Law Office of David P. Schwarz

Law Office of David P. Schwarz Orange County Family Law Lawyer and Criminal Defense Lawyer. https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DavidSchw The Law Office of David P.

Schwarz, based in Orange County, California, has focused its practice on divorce and family law. Among its practice areas are child custody & visitation, child support, property division, guardianships, move away orders, prenuptial agreements, divorce, annulments, paternity and child support, domestic violence and restraining order defense. Visit Orange County Divorce Lawyer Blog to learn more.

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WHAT IS DEFINED AS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?It is important to determine who falls under the category of a victim or who can fi...
04/15/2022

WHAT IS DEFINED AS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?

It is important to determine who falls under the category of a victim or who can file a domestic violence action in California. Also, people also want to know what is domestic violence and how it applies to my life if there is some sort of violence or “abuse” in California. The word abuse is a key to determining domestic violence in the state of California. A defendant who is convicted of a crime involving domestic violence will be sentenced under a number of special rules governing such crimes. These rules may apply even though the underlying crime is not a domestic violence crime, but rather arose out of a domestic relationship.

To fall under the domestic violence statute you must fall under certain parameters of the domestic violence law

Penal Code section 13700(b) defines “domestic violence” as “abuse committed against [either] an adult or a minor” who is a:

Spouse.
Former spouse.
Cohabitant. “Cohabitant means two unrelated adult persons living together for a substantial period of time, resulting in some permanency of relationships. Factors that may determine whether persons are cohabitating include (1) sexual relations between the parties while sharing the same living quarters, (2) sharing of income or expenses, (3) joint use or ownership of property, (4) whether the parties hold themselves out as husband and wife, (5) the continuity of the relationship, and (6) the length of the relationship.” Individuals who merely sublet in the same household are not protected under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act.
Former cohabitant. Evidence that for three to four months the defendant and the victim had been staying at the same location, sleeping on the floor or in the garage of a friend was sufficient to establish “cohabitating.”
A person with whom the suspect has had a child.
A person who is having or has had a dating relationship. For protection under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, a “dating relationship” exists when two people have a reciprocally amorous and increasingly exclusive interest in one another.
A person who is having or has had an engagement relationship.
Family Code section 6211 defines “domestic violence” to also include abuse perpetrated against:

A child of a party or a child who is the subject of the parentage legal proceeding.
Any other person related by “consanguinity or affinity within the second degree.”
To be sentenced for a domestic violence crime, the defendant must have committed a crime against a person listed in either section 13700 or Family Code section 6211.

PARALLEL PARENTING VS. CO-PARENTINGParallel parenting refers to a method of co-parenting in which each parent has their ...
04/15/2022

PARALLEL PARENTING VS. CO-PARENTING

Parallel parenting refers to a method of co-parenting in which each parent has their own parenting approach when the children are with them. In parallel parenting, parents do not attend the same functions, appointments, or child-related events. Communication in parallel parenting often occurs solely through email, text messages, or a co-parenting app.

What is the difference between co-parenting and parallel parenting?

Co-parenting and parallel parenting are different. A co-parenting relationship can include many communication touchpoints via phone, email, and text messages. The co-parents may align on a shared parenting approach for a child. In contrast, parallel parenting relationships usually involve limited communication through the written word only. Parallel parents do not share parenting approaches and essentially parent separately.

Taking a parallel approach to co-parenting

Parallel parenting allows for high-conflict co-parents to maintain their collective parenting responsibilities while disconnecting from each other personally. This parenting strategy helps parents attain a level of independence that they may not have felt previously and helps build a framework for healthy boundaries in shared parenting moving forward.

In a parallel parenting arrangement, all of your communication should be business-like and focused on your children. You’re also likely to agree to limit how you communicate to only be in writing and via one specific platform.

Certain aspects of parallel parenting will likely prove to change parts of your shared custody routine and parenting plan.

In a parallel parenting plan, you’ll probably change the location of your parenting time exchanges to a neutral space away from either of your homes or use a supervised exchange service.

Parallel parenting calls for parents to agree to make day-to-day decisions for their children independently. While important decisions on matters like education and medical care may still be made jointly, everyday choices like what the kids will have for lunch or what movie they’ll watch over the weekend are ones that each parent will make on their own.

All in all, this parenting style lays a foundation to end high-conflict co-parenting. It helps encourage parents to remove their focus from one another and keep it solely on maintaining the well-being of their children.

While a more cooperative co-parenting situation is often ideal, parallel parenting isn’t an arrangement that must last forever. One of the benefits of parallel parenting is that you can allow the arrangement to morph depending on your family’s needs and how your relationship evolves with your co-parent.

Other benefits of parallel parenting include:

Less conflict between homes
Greater sense of confidence when making parenting decisions
More predictability when communicating about parenting matters
Reduced stress for the whole family, kids included
In a parallel parenting arrangement, it is necessary for parents to find an appropriate method of communication. You may find that the method you choose for shared parenting communication stands apart from the other methods you use to communicate with others.

Phone calls, emails, and texts may be unsuitable in many high-conflict co-parenting situations, and their free-form nature will often make them an unsuitable choice for parallel parenting.

CRIMINAL PROTECTIVE ORDERSProtective orders are available in response to good cause belief of harm to, intimidation of, ...
04/15/2022

CRIMINAL PROTECTIVE ORDERS

Protective orders are available in response to good cause belief of harm to, intimidation of, or dissuasion of victim or witness; effect of emergency protective orders; restrictions on fi****ms possession.

The court may issue an ex parte order enjoining a party from molesting, attacking, striking, stalking, threatening, sexually assaulting, battering, harassing, telephoning, including, but not limited to, making annoying telephone calls as described in destroying personal property, contacting, either directly or indirectly, by mail or otherwise, coming within a specified distance of, or disturbing the peace of the other party, and, in the discretion of the court, on a showing of good cause, of other named family or household members.

Upon a good cause belief that harm to, or intimidation or dissuasion of, a victim or witness has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur, a court with jurisdiction over a criminal matter may issue orders.

This current criminal restraining order law is very clear in its use in court. However, there is an overstepping of boundaries by the District Attorney when seeking these protective orders. They want to get the order even if the defendant is not charged with a crime involving violence. That is an overstepping and has to be held in check by an effective attorney or a cautious judge. I recently found myself in court defending a client who was charged with trespass and nothing more. The District Attorney sought a criminal protective order which would make my client give up his gun rights. Luckily the Court was on my side and felt that my client was not charged with any violent crime and therefore penal code 136.2 did not apply as far as my client losing his gun rights. So in the end it is important to stand up for your rights when it comes to the overreaching of the state using its bully tactics.

IS FILING FOR GUARDIANSHIP FOR YOU? Often people are found to be caring for a minor that is not your child. Whether it ...
04/14/2022

IS FILING FOR GUARDIANSHIP FOR YOU?

Often people are found to be caring for a minor that is not your child. Whether it be a friends child or a nephew or a grandchild. You may ask what legal rights do I have over the child that I am caring for that is not my own child. Good Question. The answer lies in the laws of Guardianship of the person. In Probate Court there is a means to get legal authority to step in as a parent to the minor child without becoming the adoptive parent. Most people do not have the awareness of using guardianship to their advantage if they are not related to the minor child in question.

The guardianship law is similar to child custody law as it looks at the best interest review method to determine who the minor child should live with. Under the guardianship code section the Court will do an investigation of the home of the proposed guardians.

a court investigator, probation officer, or domestic relations investigator shall make an investigation and file with the court a report and recommendation concerning each proposed guardianship of the person or guardianship of the estate. Investigations where the proposed guardian is a relative shall be made by a court investigator. Investigations where the proposed guardian is a nonrelative shall be made by the county agency designated to investigate potential dependency.
Thus is very important to have a close connection with the minor child and understand in depth the concerns why the child needs a guardianship in place. The Court wants to know if the child is suffering in any way by his biological parents caregiving. Once the report is due the investigator will write a evaluation of the current potential guardians whether they are suitable to be awarded guardianship or not. If the Judge sees the recommendation from the investigator they will assume the petitioners are able to take care of the child.

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