Recently a Quora.com reader commented on my answer to this question: Is there a primary parent in joint custody in Utah which is also known as “equal” or “50/50” custody? They…
I can give you my personal opinion (not legal advice, but my personal opinion) from my perspective as a lawyer licensed in Utah and who practices divorce and family law…
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…
Whether you should be or try to be friends with your spouse after a divorce is a tough question to answer. Many divorced people continue to care about each other…
I would say this: By law I cannot grant a request for a protective order unless a preponderance of the evidence supports the request. If the request lacks the support…
First, we need to learn and understand the term for violating a court order. That term is “contempt of court.” In Utah, one commits contempt of court in a civil…
If you want to know your options and have the time to exercise them, then you need to meet with an attorney immediately to find out what the law requires of you,…
For lawyers and parents (and perhaps even commissioners and judges) who hate child custody determinations (temporary or otherwise) based upon proffer, I share this with you: This court has previously…
The bifurcated inquiry required by Utah law in custody modifications cases where the court must consider whether “there has been a substantial and material change in the circumstances upon which”…
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…
If you care to know: please don't refer to the numbered paragraphs in divorce and family law cases as anything other than paragraph numbers. ¶ So it's "paragraph 4". Not "section…
See 2024 UT App 54 - Tilleman v. Tilleman, which recites many of them: ¶26 . . . Generally, we review a trial court’s custody award for an abuse of discretion. See T.W. v.…
Talk to a good (a good) lawyer about whether you even have the right to “inherit” from your ex-husband’s brothers. Unless there are bizarre circumstances at work here, odds are…
Have you ever heard that having a child will fix certain problems in marriage? That it will help bring a couple in a strained marriage closer together and thus fix,…
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?,”…
If your wife really is divorcing you, and not merely threatening to divorce you, because 1) you are not rich enough to suit her, and 2) you are not a…
Yes, it is possible, but not always possible, and when it is possible it is often very difficult to accomplish. Difficult not because custody evaluators are particularly competent (they typically…
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…
2024 UT App 52 - In re A.S. THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS STATE OF UTAH, IN THE INTEREST OF A.S. AND J.S., PERSONS UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE.…
2024 UT App 51 - Bailey v. Bailey THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS AMY L. BAILEY, Appellee, v. DANNY RAY BAILEY, Appellant. Opinion No. 20220534-CA Filed April 11, 2024 Second…
I recently went to trial with my boss for a divorce case. One of the things that stuck out to me was that quite often the witnesses people call in…
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…
First, you need ask a different question before you get to the question of a father’s chances of winning full or primary custody of children in divorce. The question should…
Did you see this in the news in Utah (from the Salt Lake Tribune)? A Utah man never hit his wife — until he tried to kill her. But how…
When a PGAL (private guardian ad litem) is appointed to represent children in a child custody dispute in a Utah divorce case, it would sure be good to know what…
I recently accompanied my boss to the trial of a divorce case. If I had had to place a bet on what the judge was thinking at given moment or…
Talk to a good (a good) lawyer about whether you even have the right to “inherit” from your ex-husband’s brothers. Unless there are bizarre circumstances at work here, odds are…
If you can get a no-fault divorce, meaning that you can just walk away from a marriage because you don't want it anymore, why could that same person seek alimony?…
Without knowing more about your criminal record, I can still safely predict that having almost any kind of chronic or significant criminal record reduces your chances of being awarded custody…
Many people ask what the benefits of a legal separation are. Aside from the obvious "it gives us the option of staying together, if we want to," are there other…
Are the court proceedings in your kind of case open to the public? If so, then the grandmother, being a member of the public, may have a right to be…
Yes. Many women (not all, but many more than we'd like to believe unquestionably lie and make outright false or grossly exaggerated domestic violence claims. The temptation to tell such…
One of the arguments that some fathers make when they encounter the double standard applied to mothers and fathers in child custody disputes (resulting in a denial of equal legal…
Can it be overturned? It is possible. Will it be overturned? The odds don’t favor Dad. While some fathers who are falsely accused do obtain vindication, the odds are against…
A reduction in the alimony award obligation is extremely difficult to obtain. It's designed to be difficult to modify downward, so that only those who 1) are truly unable to…
The family law legal system likes to portray itself as a shining beacon of justice and equity, but I have seen first-hand that it is not. Whether it is opportunistic…
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…
We all know the aphorism, "If it looks/sounds to good to be true, it probably is [not true]." This also means, however, that if it looks/sounds too 𝙗𝙖𝙙 to be true, it…
When a custody evaluator and/or private guardian ad litem is/are appointed in a divorce case in which custody and parent-time of the children is disputed, they usually interview the children…
You can assume whatever you want about anyone or anything, but that does not mean your assumptions are accurate. And there is this from Merriam-Webster: “Although presume and assume both…
If you want just my direct answer to this question, skip to the last paragraph, but I submit that you’ll have a much better understanding of the answer if you…
2024 UT App 28 - Smith v. Smith THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS JACQUELINE P. SMITH, Appellee, v. DANIEL H. SMITH, Appellant. Opinion No. 20220697-CA Filed March 7, 2024 Third…
If you’re anything like I am, you don’t like being ignorant and confused about terms aren’t familiar with and do not understand. If you are contemplating divorce or find yourself…
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…
From cnbc.com: 46% of divorced couples say this was the No. 1 conflict in their relationship—and it isn’t money (Published Tuesday, August 15, 2023 2:23 PM EDT; Updated Tue, August 15,…
Yes. A hearing is not the same as a trial. While there may be some similarities, they are not the same thing and do not accomplish the same objectives. The…
Recently an attorney posed a question on a forum for fellow Utah family law attorneys. The question involved how to find out what the children’s experiences have been with one…
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…
The point of a psychological evaluation isn’t to establish if someone merely suffers from any mental or emotional disorder or disorders, but to help determine whether such disorders, if they…
A better way to conduct court proceedings came along (a long time ago): remote appearances. You read that correctly: the courts in Utah can accommodate appearances by remote video conference.…
Black and white, plain and simple. We really mean that here at Utah Family Law, LC. What you normally hear about divorce and family law is all over the map–even when you hear it from lawyers.
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