Jackie
L. Martens has been serving clients in Sonoma and Marin
Counties in private practice since 1995, and has worked
exclusively in the legal field since 1983. She
graduated from Empire College School of Law in 1995,
and was admitted to the Bar that year. During her final
year of law school, she clerked for a family law judge
in Sonoma County. Ms. Martens is a member of the Family
Law Sections of the Sonoma and Marin County Bar Associations.
She served as a Judge Pro Tem in small claims matters
and volunteers for Legal Aid to help low-income individuals.
She appeared on the Len Tillem radio show on KGO in
April 2006 to discuss changes in the law
effecting registered domestic partners, custody matters,
and other family law issues.
Ms.
Martens has helped hundreds of clients through emotionally
difficult divorces, high-conflict custody matters, spousal
and child support issues, and property disputes. She
also assists unmarried couples, both same-sex and heterosexual
couples, to establish custody and visitation rights,
and to enforce agreements between couples to pool income,
share assets, and provide support.
Ms.
Martens’ philosophy is to assist her clients efficiently
and effectively through complex family laws issues so
they can ultimately move on with
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their lives as smoothly
as possible. Sensitive to the stress and difficulties
clients experience in litigation, she seeks to resolve
cases efficiently and economically through negotiation
and mediation, but aggressively litigates cases, including
through trial, when necessary.
Additionally, Ms. Martens is available for appointment as a Special Master in custody matters, having completed the Parenting Coordination Special Master Program (Helping High Conflict Parents Resolve Disputes) at the Northern California Mediation Center.
In
addition to family law, Ms. Martens assists clients
in estate planning matters, including preparing Living
Trusts, Wills, and Durable Powers of Attorney for her
clients, as well as handling probate matters, and establishing
conservatorships and guardianships. She also represents
clients in construction matters, real estate and contract
disputes, and other partnership and business disputes.
Ms. Martens has handled over 80 construction defect
cases.
Ms. Martens is available to meet with clients in Sonoma,
Santa Rosa, or Marin. |
Family
Law
Jackie L. Martens has been helping clients resolve their
family law matters, including divorce, child custody
and visitation, paternity, child and spousal support,
and property division matters for over 15 years. She
has represented clients concerning prenuptial agreements,
domestic partnerships, grandparent visitation rights,
adoptions, and agreements between unmarried couples
(so-called Marvin agreements). She has helped establish
guardianships for minor children whose parents have
abandoned them or who are otherwise unavailable to care
for their children. Ms. Martens is prepared to assist
you with all of your family law matters. Click on “Frequently
Asked Questions” for some helpful general information
regarding family law matters.
Probate/Estate
Planning
When a person dies without a Will, or with a simple
Will but no Living Trust, and the value of the estate
reaches a certain threshold, probate is required. Probate
can be time-consuming and expensive, but has the benefit
of a court-supervised process, which can be important
where family members do not agree on matters involving
the estate. A Living Trust enables clients to avoid
probate and allows estate administration and distribution
to be handled privately and expediently. Ms. Martens
offers services to assist clients in setting up Living Trusts, Wills,
and Durable Powers of Attorneys. Depending on the size
of the estate and the wishes of the client, sometimes
all that is required is a simple Will. A Durable Power
of Attorney is a document in which a client appoints
the person(s) of their choice to make health care and
financial decisions for them in the event they become
incapacitated. In the absence of a Durable Power of
Attorney, a conservatorship may become necessary. A
conservatorship involves filing documents with the court
to appoint a person to manage the health and/or financial
matters on behalf of a disabled or incapacitated person.
Court supervision is continuous, and the process can
be fairly expensive, especially because periodic accountings
are required.
Civil
Litigation
Ms. Martens has handled various litigation matters, including business disputes, disputes between contractors and homeowners, age and sex discrimination matters and other employment matters, and councels business owners on contractors and employee policy manuals. Ms. Martens represented over 80 homeowners against the William Lyon company in lawsuits involving construction defects, successfully mediating and settling the case to minimize costs and maximize recover for her clients.
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