Most clients of our law firm are first-generation immigrants from China. In China, couples go to the same office for marriage certificates as well as divorce papers. However, that is not the case in the United States. A bewildered client once asked me: “To get married here, I need to go to the county’s office, but I cannot get a divorce at the same office?” In the U.S., if a couple wants a divorce, they must go to the court pursuant to the Family Code of each state. Read more

原创 Joanne Zhou律师 湾区日常法律故事

大家久等了!这是本系列的第三篇文章。前两篇请参考这里: Read more

我是周氏法律集团的创始人周媛(Joanne Zhou),我的律所在北加州的硅谷圣何塞、南加州的洛杉矶、橙县、阿卡迪亚都有开设办公室,为旧金山湾区和大洛杉矶地区的广大客户提供离婚相关服务。在我做离婚律师的职业生涯里,经常接到一种求助:“律师,我老公对我特别不好,我不想跟他过了。但是我家的钱全在他手里,他不给我开共同账户,我连买菜钱都得一笔一笔跟他报备。我还能离婚吗?我怎么付律师费啊?”

上一篇文章,我们给读者们科普了一下加州离婚的具体步骤。没有看到上一篇文章

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很多人说,疫情期间最忙的就是婚姻律师。最近,我们联合资深家庭法律师周媛Joanne Zhou一起合作这个专栏,为大家普及一下加州家庭法的一些基本知识。Joanne Zhou是加州最大最具影响力的离婚律所周氏法律集团的创始人,该律所在北加州的硅谷圣何塞、南加州的洛杉矶、橙县、阿卡迪亚都设有办公室。我的读者们大多身在美国,婚姻法的知识包括离婚、财产、抚养权等等,都是与大家的生活息息相关的。无论用到用不到,心里有数总是好的。

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Our attorneys at The Zhou Law Group have extensive experience handling theft cases and a long record of Successful Results. Should you or a loved one be faced with theft charges and wish to minimize your consequences to the fullest extent possible contact The Zhou Law Group at (408) 289-9688  immediately.

While the passage of Proposition 36 in 2000 marked the beginning of the “so called” end of the war on drugs in California as to cases involving the personal use of drugs, the California criminal justice system continues to treat quite harshly persons convicted of crimes involving drug trafficking, possession for sale of drugs, and drug sales.

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Prostitution is an agreement between consenting people to provide any sexual activity in exchange for money , and any act in furtherance of such agreement. The act in furtherance can be any step taken toward a sexual act. Whether sex occurs or not, is not essential to establish the crime. Read more

California law encourages an arrest on all calls where allegations of Domestic Violence are reported. An arrest for Domestic Violence can even be based on a complaint to the authorities of the simple use of  rude force on the person of a spouse, domestic partner, dating partner, or child. Read more

As you may already know, a driving under the influence arrest can bring serious consequences in the state of California.  License suspension; mandatory jail sentences; probation; stiff fines; court fees; long term alcohol classes; increased insurance premiums; and, a criminal record, are all potential standard consequences of even a first time driving under the influence conviction in California. Read more

Parents always maintain the right to go back to the court to change custody arrangements after their divorce is final. The real question is whether the court will grant a request for modification of your order. Courts do not want to force children to live in a bad situation when their custodial parent’s circumstances change, but neither do they want to move children back and forth between parents without good cause. As a result, the changes that warrant a modification of custody must usually be material, substantial and occur in the home in which the child is living. Read more

Divorce is an emotional time in any one’s life. Two of the major issues to consider in the divorce process are the issues of child visitation and child support. Child Support, in California, is based on a set “schedule” and the courts attempt to make it entirely based on the income of both parties, but we can help you to state your income so that you are treated fairly by the court, and if you are seeking support, we can make sure that the other party is not manipulating the system to understate his income. Read more

If you are in the United States on a visa that was granted based on your spouse’s application, a divorce or separation may affect your lawful status and ability to stay in the United States. If you are a conditional resident, divorce may affect your immigration status. A conditional resident is when the person used his/her spouse’s status to immigrate within two years of their marriage. Read more

No one needs to be a victim of Domestic Violence.  Domestic Violence can be either physical abuse or emotional abuse and usually result from one partner to a relationship feeling the need to control the other. The parties can be married, but it also includes parties that are living together, or even parties who are separated. This includes heterosexual, gay or lesbian relationships as well. This abuse ranges from Name calling, isolating you from other friends or family, withholding financial support, to actual stalking, intimidation, threatening and inflicting physical harm. Read more

A restraining order (also called a “protective order”) is a court order that can protect someone from being physically or sexually abused, threatened, stalked, or harassed. A restraining order can include personal conduct orders, stay-away orders, and/or residence exclusion (“kick-out” or “move-out”) orders. The person getting the restraining order is called the “protected person.” The person the restraining order is against is the “restrained person.” Sometimes, restraining orders include other “protected persons” like family or household members of the protected person. Read more

A married couple who are seeking a quick and easier way to get a divorce may choose the method of summary dissolution instead of proceeding with the normal dissolution process. With a summary dissolution, there is no trial or hearing, so you will not have to talk to a judge. However, not everyone may qualify for a summary dissolution and to qualify, you must meet all of the following requirements: Read more

已婚人士購買人壽保險時,多數人會在受益人一欄寫上自己配偶名字,當自己哪一天離世時,配偶的生活還能有保障。如果婚姻破裂,通常离婚程序开启后,有一个自动禁止令,离婚双方都不得对人寿险,健康保险等在无对方同意或无法院判决的情况下进行更改。一般在最终的离婚协议或者离婚判决里,会界定清楚人寿险归谁所有,并有可能向另一方支付一定的财产分割额度作为补偿。 Read more

許多人因為結婚而買房子,離婚時又因房產分配而糾結,畢竟房屋是婚姻中最大的財產。灣區離婚律師周喬安建議:如果夫妻雙方中有一方想在离婚时买断另外一方的房屋产权,但不能就房屋市场价值达成共识的,要請房產評估師評估目前房產的價值,扣除房屋抵押貸款和其它留置權來計算權益,同時確保考慮到雙方對房屋增值的貢獻。如双方就如何处置房产不能达成协议的,就需要由法院作出判决。在这样的情况下,建议尽快找律师,因为好的离婚策略是可以影响到法院的最终判决的。 Read more

財產分割是離婚案件中最複雜、爭議最多的問題,尤其高淨值的案件處理起來相當複雜。在灣區離婚案件中,不乏配偶隱瞞資產的情況,最常見的類型有現金、股票、限制性股票、債券、共同基金、保險單中的現金價值和可變年金,股票、旅行支票、EE系列儲蓄債券和無記名市政債券等。 Read more

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