J.Smith Law/Phone: 559-320-7028/Email: jolleysmith@gmail.com/Affordable Attorney and Lawyer for Family Law in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno

 Jolley Smith Law is established to provide you with compassionate and cost effective representation in all your family law matters.

• Simple Divorce-as low as $350.
• Marriage Settlement Agreements-$250.
• Motions for Child Support and Custody-$500.

When a marriage ends, it is often one of the most stressful times in a person's life. The parties are often hurt and angry, anxious and fearful of the future, wondering how to maintain a the parent-child relationship if frequency of contact is reduced, feeling overwhelmed, powerless. The parties begin wondering how to support two households instead of one, how much support to pay, will my spouse turn the children against me, will I have enough money to live on? Historically, divorce and family law proceedings have been adversarial in nature.

Today, the Family Law courts emphasize settlement and efficient dispute resolution. Jolley Smith , we agree that a fair and efficient settlement will reduce the tension and the stress of family law litigation. If a settlement is not possible, we are prepared to vigorously litigate your case through trial.

There are 3 main ways to end a marriage or registered domestic partnership in California: divorce, legal separation, and annulment. It is not necessary for both spouses or domestic partners to agree to end the marriage. Either spouse or partner can decide to end the marriage, and the other spouse/partner, even if he or she does not want to get a divorce, cannot stop the process by refusing to participate in the case. If a spouse or domestic partner does not participate in the divorce case, the other spouse/partner will still be able to get a “default” judgment and the divorce will go through. 
California is a “no fault” divorce state, which means that the spouse or domestic partner that is asking for the divorce does not have to prove that the other spouse or domestic partner did something wrong.  To get a no fault divorce, 1 spouse or domestic partner has to state that the couple cannot get along. Legally, this is called “irreconcilable differences.”