I received a notice from opposing counsel that looks (or contains) something like this: “You are hereby notified of your responsibility to appear personally or appoint counsel.” What does this…
Today’s blog post treats another proposed law that is up for consideration during the 2024 Utah legislative session: House Bill 129 (HB0129 (utah.gov)), entitled “Child Support Requirements”. This bill would,…
Today’s blog post treats House Bill 20, one of several proposed family law-related pieces of legislation for the 2024 Utah legislative session. H.B. 20 is entitled “Parental Rights Amendments” According…
Hard truths incoming. When dealing with a co-parent who is afflicted with a personality disorder, do these things, and do them all at the same time: 1) Examine your own…
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…
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…
I can answer this question in the context of the law of Utah, which is the jurisdiction where I am licensed to practice divorce and family law. To learn the…
In the jurisdiction where I practice divorce law (Utah), the law is NOT that joint debt incurred during the marriage will presumptively remain the debt of both spouses (and thus…
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…
I have been asked by a reader to answer two questions. The first: whether I believe courts generally apply a double standard in the treatment of mothers and fathers when…
Let’s discuss this principle in the context of DUIs, but the principle applies in any situation in which you could be questioned in regard to any crime. What is hard…
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…
You hear and read on attorney websites stuff like, “Navigating child custody arrangements during divorce can be challenging.” That’s not the half of it. Child custody disputes with an evil parent…
I know you want to believe that divorce mediation is the trick to a fast, easy, cheap, amicable divorce. I know you want to believe this, and we know why.…
In my time as a legal assistant in the family law profession, I have observed many different kinds of client behaviors, some better than others. Those behaviors that cause the…
Research is hard to come by. Reliable research even harder. But here is what I could find in short order (how accurate it is I cannot say): https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-23543-004 Maybruch, C.,…
That's a good question. One that I've wondered about myself, but I don't know of any such studies. That doesn't mean they don't exist, it's just that I don't know…
In divorce actions, be sure to distinguish between the different tax treatment of Roth and traditional IRAs. Investopedia.com stated it clearly and concisely: “The traditional IRA allows you to contribute…
As any attorney can do with any client, a PGAL clearly has the right to argue on a child client's behalf, and the Utah Code makes clear that a PGAL…
You have just decided to file for divorce. Or perhaps you have been served with divorce papers. At some point early on in the process you will likely think to…
In every Utah divorce case, the parties must prepare what is known as a financial declaration. The parties to a divorce action are required by the rules of court to…
Divorce is corrosive. What it does not destroy it almost always affects adversely whatever it touches. The things that survive divorce’s initial devastation are forever changed. This effect is seen…
Family law is, for most lawyers, a miserable practice area. You have to have the right personality and constitution for it. If you want to be a family lawyer to…
My answer to your question is going to be a generalized answer to a hypothetical question. Before you take any real-life legal action in relation to real, existing laws, you…
It does not matter whether or how the legal system could support or better support parents who lose child custody cases because it is not the purpose of the legal…
Absolutely. No question about it. Now, don’t confuse “he has every right to ask for receipts” with “he has every right to receipts”. If a child support payor (known in some jurisdictions as the…
That is a great question. Most lawyers who have tried being divorce and family lawyers hate it and abandon it for other practice areas. I can tell you why I…
Your spouse must be served with the summons and divorce complaint or petition before the case can proceed. In my jurisdiction (as I believe it to be the case in…
One of the hardest documents for a Utah divorce litigant to prepare is the financial declaration. I am amazed at the number of clients who don't take this document and…
Some do (if you can imagine an attorney doing something like that, it’s probably already been done), but they’re outliers, and they are violating both the law and the rules…
The term for representing yourself in court is "pro se" or "pro per". Can you navigate the legal system successfully without a lawyer representing you in your case? Before I…
Your attorney cannot do what only you can do. Your attorney cannot answer questions posed to you until you provide your attorney with the information and facts needed to answer…
The documents your attorney tells you that you must prepare for your case are, in fact, documents that you must prepare for your case. Failure to prepare them and to…
If your attorney calls you, it’s important. Take the call, and if you can’t take the call, then call back ASAP (meaning same day, and not at 4:47 p.m.). Hours…
Please check your email. And if you don’t have an email address, you must get one. And then you need to check your email inbox every day. Not just once…
So, you have gotten news that your attorney has quit. Your attorney wrote you an email informing you that he or she your counsel either will soon withdraw as your counsel…
My opinions on prenuptial agreements have changed over the course of my career as a divorce and family lawyer over the past 26 years. Had you asked me whether I…
I will answer this question in the context of Utah law because I practice law in Utah. The term “prenuptial agreement” means “an agreement between prospective spouses made in contemplation…
Many people wonder whether they must file for divorce in the state (or even the country) where they were married, even if they never resided there or no longer reside…
Who would you believe more in a court case: a person who admits to his/her faults, who honestly discloses all of his/her relevant information (even the information that hurts his/her…
I’m just at the beginning stages of a divorce case, but already in the thick of it. My spouse tells me she is going to have her lawyer file a…
I will answer this question in the context of Utah law because I am licensed as an attorney and practice divorce and family law in the state of Utah. For…
This is a more complex question than it might at first appear. First, we need to address the matter of people who confuse beliefs with facts. If I had a…
There is more than one question to answer here. First, does a parent have the unilateral power simply to “give up” his or her parental rights (and accompanying obligations)? No. The…
I have noticed three chronic problems with clients in just the few weeks I have been working as a legal assistant. 1) Most clients seem to have an almost allergic…
It could mean many things when a parent avoids a legal fight in court for child custody. To identify a few things, it could mean: that the parent does not…
Unless a court were to order that a parent was barred from traveling out of state or out of the country with the children on vacation, a joint legal and…
How one writes in the legal world and how one writes in the world of creative are both very similar and very different. When I became a legal assistant, I thought…
After working in civil law for a short time (specifically, in divorce and family law), I think that many people have the wrong idea about justice and the court system.…