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…
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…
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…
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…
What are the child custody factors that judges consider when determining what's in a child's best interest in custody disputes according to Utah’s family law statutes? The main factors are…
I am a divorce and family lawyer. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a court anywhere in this country (USA) that would consider a mother temporarily receiving unemployment benefits…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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.,…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
Knight v. Knight - 2023 UT App 86 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS JARED M. KNIGHT, Appellee, v. REBECCA B. KNIGHT, Appellant. Opinion No. 20210080-CA Filed August 10, 2023 Third…
Because divorce is not about a spouse (man or woman) getting “half of everything”. Depending upon whether a state is a “community property” state or an “equitable distribution” state, here…
It is, to the best of my knowledge, the law of the state that issued the alimony award. You will need to check with an attorney in both the state…
2023 UT App 62 - Cox v. Cox THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS BLANCHE COX, Appellee, v. JAMES A. COX, Appellant. Opinion No. 20210455-CA Filed June 8, 2023 Fourth District…
Whether my recollection is true or not, I remember being taught in law school that tithing and other regular charitable giving cannot be treated as a personal expense deduction in…
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…
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…
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…
I am frequently asked questions about my flat fee billing. I bill on a weekly flat fee basis. Usually $500 per week, although the weekly fee can be higher if…
Quite often, yes, but not necessarily in every divorce. In the jurisdiction where I practice divorce law, “[m]arital property is ordinarily all property acquired during marriage and it encompasses all…
While I cannot speak for all jurisdictions and for all situations, generally an attorney to whom you have paid a retainer or advance deposit is obligated to return the unearned…
The law governing the duration of alimony is pretty simple and straightforward: See Utah Code § 30-3-5, subsections (1)(c) and (11)(e): (1) As used in this section: ***** (c) "Length…
Are you going through a child custody dispute in court, or contemplating one? If so, have you heard about a custody evaluation? if not, you'll want to pay particularly close…
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…
Good morning, I am a divorce and child custody lawyer. I have a question that all of my clients ask me that I don't have the answer to: "Why does…
Are financial interrogatories relevant in my contempt case against my sister for violating my visitation order? While I’m sure something seeming like an argument could be made for their relevance,…
When do courts value the marital estate? At time of separation, or at the time the court enters the Decree of Divorce? This is a question that often causes divorcing…
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…
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,…
Do you think it's acceptable for the non-custodial parent to have to pay more child support because the custodial parent chooses to barely work or not work at all? Generally,…
Fox v. Fox 2022 UT App 88 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS DIANN SHERI FOX, Appellant, v. BENJAMIN DAVIS FOX, Appellee. Opinion No. 20200949-CA Filed July 14, 2022 Fifth District…
Easiest way up front, but usually most foolish, most financially and psychologically expensive in the long term: give your spouse whatever he she wants/demands (while it is possible for your…
Did you know you can request a post-judgment interest rate that is higher than the default statutory rate? It’s true. While the court does not have the discretion to lower,…
It depends upon what you mean by “win financially.” Man divorcing people define this term differently, and the differences are extreme. Some people define "winning financially" as: coming away from…
How should the child support payment system in the U.S. be changed to make it more fair? What is unfair about child support for the child support payor (also known…
This blog post was written by a real estate agent for us. CMA stands for Comparative Market Analysis and is a report meant to reflect the market value of a…
By Quinton Lister, legal assistant Last week I wrote a post about Arb-med and how it can benefit practitioners of law, particularly family law. In this post I will be…
Because the work: requires a lot of knowledge of both the written (and unwritten*) rules that most people don’t have the time, interest, or ability to learn and apply correctly;…
There are many websites with lots of free information that is good. The problem is being able to tell the good content from the bad. This is why, whether you…
Does the Utah Office of Recovery Services (ORS) collect childcare monthly reimbursement by garnishing a paycheck like it can to collect monthly child support? No. ORS does and cannot collect…