Call a Lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga to Terminate a Domestic Partnership

In many relationships, there comes a time when the couple realizes that they are no longer a suitable match. For a family law attorney, this means that there will be a need to untangle their lives, which can include property, children, and emotions. Regardless of whether you have a marriage – which can often be more complicated – or a domestic partnership, it is important to understand that splitting up assets and lives is never an easy event.

Legally Ending a Domestic Partnership, a Lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga Can Help

The law recognizes a domestic partnership as a special relationship that has many of the same rights and privileges offered to a married couple. While this is a good thing during the relationship, it can make separating these assets much more complicated when a domestic partnership separation occurs. A family lawyer will treat a separating domestic partnership exactly the same as we would a regular separation or divorce. The sex of either partner is of no consequence to the courts, and hence of no relevance to the separation.

Property in a Domestic Partnership Separation

Typically, your family lawyer wants to secure you the most property and certainly have the most sentimental possessions go with you in any separation or divorce. From the court’s perspective, there are three distinct ways that a domestic partnership can separate property.

Ways to Legally Separate Property in a Domestic Partnership

The first way is to evenly split the property so the amount of equity put in by one half of the domestic partnership gets their fair share. This is where you need a family lawyer to help navigate what “fair share” means and clearly demonstrate the amount of equity you have in the property.
The second way a judge might allocate property is evenly, a 50/50 split. This can be very fair, or completely unfair if one of the parties has contributed significantly more toward the finances and acquisition of property.
Third, a family court might allocate the property as though the two individuals in a domestic partnership were simply co-tenants, splitting the stuff based on provable ownership.

Custody in a Domestic Partnership Separation

Whenever there are children involved, regardless of if it is a domestic partnership or a marriage, both family lawyers and family law courts will examine what is in the best interest of the child. As such, you will need to have a comprehensive plan on your child’s future. This must include:

Primary custody

Where will the child live during the week? Which one of the domestic partners will have the larger role and responsibility?

Visitation

This includes answering questions about how long the child will spend with the other parent, laying out days for visitation, and ensuring that transportation needs are met.

Child support

The financial obligations of child support are the same in a domestic partnership separation as they are in a regular separation. A family lawyer can go over how this is determined in detail and make sure that you:

understand how child support is determined and how it works, and
are able to give a clear picture of your financial situation, as well as that of your former domestic partner.

Decision-making

Every decision made in a child’s life cannot be determined by the courts. As such, the parenting plan will lay out who is primarily responsible for decisions like schooling, religious upbringing, and non-emergency medical decisions in the child’s life.

Maintenance in a Domestic Partnership Dissolution

Family law and family lawyers make no distinction between a domestic partnership and a marriage when it comes to allocating maintenance. If you are seeking maintenance, you should know there are important criteria to prove before a judge will award domestic partnership maintenance. These include:

Factors Relevant to Domestic Partnership Maintenance

How long have the domestic partners been together? Often, this is the foundation for how much, if any, financial obligation one person has to the other when the relationship ends.

The financial situations of the parties and if one party has depended on the other during the course of the relationship. A perfect example of this is a stay-at-home parent who relies on their partners to bring in an income so they can stay home with the kids.
The standard of living that one party has gotten accustomed to while living with the other, and the other partner’s ability to maintain and pay for that standard of living.
The age and health of the partners also comes into question, since if one partner cannot go back to work or get further education for a better job, it becomes important for the courts to stabilize their financial situation.

Ending a Domestic Partnership, How a Lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga Can Help

There are numerous ways to end a domestic partnership , including giving written notice to the other partner. The best and often least complicated way to separate a domestic partnership is to use a lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga who can guide you through the process so it is much less arduous.

If you and your domestic partner are separating, contact The Law Office of Laurence J. Brock HERE or call at (909) 466-7661 . By scheduling a consultation, we can review your case and make recommendations as to the best way to proceed with separating your lives and your assets.