What Are Some Reasons Why Someone Might Choose to Stay in an Unhappy Marriage Instead of Getting a Divorce, Even if They Have Children and Are Concerned About the Cost?

There are literally thousands of lists you can find online that do an excellent job of identifying the reasons accurately, clearly, and concisely. I recommend that you find them and…

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How to Fill Out Your Financial Declaration, Paragraph Five. By Braxton Mounteer, Legal Assistant

Paragraph five of your financial declaration is about the amount of taxes on your monthly income that you pay per month (or what the average monthly deduction from your income…

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My Spouse Refuses Divorce but I Need to Be Divorced. My Spouse Says He/She Will Make My Life and the Kids’ Life Hell if I Leave. I Don’t Want to Spend a Fortune on a Lawyer.

Are you a churchgoer? Are you a member of a church? If so, your church may have resources available to members to help them with various legal concerns or problems.…

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If My Ex Husband Had a Secret Bank Account Before We Were Married, Would I Be Entitled to Some of It After the Divorce? I Already Have a Private Investigator Looking Into It. Thanks in Advance!

This is an area where the laws differ substantially from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. To know what options may be available to you in your jurisdiction, you need to consult with…

Continue ReadingIf My Ex Husband Had a Secret Bank Account Before We Were Married, Would I Be Entitled to Some of It After the Divorce? I Already Have a Private Investigator Looking Into It. Thanks in Advance!

What Is Dissipation of Marital Assets? How Is It Addressed in Utah Divorce Actions?

We’ll start with this: The marital estate is generally valued at the time of the divorce decree or trial. Goggin v. Goggin, 2013 UT 16, ¶ 49, 299 P.3d 1079. The…

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How to Fill Out Your Financial Declaration, Paragraph One. By Braxton Mounteer, Legal Assistant

If you find yourself involved in a Utah divorce action (whether child support will be an issue or not) or an action over the support of minor children in Utah…

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Are You Fighting for Your Kids or Are You Protecting Your Financial Future? By Braxton Mounteer, Legal Assistant

An accusation that gets thrown around a lot in a divorce action is that a parent doesn’t actually want to spend time with his or her children. Usually it's an…

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What Should I Do if My Divorce Is Not Getting Solved Quickly?

This is a great question. Go find a good (a good, not just any) retired divorce attorney (a divorce attorney, not some other kind of attorney who has no idea…

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Elder v. Elder – 2024 UT App 68 – enforcement vs. modification

Elder v. Elder - 2024 UT App 68 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS BRITTANY LEE ELDER, Appellee, v. MATT BLAKE ELDER, Appellant. Opinion No. 20210902-CA Filed May 9, 2024 Second…

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Is It Common for Ex-spouses to Continue Supporting Each Other Financially and Emotionally After a Divorce? What Are Some Potential Solutions for This Situation?

See parent question. I am a divorce lawyer, and after a divorce case ends (meaning a decree of divorce has been issued and case essentially closed), I literally never know…

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Is There Anything I Can Do for Winning Custody After the Gal Report Is Favoring My Ex? Is Paying More to My Attorneys Worth It or No?

After you ask, “Is there anything I can do for winning custody after the GAL report is favoring my ex? Is paying more to my attorneys worth it or no?,”…

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2024 UT App 54 – Tilleman v. Tilleman – custody factors, income, fees

2024 UT App 54 - Tilleman v. Tilleman THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS MICHAEL ROBERT TILLEMAN, Appellant, v. MICHAL CHRISTINE TILLEMAN, Appellee. Opinion No. 20210637-CA Filed April 11, 2024 Fourth…

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You Reap What You Sow.

I’m Braxton Mounteer, a legal assistant. I've written and talked about this problem before, but it's a recurring problem and a serious one. It's hard enough to muster the courage…

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McFarland v. McFarland – 2024 UT App 31 – attorney’s fees awards

McFarland v. McFarland - 2024 UT App 31 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS BRUCE RAY MCFARLAND, Appellee, v. NICOLE S. MCFARLAND, Appellant. Opinion No. 20221044-CA, Filed March 14, 2024 Second District…

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Can Child Support (Whether Prospectively or Retrospectively) Be Waived by the Child Support Payee?

The easiest of these two questions to answer is the second one, i.e., “Can child support be waiver retrospectively by the child support payee? The answer is yes, if the…

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Is Court-Ordered Therapy Over-Used? By Braxton Mounteer, legal assistant.

Whether you believe that everyone needs (or could benefit from) therapy or that it is only for the most dysfunctional families, you, like most people, likely agree some therapy has…

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Why Hiding Your Money in a Divorce and/or Child Support Court Case Won’t Work (and why people still try) By Braxton Mounteer

When those who will be ordered to divide assets with a spouse and/or pay child and/or spousal support (alimony) confront the matter, many try to lie about and to misrepresent their…

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Why won’t courts test competing custody and parent-time proposals during the pretrial phase of a case?

Do you want to know where the real money is most often made in divorce and family law cases? Child custody and parent-time disputes, hands down. Rarely do the parents…

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How much does a parent have to pay in child support? What is the legally set amount?

Some people believe that child support is the same for all parents. They believe that every parent who is ordered to pay child support pays the same amount of money…

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Why Hiding or Misrepresenting Your Income in a Divorce and/or Child Support Court Case Won’t Work (and why people still try) By Braxton Mounteer

When those who realize they may be ordered to pay child and/or spousal support (alimony) confront the matter, many try to lie about and to misrepresent their income in the hope…

Continue ReadingWhy Hiding or Misrepresenting Your Income in a Divorce and/or Child Support Court Case Won’t Work (and why people still try) By Braxton Mounteer

Family Law Legislation for the 2024 Utah State Legislative Session

Here is a list of the current proposed family law legislation for the 2024 Utah State Legislative session, along with a (very) brief description of the proposed legislation. If you…

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Parenting before, during, and divorce litigation By Braxton Mounteer, Legal Assistant

Divorce is already hard enough on the parties involved, but it is even harder on the children of the recently separated family. I speak as a child of divorce, who…

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How to prepare for a consultation with a lawyer By Braxton Mounteer, legal assistant

You have just been served with a summons and complaint (or petition) for divorce. Now have to traverse the minefield that is finding a good divorce attorney. It's harder to find a…

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I Can Prepare a Prenuptial Agreement for You, but With Rare, Particular Exception, I Advise Against It.

Most attorney websites that contain “articles” on prenuptial agreements aren’t really articles but thinly veiled sales pitches for prenuptial agreements. This post is not one of those. I have always…

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How do I enforce my husband’s promise to hire an attorney for me in our divorce?

If by this question you mean to state that your husband told you he would pay for your attorney in the divorce action between the two of you, that could…

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What happens in court if I file for divorce but my husband has an active case on me for child support? Will I get the child?

Whether you “get the child” (meaning whether you will be awarded physical custody of the child) has little to no relevance to the fact that your spouse is seeking child…

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Dirty Tricks to Watch Out for in Divorce

I often encounter sneaky spouses who after separation and/or after a divorce action has been filed, start sending text messages and emails to the other spouse making false claims like:…

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How does filing for divorce affect relationships with family members and friends who don’t agree with the decision? Do people tend to choose sides?

How does filing for divorce affect relationships with family members and friends who don't agree with the decision? Poorly, generally. That should come as no surprise. Do people tend to…

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Is There Any Realistic Way to Prevent Misappropriating Child Support Funds?

This is a subject that comes up frequently. It comes up frequently not because misappropriating child support is a hard problem to mitigate but because the courts don’t have the…

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Must trial courts consider the tax consequences in divorce?

Generally: It appears that the law in Utah is that the trial court is not required to consider hypothetical and/or future tax consequences of the disposition of the marital estate. See Howell v. Howell,…

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Special masters, parent coordinators, and the infantilization of parents

Special masters and parent coordinators (and co-parenting therapists, co-parent coaches/consultants, and their ilk) were invented for the purpose of unburdening courts from some of the conflict associated with domestic relations…

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Does it not feel weird to anyone that a parent who does not get child custody has to pay child support to the other parent who is enjoying the kids?

I think I know why you think it’s weird. Why have the children live with one parent instead both parents on an equal custody basis? In other words, “I’ll bear…

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I am ordered to pay child support to my ex. My ex and I are both ordered to share the cost of our child’s health, medical, dental, and hospital care insurance equally. Is there anything I can do to ensure that I am reimbursed without it costing me more than the value of the reimbursement itself?

Question: I am ordered to pay child support to my ex. My ex and I are both ordered to share the cost of our child’s health, medical, dental, and hospital care…

Continue ReadingI am ordered to pay child support to my ex. My ex and I are both ordered to share the cost of our child’s health, medical, dental, and hospital care insurance equally. Is there anything I can do to ensure that I am reimbursed without it costing me more than the value of the reimbursement itself?

Important things divorce attorney clients need to know but would easily and freely be forgiven for not knowing without being told. No. 5:

Help me help you, will you? The cost of a divorce attorney’s representation in Utah is simply and obviously far too high for most people. We’re talking bankruptcy or near-bankruptcy…

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First Impressions of Being a Legal Assistant as a Writer By Braxton Mounteer

The first thing you should know is that I am a writer. I have authored some short stories and some other things you haven’t heard of. I have been a…

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Divorce Is Often a “Cure” Worse Than the Disease

In response to this question, "Have you ever thought someone was making a mistake by getting a divorce?,” I stated (and I summarize here) some people need to divorce. It’s…

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Knowlton v. Knowlton – 2023 UT App 16

Knowlton v. Knowlton - 2023 UT App 16 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS SHONDELL SWENSON KNOWLTON, Appellee, v. BRADLEY LEWIS KNOWLTON, Appellant. Opinion No. 20200483-CA Filed February 9, 2023 Second…

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U.S. Marriage and Divorce Statistics

My name is Stephanie from flingorlove.com and honestly, I usually wouldn't bother emailing about this, but I researched and gathered as much data and stats as I could about various divorce statistics…

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Myers v. Myers 2023 UT App 20 – Alimony Modification

Myers v. Myers 2023 UT App 20 2023 UT App 20 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS AMY R. MYERS, Appellee, v. JACOB W. MYERS, Appellant. Opinion No. 20220002-CA Filed March…

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Is There a Way to Get Legal Action on Child Support for Free?

Free or inexpensively? Yes, there are ways. Each jurisdiction has different ways of providing these free and/or inexpensive legal services. With rare, if any, exception, these free and/or inexpensive legal…

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What advice would you give to someone who has just started a divorce?

What advice would you give to someone who has just become one of the parties in a divorce proceeding? #1. Know this: divorce law and the divorce process are almost…

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Why are so many attorneys seemingly against legal separation?

Why are so many attorneys seemingly against legal separation? I truly feel in my circumstance its best for me/us. Is it because they wont make as much money? We have…

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How does employment effect finances in divorce?

Are Couples in which the husband didn’t have a full-time job had a chance of divorcing the following year, compared to couples in which the husband did have a full-time…

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If you get a divorce but everything is in your name, do you have to split it?

If you get a divorce but everything is in your name, do you get to keep everything or do you have to split it?  I will answer your question in…

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My estranged father keeps asking me for money, what do I do?

My parents are divorced, my father has no savings, he didn't work for the entire period of their marriage, we were estranged for a while and now we are back,…

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Is it easier to get a divorce if you and your spouse have nothing shared?

Is it easier to get a divorce if you and your spouse have no debts, no shared property, and no children? Typically, generally, usually, yes. In the overwhelming majority of…

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