Practice Areas Overview
Los Angeles County Certified Family Law Specialist
The Law Offices of Randy W. Medina, APLC, serves all of Los Angeles and focuses in the following areas of family law:
Divorce – Considering whether you should end your marriage is one of the most important and difficult decisions you will ever make. It is important to approach the question from a rational and not solely an emotional perspective. Issues involving children, support and property need to be addressed individually as well as globally. We, at the Law Offices of Randy W. Medina,, can help guide you through the divorce process, with an ever watchful eye toward recognizing and dealing with the many pitfalls that can manifest themselves along the way, while at the same time exploiting advantages to their fullest.
Child Custody - Just as would be the case in an intact family, both parents should have the equal ability to make decisions regarding the health, education and welfare of their child. Your child’s best interest is our focus. Frequent and continuing contact with both parents is presumed to be in their best interests. Of course, alcohol, drug, domestic violence and child abuse issues may run counter to this presumption. Effective co-parenting, leads to happy well-adjusted children. We, at the Law Offices of Randy W. Medina,, can help you craft a practical, child-focused custody plan or in the alternative present your case fully and expertly to the court.
Child Visitation - Although use of the term "child visitation" is commonplace, the term is fast becoming outmoded and use of the term "parenting schedule" is now more commonplace. The goal in setting a strong parenting schedule is to stress the importance of frequent and continuing contact with each parent. Communication between parents is the cornerstone of co-parenting. The imagination is the limit when it comes to parenting schedules. Parents are the best arbiters of what is in their own child's best interest. In fact, California law mandates that parents participate in mediation to attempt to reach accord on a parenting schedule. We, at the Law Offices of Randy W. Medina,, can help you craft a practical, child-focused custody plan or in the alternative present your case fully and expertly to the court.
Child Support – The Statewide Uniform Child Support Guideline Formula is applied when calculating child support. The primary factors that are input into the equation include each parent’s income, the child’s timeshare with each parent and the impact of income taxes on the respective income of each parent. There are also mandatory add-on amounts for child care and special needs. Whether you are paying child support or receiving child support, we, at the Law Offices of Randy W. Medina,, can ensure that data used to calculate child support is accurate and advantageous for our client’s respective position.
Spousal Support – Spousal support is based for the most part on the income of the parties and the duration of the marriage. The marital standard of living is the springboard in determining a just amount. Eventual self-sufficiency of the supported spouse is the ultimate goal. Although spousal support is established at time of trial or settlement, temporary spousal support is often times set at the inception of the divorce case. We, at the Law Offices of Randy W. Medina,, can help in establishing or refuting an award of spousal support as the case may dictate.
Property Division – California, being a community property state, provides that property and obligations incurred during marriage are to be equally divided. This includes real property, vehicles, retirement plans, bank accounts, furniture, appliances, pets, etc. As some property cannot be divided per se, a cash buy-out or an equalization payment is an option. We, at the Law Offices of Randy W. Medina,, can help you in obtaining the most favorable property division award.
Post Judgment Modifications – Just because a divorce or paternity case is final does not mean that the case is finished for all purposes. Modifications may from time to time be necessary. Child custody and child support orders are always modifiable upon a showing of a change in circumstances. We, at the Law Offices of Randy W. Medina,, can help you determine whether a modification is warranted and legally available.
Mediation – We, at the Law Offices of Randy W. Medina,, believe that the worst settlement is better that the best court ruling. Parties are happier settling their cases, with the aid of an expert attorney such as can be found at the Law Offices of Randy W. Medina,, than going to trial and allowing a judge decide their fate. Mediation is often empowering to the individual as it provides them with an opportunity to control his or her future. That being said, our philosophy is to aim for settlement while preparing for trial at every phase of the divorce proceeding. In fact, Randy W. Medina, has benefited by completing extensive training in divorce mediation and was selected to serve as a mediator for the Superior Court of Los Angeles. We, at the Law Offices of Randy W. Medina,, can help you realize resolution through tough but compassionate representation with an eye toward successful resolution.
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