Executive Summary A law license is not a guarantee of your lawyer’s competence, preparation, judgment, or diligence. You should not assume the worst about your lawyer, but you should understand…
Executive Summary: You do not save money in divorce simply by spending less on lawyers. You save money by using legal help where it adds value and avoiding work that…
Executive Summary: I draft legal documents the way a tailor fits a suit. I start with a proven structure, show the client an actual draft, and then adjust the approach,…
The strange economics of divorce mediation A Montblanc pen may be beautifully made and worth every penny to someone who wants one. But if the job is signing your name,…
Nobody has any business demanding perfection from judges, commissioners, lawyers, guardians ad litem, custody evaluators, therapists, or court clerks. These are human beings doing difficult work, often under time pressure,…
2026 UT App 141 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS EMILY CURTIS BONHAM, Appellee, v. BRANDON REYNOLDS BONHAM, Appellant. Opinion No. 20240597-CA Filed September 11, 2026 Third District Court, Salt Lake…
2026 UT App 131 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS CHARLES DAHL, Appellee, v. KIM DAHL, Appellant. Opinion No. 20240740-CA Filed August 27, 2026 Fourth District Court, Provo Department The Honorable…
(Guest blog by Joe Gordon) One of the biggest challenges in a gray divorce is finding a housing solution that works for both spouses without jeopardizing their retirement. For many…
It often begins with a request that sounds perfectly reasonable. “We need some space.” “The fighting isn’t good for the kids.” “Why don’t you stay somewhere else for a while…
There is a ritual that plays out with remarkable regularity in Utah family court proceedings. A divorce becomes ugly. A parent is angry. A child is anxious. Communication deteriorates. Someone…
Mental-health awareness has helped people recognize genuine illness, obtain treatment, and speak about suffering without shame. That is real progress. But family law increasingly reveals the other side of the…
Utah's entire system for dividing property, setting alimony, and calculating child support runs on one assumption: both parties are telling the truth about their finances. When that assumption breaks down,…
Signing Form I-864 is a life-altering federal commitment. A Utah divorce decree court cannot terminate your obligation to support an immigrant ex-spouse, and ordinary prenuptial agreements and alimony waivers generally will…
A fit parent is awarded equal custody of two teenagers. Nothing in the record suggests that parent is dangerous, neglectful, or unfit—the court has already said so. A few months…
I recently encountered a Facebook Reel that is funnier—and probably truer—than many people will be comfortable admitting. Watch the original Reel here. The Reel’s creator identifies what she calls the…
Paulson v. Paulson - 2026 UT App 108 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS TRISHNA PAULSON, Appellee, v. CHRISTOPHER PAULSON, Appellant. Opinion No. 20220914-CA Filed July 16, 2026 Fourth District Court,…
Schmidt v. Schmidt - 2026 UT App 98 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS STEPHEN EDWARD SCHMIDT, Appellant, v. ANGELA SCHMIDT, Appellee. Opinion No. 20240759-CA Filed July 2, 2026 Third District…
Viewing Pre- and Post-Nuptial Agreements Through the Humanity Lens A premarital agreement is sold to clients as a piece of financial engineering. It provides certainty. It protects separate property. It…
Judge Kasey Wright deserves more credit than ridicule for refusing to pretend that chronic triage is competent judging. On July 13, 2026, Utah Fourth Judicial District Judge Kasey Wright submitted…
Judges in child custody disputes should hear from children more often. A lot more often. It should be routine, the presumptive course, the default. Not because children should decide custody…
At a recent hearing, a commissioner explained why she was appointing a private guardian ad litem instead of interviewing the child herself: "Given the age of the child, the statutory…
Christine Miller recently made a point about family court that deserves more attention: the appearance of independent professional agreement where no genuine independence exists. When a court appoints a private guardian…
“A woman's greatest strength [in divorce court] is her ability to be a victim.” It’s a statement that immediately makes people boil over—either in furious agreement or absolute outrage. But…
Christensen v. Christensen - 2026 UT App 104 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS JEFFREY CHRISTENSEN, Appellant, v. COURTNEY JESSICA CHRISTENSEN, Appellee. Opinion No. 20240810-CA Filed July 9, 2026 Third District…
A temporary protective order should do one thing well: protect against the danger actually alleged and shown by nothing less than a preponderance of the evidence. It should not become…
A low evidentiary burden is still a burden. That should be obvious. In Utah temporary protective order practice, however, it is often treated as optional. The preponderance of the evidence…
Few legal proceedings can rearrange a person’s life as quickly as an ex parte protective order. A judge can remove someone from the family home, restrict contact with children, limit access to…
For many Utah couples, the family home is the largest asset in the divorce. It is also often the most emotional one. That combination can make it dangerous. A spouse…
This post is a companion to The Bloodletting of Family Law. That post diagnosed a system that mistakes itself for the cure. This one is about the cure the system…
For centuries, physicians bled their patients and called it medicine. The patients got weaker; the doctors, confident in their training, prescribed more bleeding. Medicine now has a name for harm…
Designing divorce and custody settlements that resist gaming Most child custody disputes — and most of the financial fights that ride alongside them — run on bad incentives. The system…
If you are in a child custody dispute and the court appoints a "guardian ad litem," it sounds reassuring. A lawyer appointed for the child? What could there be not…
I don’t have all the facts about this. None of us do at this point. And what facts we have may not even be fully “factual,” but we’ve seen this…
New ideas are rarely adopted by the average person first. That is a useful point Seth Godin recently made in his blog recently. When you ask ordinary people whether they like a…
When a parent isn't active in a child's life, most people think they already know why. He must not care. She must have checked out. He must have wanted something…
Special masters and parent coordinators sound like practical solutions to exhausting parenting disputes. When parents keep fighting over exchanges, expenses, holidays, phone calls, school issues, and extracurricular activities, the idea…
In most courtrooms, a litigant cannot restrict another person’s fundamental rights by repeating untested, out-of-court accusations. If a party tries to prove serious allegations through “someone told me” evidence, the…
Utah grandparent visitation rights can be court-ordered, but they are hard to win. A grandparent can ask a Utah court for visitation, but Utah law starts with a strong presumption in…
That eagerness to cross the finish line can be so seductive in reaching a divorce settlement agreement. If the division of assets looks 50/50 on paper, it is easy to…
On the surface, family court looks like a place of reason. There are statutes, rules of evidence, financial declarations, parenting plans, sworn testimony, judicial findings, and orders written in the…
Few child custody disputes create more uncertainty than relocation. A parent may wantto move for a new job, remarriage, school, lower housing costs, or to be closer to family.Those reasons…
A divorce decree is not a suggestion. It is not a handshake. It is not a rough outline of what the parties might do later if everyone feels cooperative. It…
2026 UT App 85 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS JOHN B. ALLEMAN, Petitioner, v. THE HONORABLE CHRISTINE JOHNSON AND APRIL SLAUGHTER, Respondents. APRIL SLAUGHTER, Appellee, v. JOHN B. ALLEMAN, Appellant.…
When a spouse earns less after divorce is filed, the court does not have to accept the lower number just because it appears on a paycheck. That is one of…
2026 UT App 86 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS KRISTINE JENKINS, Appellee, v. EVAN K. JENKINS, Appellant. Opinion No. 20241206-CA Filed May 29, 2026 Fourth District Court, Provo Department The…
One of the most common sources of conflict between co-parents is not just custody exchanges, holiday schedules, or even the monthly child support payment. Often, it is the steady stream…
When parents separate or divorce, one of the most important questions is how custody of their children will be determined. Many parents enter the process believing the court will automatically…
Few courtroom phrases are more soothing—or more dangerous—than this response to a valid hearsay objection: “I’ll admit it, but I’ll give it the appropriate weight.” The phrase sounds disciplined. It…
For many parents involved in child custody disputes, the phrase “appointing a PGAL” comes up before anyone explains what it means. “PGAL” is short for private guardian ad litem. In…
Family court is not ordinary litigation. In a business dispute, the parties may fight hard, settle, and never see each other again. In divorce and child custody disputes, the parties…