Legal Question in Family Law in California

There are two basis upon the court could award her attorney fees. The first is that you have a significantly greater ability to pay attorney fees and she has the need. (This is based on a comparison of both your income and expense declarations). The second is whether you have engaged in conduct that frustrates settlement and promotes litigation. An example would be filing a motion for custody change when little time has passed since the last order, nothing significant has happened, and you did not try to negotiate a resolution of your differences before resorting to litigation. So argue that based on the Income and Expense Declarations she does not have significantly less ability than you to pay attorney fees and that your bring a court action to modify custody was reasonable under the circumstances. Be SURE to go to mediation.