family court systems of California usually have several layers of counseling, mediation and conciliation to attempt to bring warring parents together for the purpose of resolving the issue of what it is in the best interests of their children.

How is the amount of child support determined?
Federal law now requires that the amount of a child support payment be set in accordance with a guideline. Having a guideline is believed to prevent widely different amounts of child support being ordered from courtroom to courtroom. Guidelines provide an objective basis for the determination of the amount of support to be paid. California has established formulas that are used to determine the amount of the payment from one parent to the other. Southern California lawyer Mark H. Rademacher will safeguard your rights and fight for what is fair.

How is the amount of spousal support determined?
Spousal support is determined through different methods, depending upon whether a judgment of dissolution of marriage (divorce) is being entered. In the early stages of a divorce case, a computer formula is used to determine the amount of spousal support, just as with child support. The Court uses statutory guidelines to determine spousal support when the judgment is entered (or thereafter). The Court has some discretion in setting spousal support when a judgment is being entered, or after the judgment has been entered when one of the parties wants to change the support amount.

How can you minimize the expense and stress of a divorce?
Sometimes this is very difficult because one or both of the parties is so emotional (often angry) that he or she uses the divorce proceedings to act out their anger and disappointment. If the parties can still communicate and are willing to be fair with each other, using an attorney as a mediator to guide them through the divorce process (or other family law issue) generally serves to minimize conflict and expense.