Q: My husband's lawyer subpoaned my mom's business for her employment records. Can't they just subpoena the payroll service

A: If you think the subpena is asking for too many things, you would be making a claim that the subpena is "overly broad." You should discuss this with your own attorney. In certain situations an objection can be made to stop it or "limit" the subpena. It is not recommended that you do this on your own. You can't force his attorney to only subpena the payroll service and credit card company. You can only object to whatever subpena he does send out.

If your husband has an attorney and the attorney is going to the trouble of issuing a subpena, you should strongly consider getting your own attorney. If you aren't getting an attorney because your income is low or you don't think you can afford one, your attorney can ask for your husband to pay part of your attorneys fees.

A Self-Help Center may or may not be able to help you with stopping or limiting a subpena. You can ask them and see.

All 58 counties in California have some type of Self-Help Center. The people at the Self-Help Center help you fill out family law forms for free. They can’t do everything in family law, but they will help you with all the basics. The downside is that they don’t have a lot of time to spend with you, and often there is a line to get in to see them. The upside is that it is free. So if you have more time than money, go to the Self-Help Center for divorce, custody, visitation, paternity and domestic violence paperwork.

But if you want a more thorough in-depth help, it is recommended that you see a family law attorney. Many family law attorneys have a free first interview. Some charge only $50. Some $75 or $100. It only takes a phone call to their office to find out the fee for the first interview. There is no obligation to hire an attorney to do anything after the first interview. That’s up to you. Also there is no requirement that you talk to an attorney in your area. Any family law attorney licensed in California can help you no matter where you live as long as it is in the state or your case is filed in California. The interview would be done by phone, Zoom, Skype, Facetime or some other type online method. Even if the attorney is in your area, many attorneys are only talking to people this way due to the Covid pandemic, so you couldn’t have an interview in their office anyway. Also attorneys are going to give you a more-in-depth analysis of your situation than you will get at the Self-Help Center. So call an attorney and set up an appointment.

When you ask a question online, like here, the answers you get are only going to be basic information, a starting point. Attorneys are trained to talk to you to find out all the important details of your story. Getting all the details is very important because it will make a big difference in the legal information given to you. It is strongly recommended that even if you get a response here on Justia, that you also talk to an attorney. Many have free first interviews. Even if you have to pay, it is worth it because you talking to a professional who is going to focus on you.