What advice would you give to someone whose divorce is going to court?
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…
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…
If you find an attorney who knows a sure-fire, fail-safe way to defend an ex-spouse or an ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend against “false accusations,” that attorney is likely a multimillionaire because possessing such…
THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS DEAN ERICKSON, Appellee, v. JANICE ERICKSON, Appellant. Opinion No. 20200193-CA Filed March 3, 2022 Third District Court, Salt Lake Department The Honorable Todd M. Shaughnessy…
How can I help my 12-year-old step-daughter get away from an emotionally abusive mother? Tell the child’s father (your husband) about the trouble and have him handle it. It’s not…
2022 UT App 24 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS JOHN DINSDALE HILLAM, Petitioner, v. TARA HILLAM, Respondent and Appellant, v. DUSTIN HANCOCK AS INVESTMENT TRUSTEE, Respondent and Appellee. Opinion No.…
This blog post is in response to this question: I don't think it's bad to get a divorce. I think it's more unhealthy to have miserable lives. — Ginger Wynn. What are…
There isn’t one. There can’t be. I’ll explain why and what you can and should do if you want to go the DIY divorce by the book route. The main…
Hinds v Hinds-Holm - 2022 UT App 13 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS BRADLEY HINDS, Appellee, v. RACHEL HINDS-HOLM, Appellant. Opinion No. 20200586-CA Filed January 27, 2022 Third District Court,…
What will happen if the court ruled in favor of a mother to have the custody of her child but the child refuses to go with her and she prefers…
Why do spurned spouses often refuse to participate in certain aspects of their own divorce proceedings despite the headache it creates for all parties involved? Spurned spouses sometimes refuse to…
Commencing May 21, 2022, a new rule of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure will be in force: Rule 100A. While I love the intention behind Rule 100A, reviewing the…
What is the legal basis for all the hoops I have to jump through in my Utah divorce case? This is a great question. It’s a question I often ask…
My lawyer asked me to get letters of my character from my friends for family court to introduce as evidence, but do they really matter and is 12 enough? Do…
Yes, the respondent gets one, as long as the respondent can be found so that he/she can be handed, mailed, or electronically provided with a copy. Indeed, if a respondent…
By Quinton Lister, legal assistant The old cliché of “Every end is really a beginning” has had me thinking the past couple of weeks. I think about phases in my…
2022 UT App 5 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS CANDI WADSWORTH, Appellant, v. GUY L. WADSWORTH, Appellee. Opinion No. 20190106-CA No. 20200430-CA Filed January 13, 2022 Third District Court, Salt…
2021 UT App 132 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS T.W., Appellant, v. S.A., Appellee. Opinion No. 20200397-CA Filed November 26, 2021 Third District Court, West Jordan Department The Honorable Dianna…
2021 UT App 122 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS KRISTINE L. SANDERS, Appellee, v. TRAVIS JAMES SANDERS, Appellant. Opinion No. 20200618-CA Filed November 12, 2021 Third District Court, Salt Lake Department The Honorable Todd M. Shaughnessy …
2021 UT App 130 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS COLTEN JOHANSEN, Appellee, KATHY JOHANSEN, Appellant. Opinion No. 20200234-CA Filed November 26, 2021 Second District Court, Ogden Department The Honorable Joseph…
By Quinton Lister, legal assistant Lying is corrosive. Lying does not allow us to be the best version of ourselves. Lying keeps us in denial about the actual state of…
THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS GARY LEE FISCHER, Appellant, v. MELISSA KAY FISCHER, Appellee. Opinion No. 20200557-CA Filed December 30, 2021 Seventh District Court, Moab Department The Honorable Don Torgerson …
Divorce generally creates far more chaos in individual families than it alleviates, but sometimes a divorce is the best thing to happen to a family. But that’s like saying sometimes its good…
After a bitter divorce, is it possible to stay on friendly terms with your now ex-in-laws? Likely? No. But that doesn’t mean you should abandon hope. Indeed, some divorces end…
The way courts in Utah conduct custody evaluations nowadays is indefensible. There is nothing in UCJA rule 4-903 (the rule governing custody evaluations) that requires a custody evaluation to consist of little…
What would you think of a parent who makes the last child support payment prorated 7 days because the child’s 18th birthday falls on the 7th? I see nothing illegal…
What’s one thing you’ve heard a lawyer say that made you question their expertise? I was in court for a hearing in a divorce action where opposing counsel objected to…
Miserable. Narcissists know how to game the system, to exploit its weaknesses, to exploit all that is good in human nature and institutions for destructive ends. It’s virtually impossible to prove that a narcissist is engaging in such misconduct because one of the things that makes a narcissist a narcissist, and so maddeningly effective…
Every aspect of divorce. Every single one. Two cannot live separately and divorced for less than they did together. Litigation is mind-bogglingly expensive and protracted. Even an uncontested divorce can…
It’s easy if you know what you’re doing. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s easy to find someone who does know what to do. In many jurisdictions,…
In my experience, yes, in most cases. Not all cases, but most cases. And there are varying degrees of greed reflected in the way people approach their divorce cases. Some…
If you have a lawyer: your lawyer can and should give you a copy. If you don’t have a lawyer: go to the courthouse (if the courthouse is open and allowing members…
By Quinton Lister, legal assistant My boss at the law firm where I work (Utah Family Law, LC) has informed me more than once that, “divorce lawyers are, with few exceptions, terrible people”. I am…
Christmas/Winter Break for Parents Under Utah Code § 30-3-35 or (§ 30-3-35.5 for a child 18 months and older) If your Christmas/Winter break starts December 17, 2021 and ends January…
I’ve been a divorce attorney for 25 years, and I don’t see any difference in the divorce rate between the pre-and post-COVID-19 eras. That’s not a scientific study, just anecdotal…
Many married couples are now foregoing having children but still feel a need for caring for something other than themselves individually and for each other, and so they get a…
I just read the following comment made by a viewer of my UFLTV parental alienation interview with Kelly Peterson. This viewer wrote, “So basically, parental alienation is proved by documenting the instances…
What is the best way for me to explain to my 3 daughters that the reason in which I am divorcing their Assistant Prosecutor stepmother is because I wouldn’t let…
The best way to phrase this question is as follows, “How do I get an order awarding custody of our child to me, if I assert as the basis for…
If two people have a child out of wedlock, and they split up, is it treated like a divorce? I will answer this question for the jurisdiction of Utah. The…
By Quinton Lister, legal assistant Before I started working as a legal assistant I was a philosophy major at BYU. During that time I read a portion of John Rawls treatise on justice. Mr. Rawls…
Rip off that band-aid and go see a lawyer immediately. Not “as soon as possible,” right now. Now. Without delay. Without any delay. Yes, I know you don’t trust lawyers. I know…
So you've paid your divorce attorney $10,000 or so, it's been 6 months, and essentially nothing's getting done. What went wrong? It could be many things. If you have a…
We all know that a protective order provides little to no substantive protection for the purported victim. The joke around the legal profession is that when a bullet, blade, bat, or fist is headed your…
Great question. I have discussed this question with others. Their first reaction to the question is along the lines of “Oh, that’s terrible!,” but then we discuss the fact that…
In Utah, such a thing can be done, but I have never, in 24 years of practice, seen it ordered or agreed to (I’ve heard rumors that some parents have…
Here is an example of an important gotcha factor to be on guard against, if you are a good father being forced by the legal system to fight for joint…
I’m 15, about to be 16, and my parents are getting a divorce. My father has full custody, but he doesn't want to take me to court to present my…
In Utah, the answer to your question would be: Yes, in the form of the restraining order itself. The restraining order itself states that “[t]he order shall expire by its…
This is an example of a logical fallacy; specifically, begging the question. It assumes the conclusion in the premise It is not a given that disciplining a child is a…
No. There is no minimum age at which child can be left unsupervised in Utah. Child and Family Services uses the following definition to evaluate each situation: Non-Supervision – The…