Divorce

Divorce, Legal Separation and Nullity of Marriage

The attorneys at Levitch Stanley Mendell LLP represent an elite clientele in high stakes divorce matters.  The firm’s clients include corporate and financial executives, venture capitalists, celebrity athletes and entertainers, technology innovators and entrepreneurs, legal and medical professionals, beneficiaries of inherited wealth, and their spouses.

In divorces that involve significant wealth, complex estates and highly sensitive personal matters, the choice of family law attorney is critical. Levitch Stanley Mendell LLP handles the most complex and challenging areas of divorce law effectively and discreetly.

Divorce in California is “no fault.” This means that anyone can get divorced without having to prove that the other spouse engaged in bad conduct. However, “no fault” does not mean that a person’s actions during marriage are free of legal consequences.  We are adept at identifying the relevant conduct of the client and spouse and explaining the consequences that may flow from that conduct.

Legal separation is similar to divorce, but at the end of a legal separation case the spouses are still married to one another and cannot remarry unless they move forward with a divorce.  Some clients choose legal separation for moral or religious reasons, while others choose it because they have not yet met the jurisdictional requirements to obtain a divorce in California.

Issues that must be resolved during a divorce or legal separation may include the characterization of property as community property or separate property, the valuation of property such as businesses, residences and aircraft, determination of the validity of a premarital or postnuptial agreement, determination of the amount and duration of spousal support and child support, and implementation of a schedule for custody of minor children. 



In an annulment proceeding, one or both spouses ask the court to declare the marriage void.  The grounds on which an annulment can be granted are very limited, and include bigamy, lack of consent, incest, being of insufficient age to marry, and fraud that goes to the essence of the marital relationship.  Annulments can be granted only after presenting evidence to the court. If a request for annulment is successful, the marriage will be deemed never to have occurred.   

The attorneys at Levitch Stanley Mendell LLP are highly skillful and experienced in helping clients navigate through each of these types of proceedings.