Riverside California Family Law Blog

Many people have dreamt of becoming a parent but struggle to conceive on their own. Some individuals may not have considered having children but are touched by a particular child's story. Both of these situations may motivate someone to want to adopt a son or daughter here in California. Anyone looking to move forward with the adoption process should have certain personality attributes to do so.

One attribute that you'll want to have if you're considering becoming an adoptive parent is a sense of adventure. You have to be open to taking risks and being flexible.

There are many different million-dollar questions that family law attorneys in Riverside often hear. Something they're often asked is how a parent's gender impacts their chances of winning custody of their child. Although they haven't always done so, most California judges now consider what's in the best interest of a minor when making such decisions. This may mean that a mom is awarded custody in one situation whereas a father is selected in another.

In the not-so-distant past, judges tended to believe that children, especially those under 5 years of age would be best taken care of by their mothers. Most states have done away with procedures that used to encourage their judges to do this though. In most, they're taught to assess what's in the best interest of the child instead.

When people hear about adoption, they often think of newborns. Parents often give up their babies because they're either too young or are lacking the financial means to adequately take care for them. Older kids including teens who've been bounced around to different foster homes need loving homes to take them in though as well.

Teens' lives can easily spiral out of control if they're not adopted before they age out of the foster care system. If they haven't found a loving home by the time the government's dominion over them runs out, then they may end up homeless begging on the streets. They may be forced into selling drugs or prostituting themselves just to survive.

Divorce filings tend to follow certain trends. While there are always outliers -- most people don't get divorced in December, for instance, but that doesn't mean there aren't couples who file for divorce right around Christmas -- summer tends to see a significant spike in divorce filings as it draws to a close.

This spike begins in July. It then reaches a peak in August. Some of that carries over into September, but that's when things start their general downward trend that does not really reverse course until after the winter holidays.