Maria MacQuarrie
Paralegal
Maria earned her Paralegal Associate Degree from Empire College in Santa Rosa, California, where she graduated with President’s Honors in 2014. Before becoming a Paralegal, Maria studied Legal Translation (Spanish – English) at Buenos Aires University. Fluent in both English and Spanish, and having worked for the Superior Court of California for 14 years in both support and leadership roles, Maria contributes a robust skillset in legal procedures, and brings years of comprehensive and unique experience to Castro Law Offices, P.C. in family law and civil litigation. Maria grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where both her parents worked in the legal field and instilled in her the importance of making a positive difference through hard work and dedication. Maria loves dogs and music. When Maria is not managing cases, she enjoys spending time with her family, playing tennis, and rowing.
Veteran Owned
Spanish Speaking
Serving the Bay Area
Practice Areas
Child Custody
A child custody order allows you to make important educational and medical decisions regarding your child as well as determines whether you will share in joint physical custody with your child’s other parent or if one parent will have sole physical custody custody of the child. A child custody order may provide a pathway for immigrant children to obtain special immigrant juvenile status who have been abused, abandoned or neglected by one or both of their parents with whom reunification is not possible.
Custody, Support and Visitation Modification
If you have experienced a significant change in circumstances, then you may request to modify your current custody, visitation or support order.
Paternity
In California, it is possible to establish parentage by securing an official parentage judgment or a court order that states the legal parents of the child. A parentage judgment is required before a court will order custody, visitation, or child support payments.
Domestic Violence
An individual can seek a domestic violence restraining order against his or her (1) spouse or former spouse, (2) cohabitant or former cohabitant, (3) a person with whom he or she is having, or has had, a dating or engagement relationship, (4) a person with whom he or she has had a child, or (5) close relative such as a child, sibling, parent, in-law or grandparent.
Spousal and
Domestic Support
When a marriage or domestic partnership ends, the court may award spousal or domestic support long enough or until the supported party becomes self-supporting.
Child Support
Child support must be for the benefit of the child and allows the child to have the same standard of living while living in the homes of both parents as well as pays for the child’s necessary living expenses.
Adoption
In California, the adoption process is comprised of two key legal proceedings:1. Establishing a legal parent and child relationship between the child and the non-biological parent, or parents2. Terminating the legal rights of one or more biological-birth parents It’s important to realized that the adoption laws for both step-parent and independent adoption are complicated and best handled by an experienced adoption lawyer.
Divorce
In legal terms, a divorce is a legal decree entered by a judge that formally ends a marriage before you or your spouse’s death. Once a divorce is finalized, you and your ex-spouse are no longer legally bound to one another and are able to remarry or enter into a domestic partnership with another individual.
Civil Harassment restraining orders
In legal terms, a divorce is a legal decree entered by a judge that formally ends a marriage before you or your spouse’s death. Once a divorce is finalized, you and your ex-spouse are no longer legally bound to one another and are able to remarry or enter into a domestic partnership with another individual.
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