Mediation is one of the less formal alternatives to litigation that involves impartial third party or panel that intervenes to promote the resolution of the dispute or grievance. HOW DOES MEDIATION WORK? At the beginning of the formal mediation, the mediator explains their role, the confidential nature of the proceedings, any ground rules, the benefits of mediation, and the procedural steps that will be followed, if any. During the fact-gathering stage, the mediator will begin to define the issues, helping the parties to focus on the issues rather than their... 

Code of Hammurabi The practice of divorce has its origins in ancient times. The earliest divorce legislation appears in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, the oldest set of laws in world history, which dates from approximately 1760 BCE. Under the Code a man initiating a divorce had to return her bridal dowry to his wife, including any money, land or goods, unless she had committed adultery. Not all of the Code was so enlightened. If a woman was considered to have brought her husband into ill-repute then it was within his rights to have her drowned. Ancient... 

The only statute which is directly relevant to date of separation does not concern the date of separation as the main thrust of the statute. Family Code §771 states: “The earnings and accumulations of a spouse and the minor children living with, or in the custody of the spouse while living separate and apart from the other spouse, are the separate property of the spouse”. However, there are three California cases, two major, which provide important law and useful factual analyses on determination of date of separation. Those cases are In Re Marriage...