Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice. If you have any questions about your individual situation it is best to seek the advice of an experienced legal professional.

The news of Paris Hilton’s separation from Chris Zylka means more than love lost. It also means that under California law Hilton has to give Zylka back a 2 million dollar engagement ring. In California the person who called off the engagement isn’t legally entitled to keep the ring. Reports are that both Hilton and Zylka want the ring, which could mean potential conflict between these ex-lovers.

Most people think of property as a point of contention between married couples who have shared space and stuff together. Increasingly though, people are putting off marriage until later. They are cohabitating or waiting until getting married. This means more chance that “stuff” gets mingled and break-ups can be contentious. Mediation can resolve conflict once it’s begun, but it can also be used to mediate the path to marriage, or to mediate prenups, post-nups or marital agreements.

Mediate an Honest Agreement That Comes from the Heart

– Be more romantic by knowing the law and entering into agreements in good faith. People often think that when making informal agreements like getting engaged, the law won’t apply to them, but as we have seen in the case of Paris Hilton and Chris Zylka, even a long engagement is considered a kind of agreement or contract in the eyes of California law. If it’s broken, some things – like the ring – must be sacrificed. Why not mediate and familiarize yourself with how the law applies to your agreement? This gives you more freedom to enter into your romance with good faith.
– Show your spouse or cohabiting partner that you care about them – If you’re cohabiting together without a formal agreement or if you’re married and live in an area where property values are sky-high such as San Diego, a break-up could mean serious financial problems for one or both of you. Making an agreement to take care of each other in the event of a change in your relationship can reassure your spouse or partner that you have their best interests at heart.
– Look Out for the Best Interests of your Pets or Children Regardless of whether you’ve made the commitment to get married or not, if you have children or pets, it changes the landscape of your relationship irrevocably. The law will require you to make decisions about raising your children together or caring for your pets. If you live in California, the law has recently changed to treat pets more like children in divorce. That means a judge can decide on custody based on the “best interests” of the pet. If you want to have access to your pets and make sure they are cared for, it may be better to mediate an agreement in advance. It goes without saying that if you agree to co-operate when it comes to co-parenting, your kids will navigate the divorce transition much more smoothly.

Who We Are and How We Can Help

We are caring, well-educated mediators who are skilled in applied financial mathematics, the law psychoanalysis, and game theory. We are based in some of California’s most high-pressure districts for educated professionals such as San Diego and Campbell, CA (Silicon Valley). CHECK As such, our high-level divorce mediation services are tailored to the needs of people with complex lives or divorces that may be difficult or protracted. We can intervene to break litigation deadlocks when divorces are already underway. We work with individuals from several cultures and countries, and can help with national and international relocation issues associated with divorce. We strive to efficiently comprehend your situation and its opportunities for sustainable and agreeable resolution. This may include a review of your parenting plan, spousal support calculations, community property equalization, settlement agreement, and all other aspects of your case. We can either confidentially present you with a private analysis, or mediate the conflict with both of you until resolved. Any resolution you come to will be informed by a deeper analysis of the conflict that can be psychoanalytic and/or more financially-focused. Conflict analysis can result in a more optimized understanding of the net community property, which adds value to the overall estate, benefiting you both. The sooner you can resolve your conflict, the sooner you can begin to craft a sustainable future for you and your children. Our specially trained divorce mediator-accountants can also help reveal and investigate the proven financial facts of a divorce to make a full financial appraisal of your divorce and to suggest creative solutions for financial planning after divorce. If you are struggling in your marriage but don’t want to get divorced, we offer marital mediation that helps you resolve conflicts over a variety of issues from parenting, sexuality, finances, careers, family, spirituality, and more. Marital mediation is goal oriented, time limited, and practical, and often results in clearly written agreements that are private, but can also be drafted as postnuptial agreements with legal significance if needed. You can visit us at our offices in Campbell, CA Irvine, CA and San Diego, CA. We can also be reached by Telephone, Zoom or Facetime. We are available 7 days a week and at urgent notice. Please contact us to see how we can help.

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