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Tonya E. Prescott, Esq. |
Tonya was born and grew up in Gatesville, Texas. She married and relocated to Southern California in 1965. Tonya is married and has three children, Valerie, Brad and Michael. For a period of time, as a single mom, Tonya was employed as a Registered Nurse and worked double shifts to support her children. She was a registered nurse for 11 years. Tonya graduated from Western State University in 1985 and obtained her pilot's license while waiting for the results of her bar examination. Tonya also holds a Real Estate Brokerage license.
Tonya passed the bar on the first attempt and was then admitted as an Attorney and Counselor at Law by the California Supreme Court on June 26, 1986. For a period of time, she practiced a number of different types of cases. Ultimately, however, Tonya realized that she wanted to devote her practice to family law. In 1998, Tonya became a Certified Family Law Specialist certified by the California State Board of Legal Specialization.
Tonya has been running marathons (26.2 mile races) since 1979, including "ultra" distances which are distances longer than a marathon and up to 100 miles. She completed the Western States 100 Mile Race and the Wasatch Front 100 mile race twice. In April, 1996, Tonya and her husband, ran their 100th marathon at the 100th anniversary of the Boston Marathon accompanied by Tonya's daughter, Valerie. Tonya averages two races a month ranging from a 26.2 mile marathon to 100 mile races. She knows it sounds insane to run such long distances, however, Tonya really uses running as a stress reliever. You can probably imagine what Tonya does in her "spare time." When Tonya isn't playing with her grandchildren, Jordan and Lucas, she runs an average of about 60 miles a week.
Tonya volunteers her time to the Domestic Violence Center working with unrepresented victims of domestic abuse seeking emergency restraining orders. In addition, she volunteers to act as a Judge Pro Tem for the Orange County Superior Court, Family Law Division. A Judge Pro Tem is a temporary judge who is sworn to act as a judge when the Court finds itself without enough judicial officers to fill the available court rooms. Tonya finds it extremely interesting and refreshing to be on the "other side of the fence" occasionally.
On occasions, Tonya finds herself specially appointed by the Court to represent minor children in custody proceedings. At times, the Court feels that children need legal representation so that the Court can hear their side of the story. Appointment of an attorney for the minor child or children can be a very effective way of letting the children be heard by the Court. In addition, Tonya has been appointed to act as a Special Master to help the Court resolve complicated issues. A special master is appointed when an issue, such as a division of community property or computation of an equalization payment, is too complicated and time consuming for the Court to handle from the bench. In these situations, the Court will appoint a special master and defer its judgment on the issue to a date at which the special master submits a written report.
Over the years, Tonya has handled a number of appeals. One of her published cases, In Re Marriage of Whealon became a landmark case on the "move away" issue in custody cases.
 Tequila (left) and Salsa strike a pose. |
