Legal Question in Family Law in California

My wife and I are getting a legal separation and we've decided to do the separation agreement on our own. We found a couple of resources for creating a separation agreement online, but we have a couple of questions about filling an agreement out.

1) Property ownership. The forms give us the option of either one party or the other party retaining ownership of an item, but there are some items that we would like to co-own after the separation. What is the best wording to use on the separation agreement for co-owning items/property?

2) Retirement Accounts. We want to split all retirement account monies 50/50 at retirement age (not now). What is the best wording to specify this?

Thank you.


Asked on 2/01/16, 4:42 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Arlene Kock Law Offices of Arlene D. Kock APLC

Unfortunately, I can only advise that you're heading in a very dangerous direction by not having the guidance of an experienced family law attorney in crafting these agreements.

This is a situation where an "add water and stir" preparation of an agreement can produce a result that can be unenforceable or a huge interpretation problem in the future.

It sounds like what you're trying to divide could be worth tens of thousands of dollars. It's appropriate for you to invest in the time and cost of an experienced attorney to assist you.

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Answered on 2/04/16, 9:19 am


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