Bay Area Family Law practice
LAUGHLIN
LEGAL
IS…
A team of accomplished, top-rated family law attorneys,
and some of the best divorce and child custody lawyers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founder, Amy Laughlin, a highly regarded divorce & family lawyer, believes that ‘family emergencies are every bit as urgent as medical ones.’ She will give you her cell phone number and she will take your call. And the whole team will be with you every step of the way.
Hi-Tech and Hi-Touch
Like most things, law firms are on a spectrum. On one end, you’ve got the factory firms. They run on volume. Client in, client out, bill, bill, bill. On the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got firms like ours where every client is a one-of-a-kind individual who deserves a personalized solution. We offer clients the unusual pairing of hi-tech with hi-touch, unusual but harmonious, bringing together cutting edge tech solutions to streamline cases and make room for timeless personalized client service.
“Securing a much better tomorrow for people who need us.”
| Amy Laughlin
Divorce
Complex Divorce & Legal Separation
Your divorce has long term consequences.
Deciding to divorce is a deeply personal and consequential decision that will impact the rest of your life, your partner’s life, and the lives of your children. Best to choose a legal partner who you feel comfortable with, who shares your values, and makes you feel heard and engaged; a divorce lawyer who’s as skilled at listening as they are at advising.
Whenever feasible, divorcing couples should consider private mediation.
Private mediation is currently surging in the US. As it should be. When compared to the cost and lingering acrimony of litigation, mediation is a brilliant place to start. It permits couples to negotiate in private, outside of the public court setting, and ultimately exercise greater control over the outcome of their divorce. Collaborative law is a second alternative to litigation practiced at Laughlin Legal.
VISIT THE PAGE for A Prominent San Francisco Divorce Lawyer, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
International Divorce & Family Law
Why are international divorce & family law cases on the rise?
International divorce & family law represented a fairly small percentage of cases in North America not too long ago. However, with the rise of globalization over the last few decades, there has been a sharp increase in international marriages, and therefore international divorces, child custody cases, and prenuptial agreements, and a sharp increase in the need for skilled and experienced international divorce & family law attorneys.
There’s simply no substitute for experience.
Our international divorce and family lawyers have handled complex family law matters for clients with cross-border disputes in more than 30 countries. See map below. We’ve managed many, many cases with one or both spouses living outside the U.S. or in multiple locations, including divorce, child custody, domestic violence, relocation to outside the U.S. with children, child adoption, child abduction, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, property division, and business issues.
VISIT THE PAGE for Make Your International Divorce Less Expensive, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
Child Custody
California believes in joint custody.
Child custody is often the most emotional, most contentious aspect of a divorce. Fortunately, California’s considerations for child custody are based solely on the best interests of the child, and unless there’s evidence to the contrary, that includes joint custody.
This means both parents are equally considered for custody. Losing all rights to interact with your children would be highly unlikely. Almost any case settled in California is going to end with joint custody or primary custody for one parent and parenting time rights for the other. Most parents opt to leave nothing to chance. They research and retain an experienced child custody lawyer to help them protect their child’s best interests.
Dedicated And Experienced Child Custody Mediators & Lawyers
At Laughlin Legal, our child custody mediators and child custody attorneys help parents achieve the custody or parenting time they deserve. We also provide a number of other custody-related services such as establishing paternity or seeking permission for relocation if a parent wants to move with the children during or after a divorce. We are trusted throughout California for our ability to understand and secure our clients’ needs.
VISIT THE PAGE for How To Prevent Your Divorce from Destroying Your Family, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
Child Support
Child support is a shared responsibility to meet your children’s financial needs.
In 2023, with the cost of living on the rise, California enacted a new child support law emphasizing the importance of both parents contributing to their child’s financial needs. Though California has a formula for calculating child support based on certain principal criteria, there’s room for weighing other considerations. A skilled child support lawyer who’s also a negotiator and divorce mediator can make all the difference so that, post-agreement, neither party will suffer from significant financial hardship and the child’s needs will be met.
How else can a child support lawyer help?
First, we can help by recommending that you and your spouse enter into private mediation and try to resolve your differences with the help of one of our skilled divorce mediators. That would be a best-case scenario. We can also help if you need to seek an order for child support. And if you need to hold your ex-spouse responsible for inadequate, late or missing payments, we can help with that, too.
VISIT THE PAGE for Is Your Lawyer Getting You All You’re Entitled To?, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
How can we be helpful?
Complex Asset and Business Division
It may feel like it’s a fight about today, but asset division is about protecting tomorrow.
And generally speaking, the greater the asset complexity, the longer asset division takes.
California is one of just nine states that operates on the community property principle when it comes to asset division: each spouse is entitled to half the marital property, unless there’s a signed agreement to the contrary. 50/50. Sounds simple. The two biggest challenges are identifying what qualifies as community property, then accurately assessing the value of that property. And 50/50 does not necessarily mean each partner gets 50% of each asset. How assiduously your complex asset division lawyer pursues your best interest every step of the way can profoundly affect your future financial security.
Let’s safeguard your future.
Divorce and complex divorce call for a highly skilled complex asset division lawyer who’s part sleuth, part CPA, and a steely negotiator with a deep reservoir of financial knowledge and financial litigation to draw upon. That’s Laughlin Legal. Whenever possible we seek common sense solutions, but we have an excellent record of fighting aggressively in court when necessary.
VISIT THE PAGE for High Net Worth Couple With A Lot To Split?, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
Spousal Support
The post-divorce challenge: same income but double the expenses.
When a couple divorces, the income that used to support one household now has to support two. And both spouses aspire to maintain their marital standard of living. A skilled spousal support lawyer can help make this happen. Spousal support is typically awarded to a spouse earning a lower income than the other, but there are a total of fourteen factors the courts must consider.
We guard your future after the divorce.
Our spousal support lawyers work on both sides of spousal support cases, seeking support for clients or protecting the rights of clients whose soon-to-be ex-spouses are seeking unreasonable amounts of support. Whatever your personal situation, we will look after your best interest.
VISIT THE PAGE for How To Negotiate A Fair Agreement?, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
Domestic Violence
Ask a domestic violence lawyer what constitutes domestic violence and their answer may surprise you.
In California, where 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced domestic violence, just a third will report their injuries. A misconception of what constitutes domestic violence is partly to blame. Many are unaware that in California, it is a crime to cause or threaten to cause harm to a current or former intimate partner through battery, abuse or neglect. Verbal intimidation and verbal harassment count. Controlling what that partner does or what they spend counts.
Many simply don’t know that a domestic violence lawyer can help them regain control of their lives, protect themselves and protect their children’s safety and wellbeing.
Laughlin Legal takes domestic violence accusations very seriously.
Our clients’ mental health and safety are our main priority. If you are suffering abuse from a spouse or partner, one of our domestic violence lawyers can help to protect you from further abuse by seeking a restraining order. We will then be with you every step of the way forward, making ourselves available 24/7 to answer questions and provide support over the course of your divorce. We hope to hear from you.
VISIT THE PAGE for How Do You Divorce A Narcissist And Win?, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
Parentage | Adoption | Guardianship
In California parentage cases, whatever is deemed best for the child wins.
So whether you want to establish paternity, adopt a child, or appoint a guardian for a child, if it’s in the child’s best interest, it’s possible with the help of a child custody lawyer, adoption lawyer, or guardianship lawyer.
Parentage issues can lead to both emotional and financial strain.
Consulting with an experienced child custody lawyer, adoption lawyer or guardianship lawyer can help provide clarity and reduce some of the stressors surrounding concerns of parentage, child support obligations, and secure a parent’s custody and visitation rights to their biological child. If you have any questions regarding parentage or your rights, our attorneys are here to help you through every family law issue you encounter.
VISIT THE PAGE for Who Needs A Paternity Lawyer?, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation about Adoption.
Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements
A prenuptial lawyer will tell you that a prenup represents the conversation most of us would rather not have. And that’s why it’s valuable.
We don’t talk easily about money. How much we earn, how much we have, how much we owe, these are all difficult topics for the average American. The consequences of our reluctance to talk about money before marriage are played out in divorce cases and family law courts every day. This is the value of a prenuptial agreement, a legal document signed by the couple before they are married that establishes ground rules and expectations regarding the rights to property, income, inheritance, and debts.
A postnuptial agreement lawyer will tell you that a postnup is better than no nup.
Transparency is a form of intimacy. We believe that having a conversation about our expectations as well as our assets and debts is good for a relationship whenever it occurs. The agreement that results from that conversation is a smart financial family plan. It asks a couple to be very clear and intentional about what they own and how they’d like to share it with their spouse or children. It’s a template for their shared future. Should you decide to end your marriage, a strong prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can greatly simplify the consequences when you divorce. Again, only work with an experienced prenuptial lawyer or postnuptial lawyer, one who knows how to make an agreement enforceable.
VISIT THE PAGE for Should You Get A PreNup?, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a FREE consultation.
Need an extraordinary law firm?
LGBTQ+ Same-Sex Family Law
There’s never been a better time or place, legally speaking, to start an LGBTQ+ family, but we’re not finished.
Leading by example.
We’re as proud to have an LGBTQ+ lawyer as a partner in our firm as we are to practice law in a state that has been a leader in passing legal protections for the LGBTQ+ community. And we’re pleased that in addition to having the largest LGBTQ+ population in the country, California was recently found to be one of the best states in the nation to start an LGBTQ+ family.
But though we’ve arrived at a time where the law is the same regardless of orientation, the application of the law may still vary for some time to come. We’ll stay vigilant. It’s important to all of us at Laughlin Legal to express that this firm will serve anyone and everyone with enthusiasm, respect and integrity.
VISIT THE PAGE for Why LGBTQ+ / Same Sex Family Law?, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
Elder Law & Conservatorship
Advocating for our elders with love and respect is what elder law attorneys do and why they love their work.
Rather than concentrating on a particular type of legal case, elder law focuses on a particular type of client: seniors. That’s because seniors and their families have a limited amount of time in which to address a wide range of legal matters such as long-term care, gifting strategies, conservatorships, etc.
With luck, we’ll all be seniors one day, too.
And how we care for today’s seniors will have an impact on how we’re treated one day. Laughlin Legal attorneys are experienced elder law attorneys, advocates for the elderly and the people who love them. We are skilled and sensitive listeners who take the time to make sure our elder clients and their families understand all of their options and make the best, most-informed decisions.
VISIT THE PAGE for Keeping Your Mom & Dad Safe, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
A Free Quarterly Seminar on Navigating Divorce
Q How does Divorce generally work in CA?
Q What’s the difference between a Divorce and Legal Separation?
Q What does the “best interest” standard mean in custody cases?
Q Is it possible to successfully divorce a narcissist?
…and while we can’t offer legal advice or address specific individual situations, we’ve got some answers.
New Beginnings with Laughlin Legal
Estate Planning
What exactly does an estate planning lawyer do?
Trust and estate law is essentially a two part process of drafting your estate plan then administering that plan upon your death. That process provides a way to help people reflect on their legacy, on what they’ve accomplished, what they’ve acquired, who’s important to them, and how that all fits into their big picture. It allows individuals to control how their assets are passed down and may include restrictions for beneficiaries to provide for their health and education and keep them safe from themselves, that is, prevent them from reckless spending, abusing substances, or buying a Lamborghini at the age of 18. True story.
Life is an unpredictable adventure full of changes, losses, and gains. We’d like to be there with you for the journey.
And we’d like to introduce a level of predictability into the process by charging a flat fee for our estate planning clients. These documents are too consequential to be rushing through. We prefer that you take your time and get it right for the people you love most. We hope you’ll take us up on our offer of a free consultation with our experienced trust and estate planning attorney.
VISIT THE PAGE for How Your Estate Plan Can Prevent Your Family From Breaking Up, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a FREE consultation.
Trust & Estate Administration | Probate
What is it?
Trust and Estate Administration, including Probate, are legal processes involved in managing and distributing assets after someone passes away. Trust Administration typically involves managing assets held in a trust, ensuring they are distributed according to the trust’s terms. Probate, on the other hand, is the court-supervised process of distributing assets from someone’s estate according to their will or state law (if there is no will). Both processes aim to ensure the deceased’s wishes are carried out and their assets are transferred to the intended beneficiaries in a smooth and orderly manner.
How long does it take to administer a trust or an estate through probate?
It depends. The terms of the trust generally dictate the length of the trust administration process. If the trust is relatively straightforward, provides for outright distributions to beneficiaries, and there are no conflicts among the beneficiaries, then the process usually takes about half a year to complete.
However, if there are minor children involved that require support from the trust, if there are any conflicts between beneficiaries, if the trustee discovers assets that were not properly titled in the name of the trust, etc., the trust administration process will continue until the trust is fully distributed and terminated.
The duration of probate in California can vary depending on various factors, including the complexity of the estate, whether there are disputes among beneficiaries or creditors, and the efficiency of the court system. In general, probate in California typically takes around two years to complete. However, it can take longer if there are complications or contested issues that need to be resolved. Working with an experienced probate attorney can help expedite the process and ensure that everything is handled efficiently and according to the law.
VISIT THE PAGE for Probate vs Trust Admin: Understanding The Differences, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a FREE consultation.
Real Estate Law
Why a real estate attorney at a family law firm?
Because when your marital status changes, your place of residence often changes, too. Our firm’s team approach is built to provide legal wrap-around services to our clients in response to their various needs. In other words, regardless of where our clients are in the process of their divorce or child custody issue, we have in-house expertise in managing ancillary legal issues like trust and estate agreements, premarital agreements, commercial real estate transactions, and complex residential real estate transactions.
Our real estate lawyer works with brokers, agents, and other experts who can add value.
Whatever it is, whatever you need, if it’s outside the scope of our internal team, we’ll call on our exceptional external network. Either way, we’ve got you covered.
VISIT THE PAGE for A Real Estate Lawyer At A Family Law Firm?, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
Litigation
When is litigation the best way to resolve your dispute?
At Laughlin Legal, we generally encourage and advise clients to work toward a resolution outside of the court system first, using either private Mediation or Collaborative Law. However, when emotions run high and positions are firmly entrenched, and a couple cannot resolve their dispute cooperatively, litigation is appropriate and necessary. Each spouse may retain a litigation attorney to advise and represent them, and the attorneys will attempt to negotiate a settlement agreement. If the parties and counsel cannot negotiate an agreement, they will request a judge to resolve the dispute for them in court.
Choose a firm with litigation expertise.
Our litigation lawyers are uncommonly skilled in every aspect of divorce, custody, support, and asset division cases. Skilled at deeply understanding their client as well as who they are opposing, skilled and trained at negotiating, skilled at assessing complex financial instruments, and skilled at finding creative resolutions. We’re proud of the many great successes we’ve had in court particularly in complex divorce, child custody, and asset division cases.
VISIT THE PAGE for So You Think You Need To Hire A Litigation Attorney?, Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
Mediation & Collaborative Law
Please consider alternative dispute resolution. There’s a divorce mediation lawyer in San Mateo who can help.
We advise all new clients to take a moment to consider two alternatives to resolving their dispute with their spouse through litigation. Mediation and Collaborative Law are not only a faster means of achieving a resolution, they’re less expensive as well as less combative and adversarial. And they offer far more flexibility and decision-making power to the couple. You develop an agreement custom-tailored to you and your family, and lay out the terms of your divorce/asset division/custody or support agreement for a judge to review and approve.
How can divorce mediation services help you?
Life post-divorce is a big adjustment. We’d like to start you off on the right foot. Our mediation and collaborative law services provide alternative dispute resolutions for divorce, asset division, child custody, and support clients. Even couples locked in a contentious situation may be able to complete their case without the need for a protected court battle. Our lawyers explore this possibility with clients before deciding what course of action would be best.
The results are impressive: more than 75% of cases are successfully resolved and settled within one day. That kind of success can become a template for resolving future disputes should they arise.
Dedicated And Experienced Child Custody Mediators & Lawyers
At Laughlin Legal, our child custody mediators and child custody attorneys help parents achieve the custody or parenting time they deserve. We also provide a number of other custody-related services such as establishing paternity or seeking permission for relocation if a parent wants to move with the children during or after a divorce. We are trusted throughout California for our ability to understand and secure our clients’ needs.
VISIT THE PAGE for Looking For Divorce Mediation Services? You’re In Luck., Terminology, and Case Story.
Click HERE for a consultation.
The FOREFRONT A divorce & family law blog
In the U.S., lawyers in general aren’t terribly difficult to find. We’re the 5th most litigious country in the world, after all. According
As with any legal practice area, what a child custody lawyer costs in California may vary profoundly depending upon the individual lawyer, law
Good question. You’ll find a multitude of answers online. Search “how much is a divorce in California” and you’ll see everything from $139