Divorce law in California has the purpose of dissolving or terminating a marriage with the good of both parties to that marriage in mind. Divorce, entered into without competent divorce or separation counsel can be devastating to your life.  Anyone can learn how to file and get a divorce, however, the results may not be favorable, and could even be devastating in some divorce cases. You have legal rights and protections that must be addressed at the very time that you are the most fragile emotionally.

Strategies in divorce for men and strategies in divorce for women may sometimes be different. There may be ongoing issues that relate to the divorce that may affect you financially, emotionally and socially for the rest of your life. Custody rights, child support, spousal support, visitation schedules, parental rights, property division, community property,  protection of your assets, even protection of your retirement account ,are issues that may be addressed in this process.

Even an amicable divorce or a legal separation agreement, drafted by the concerned parties themselves, may omit information that affects their rights and could cost each of them for years to come. Many such mistakes can be avoided with competent and knowledgeable legal advice and divorce services.

The Hermosa Beach, California, Law Offices of Randolph J. Brandelli understands that nothing can change your life so completely as divorce law and separation law issues.

Our Affordable Divorce Attorney has experience and expertise in the California laws that affect you both at this time of turmoil and knows the rights and the protections that are built into divorce law.

Free consultation with a California divorce lawyer. Contact us today  at 310-318-9090 or email us at www.brandellilaw.com.  The rest of your life begins now!

Your family is important. When you're making legal decisions that will affect you and your family, you need to have confidence in your attorney. Let us know how we can help.

Prenuptial/Planning Ahead: The Law Offices of Randolph J. Brandelli is helping couples plan for their future.

Prenuptial Agreements, Premarital Agreements, Domestic Partnership Agreements, Business Interest Prenups, Post-Marital Agreements

Child custody law in California refers to the custody of a minor, who has not attained 18 years of age, or who suffers certain medical or mental handicaps. Legal custody, physical custody, or visitation rights assigned by the court may be either permanent, temporary or initial. There also may be a modification order, which will change any of the above. Child custody is a totally separate legal issue from that of child support or monetary obligations orders.

There may be child custody concerns that affect where you live, the hours you work, or with whom you associate. The court may order a sole, joint, or split custody. Competent child custody counsel can help you determine what is best for your child and you. You and your child, or children, have legal rights and protections that may be addressed at the very time that you are the most fragile emotionally.

The Hermosa Beach, California, Law Offices of Randolph J. Brandelli understands your concern with California child custody and other family issues.

Our Affordable Attorney has experience and expertise in the California laws that affect you both at this time of turmoil and knows the rights and the protections that are built into child custody law.

Free consultation with a California, South Bay and child custody lawyer. Contact us today at 310-318-9090 or email us at www.brandellilaw.com. The rest of your life begins now!

Child Custody: Determining a fair parenting plan that is in the best interests of the child can be very difficult, especially when both parents disagree. The Law Offices of Randolph J. Brandelli is representing parents and families in proceedings involving child custody and child support, providing the level of legal services your family deserves.  Our family law attorney provides services involving:

• Child Custody

• Physical Custody

• Legal Custody

• Child Support

• Paternity

• Father's Rights

• Mother's Rights

• Grandparent's Rights

• Stepparent's Adoption

• Children of Domestic Parents

• Visitation Rights

• Move-Aways and Relocation

If you would like to discuss child support guidelines, custody, visitation, modification, enforcement, or another family law matter with our experienced family law attorney, please contact our office for a free consultation today at 310-318-9090 or email at www.brandellilaw.com.

Unmarried partners who want to raise children together face a host of unique concerns. What steps must unmarried parents take to ensure that they are both considered the legal parents of their child?

To make sure that a child's biological parents are also the legal parents, both mother and father should be listed on the child's birth certificate. If you want to add a parent's name to a birth certificate, contact your state's Bureau of Vital Statistics. You can find this contact information by visiting the website of the National Center for Health Statistics.

In order to be listed on a child's birth certificate, most states require unmarried fathers to sign an affidavit or acknowledgment of paternity. In any case, it's a good idea for both parents to write, sign and notarize a statement acknowledging the father's paternity. You can take this one step further by contacting your state's Vital Statistics office and asking whether they keep paternity statements on file. If they do, make sure yours is filed.

Does a child born to unmarried parents qualify for government benefits?

Any biological or legal child is eligible for government benefits, including Social Security survivorship benefits, government pension benefits and the like. The key is to ensure birth certificate and paternity issues are resolved as soon as, or shortly after, the child's birth. Once that's done, you can be assured that if tragedy strikes you or your partner, your child will be covered. If you neglect to establish yourself as a legal parent -- for example, by failing to put your name on the birth certificate -- and your child seeks government benefits after your death, the agency may deny his or her request because there isn't any proof that you were the parent. At the very least, your child will have to deal with the hassles of proving parentage.

The Hermosa Beach, California, Law Offices of Randolph J. Brandelli understands your concerns with California Rights of unmarried couples and other family issues.

Our Affordable Divorce Attorney has experience and expertise in the California laws that affect you both at this time of turmoil and knows the rights and the protections that are built into rights of unmarried couples law.

Free consultation with a California, South Bay divorce lawyer. Contact us at 310-318-9090 or email us at www.brandellilaw.com. The rest of your life begins now!

Domestic partners are unmarried couples, of the same or opposite sex, who live together and seek economic and noneconomic benefits granted their married counterparts. In a few states, domestic partnership status is offered and regulated by the state and grants many of the rights and responsabilities of marriage -- generally limited to same-sex couples. In other places, domestic partnership is offered by smaller governmental entities or businesses and carries more limited benefits. In either case, benefits can include:

• Health, dental, and vision insurance

• Sick and bereavement leave

• Accident and life insurance

• Death benefits

• Housing rights and tuition reduction (at universities) and use of recreational facilities

The Hermosa Beach, California, Law Offices of Randolph J. Brandelli understands your concern with California Domestic Partnership and other family issues.

Our Affordable Domestic Partnership Attorney has experience and expertise in the California laws that affect you both at this time of turmoil and knows the rights and the protections that are built into domestic parternship law.

Free consultation with a California, South Bay family and domestic partnership  Lawyer. Contact us today at 310-318-9090 or email us at www.brandellilaw.com. The rest of your life begins now!

Types of Adoptions

There are quiet a few different ways to bring a child into your life, or confirm your legal relationship with one, through adoption. Here are the different ways that adoption can work:

Agency Adoptions
Agency adoption involves the placement of a child with adoptive parents by a public agency, or by a private agency licensed or regulated by the state.

Public agencies generally place children who have become wards of the state for reasons such as orphanage, abandonment, or abuse. Private agencies are sometimes run by charities or social service organizations. Children placed through private agencies are usually brought to the agency by a parent or parents who have or are expecting a child they want to give up for adoption.

Independent Adoptions
In a private, or independent, adoption, no agency is involved in the adoption. Some independent adoptions involve a direct arrangement between the birth parents and the adoptive parents, while others use an intermediary such as an attorney, doctor, or clergy person. But for most independent adoptions, whether or not an intermediary is used, an attorney will be needed to take care of the court paperwork.

Most states allow independent adoptions, though many regulate them quite carefully.

An "open adoption" is an independent adoption in which the adoptive parents and birth parents have contact during the gestation period and the new parents agree to maintain some contact with the birth parents after the adoption, through letters, photos, or in-person visits.

Identified Adoptions
An identified, or designated, adoption is one in which the adopting parents and the birth mother find each other and then ask an adoption agency to take over the rest of the adoption process. The process is a hybrid of an independent and an agency adoption.
Prospective adoptive parents are spared the waiting list of agencies by finding the birth parents themselves, but they reap the benefits of the agency's experience with adoption legalities and its counseling services.

International Adoption
In an international adoption, the new parents adopt a child who is a citizen of a foreign country. In addition to satisfying the adoption requirements of both the foreign country and the parent's home state in the U.S., the parent must obtain an immigrant visa for the child through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly called INS). The child will be granted U.S. citizenship automatically upon entering the United States.

The Hermosa Beach, California, Law Offices of Randolph J. Brandelli understands your concerns with California adoptions and other family issues.

Our Affordable Adoption Attorney has experience and expertise in the California laws that affect you both at this time of turmoil and knows the rights and the protections that are built into adoption law.

Free consultation with a California, South bay family and adoption lawyer. Contact us today at 310-318-9090 or email us at www.brandellilaw.com. The rest of your life begins now!

Probate is the court-based process through which a person's property is transferred after his or her death.

Kinds of Probate:

* Supervised: The most formal and expensive method. The court plays an active role in approving each transaction. In states where it’s optional, supervised administration is used for contested estates, when an interested party requests it, or when the executor’s ability is questioned.

* Unsupervised or independent: A simpler, cheaper method in which the number of duties and procedures is reduced and the court’s role is diminished or eliminated. It’s used for estates that exceed the asset limit for small-estate administration (see below) but don’t require heavy court supervision. It often requires consent of all beneficiaries, unless the will specifically requests unsupervised administration.

* Small estate: The simplest and fastest probate, it’s not available in every state and where it is only for small estates, ranging from $1,000 to $100,000, depending on state law. Property is often transferred by affidavit. Small estate administration often lasts only a few weeks.

The Hermosa Beach, California, Law Offices of Randolph J. Brandelli understands your concerns with California probate and other family issues.

Our Affordable Probate Attorney has experience and expertise in the California laws that affect you both at this time of turmoil and knows the rights and the protections that are built into probate law.

Free consultation with a South Bay family and probate lawyer. Contact us today at 310-318-9090 or email us at www.brandellilaw.com. The rest of your life begins now!

Contracts Basics

Most business persons enter into contracts more frequently than they may realize. In almost all business dealings, any time you or your company agree to take some action or make a payment in exchange for anything of value, a legal contract has been created. For example, most bills of sale, purchase orders, employment agreements, and other common business transactions are legally enforceable contracts.

What is a contract?

A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates an obligation to do or not do particular things. The term "party" can mean an individual person, company, or corporation. No matter who the parties are, contracts almost always contain the following essential elements:

1) Parties who are competent to enter into a contract. For example, a mentally disabled person could not enter into a contract. Minors can enter into contracts, but can void them in most cases before they reach majority age.

2) Mutual agreement by all the parties; i.e., all parties have a meeting of the minds on a specific subject.

3) Each party either promises to perform an act that the party is not legally required to perform, or promises to abstain from performing an act that it is legally entitled to perform.

The Hermosa Beach, California, Law Offices of Randolph J. Brandelli understands your concerns with California Contract Law.

Our Affordable Contract Attorney has experience and expertise in the California laws that affect you and knows the rights and the protections that are built into contract law.

Free consultation with a South Bay contract lawyer. Contact us today at 310-318-9090 or email us at www.brandellilaw.com.

* Real estate or real property is land and the buildings thereon, including anything affixed or attached to the land that cannot be severed without damage, like a fixture inside a house (built-in cabinets) or an attached structure (garage).

* Real property differs from personal property, which is any movable or tangible thing that is subject to ownership (a pen, bike, or couch).

* Real property is either commercial, i.e., zoned for business use, or residential.

* Property is usually held in fee simple, which is unrestricted ownership, different from a life estate, which is ownership during a lifetime.

* Individuals can own property together as joint tenants, tenants in common or tenants by the entirety.

* Property passes through real estate title either by deed, foreclosure or inheritance. Prior to a real estate closing, a title search is completed, determining whether or not the property is free and clear of encumbrances. During the closing, the buyer, seller and bank's representative "pass papers" and sign all the necessary closing documents. The deed and mortgage are then recorded (filed) at the Registry of Deeds.

* Real Estate Law covers such issues as real estate conveyancing (passing title to a new owner), real estate development (developing subdivisions, commercial uses such as malls, or homes for the elderly), and land use (zoning and environmental impact)

The Hermosa Beach, California, Law Offices of Randolph J. Brandelli understands your concerns with California Real Estate.

Our Affordable Real Estate Attorney has experience and expertise in the California laws that affect you and knows the rights and the protections that are built into real estate law.

Free consultation with a South bay real estate attorney. Contact us today at 310-318-9090 or email us at www.brandellilaw.com.