Our agreement says no child support, can my ex ask for it anyway?
Can my ex ask for child support? I have a 50/50 custody and no child support divorce agreement, but his mother alienated him against me and now he refuses to visit…
Can my ex ask for child support? I have a 50/50 custody and no child support divorce agreement, but his mother alienated him against me and now he refuses to visit…
By Quinton Lister, legal assistant In light of recent events in Russia and Ukraine, I have been thinking a lot about the nature of international law. In situations like these,…
Noel v. James - 2022 UT App 33 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS MICHAEL EARL NOEL, Appellee, v. WILLIAM THOMAS JAMES, Appellant. Opinion No. 20200565-CA Filed March 10, 2022 Sixth…
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…
Law from a legal assistant’s point of view, week 34: Electing judiciary officials By Quinton Lister, legal assistant I mentioned in a previous post that if I were to build…
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…
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.…
2022 UT 12 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF UTAH STATE OF UTAH, in the Interest of J.A.L. and J.O.L., Persons Under Eighteen Years of Age J.L. and…
I get this question a lot, and frankly, I am curious to know the answer myself: If you have a dedicated sleeve in your wallet that holds your driver license…
Do I need to show up for court if I was never served papers? I live in South Carolina. I cannot speak for or about the jurisdiction of South Carolina…
By Quinton Lister, legal assistant My boss, Eric Johnson, a divorce attorney, thought it might be a good blog post to write about what I would do if I were…
Would you enlist your children into a pre-law school program which grooms them to become top notch lawyers? No. I have gone in the opposite direction. I have told my…
In re J.P. - 2021 UT App 134 2021 UT App 134 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS STATE OF UTAH, IN THE INTEREST OF J.P. AND T.P., PERSONS UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS…
2022 UT App 15 - Miller v. DaSilva http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/view.html?court=appopin&opinion=Miller v. Dasilva20220203_20200719_15.pdf THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS LISA M. MILLER, Appellant, v. AMY ELIZABETH DASILVA, Appellee. Opinion No. 20200719-CA Filed February…
More proposed family law-related proposed laws from the 2022 Utah Legislative Session Last week I covered four family law bills proposed during the 2022 session of the Utah State Legislature.…
By Quinton Lister, legal assistant In the course of my 7 months as a legal assistant to a divorce attorney in Utah, I have already shared some of my thoughts…
2022 UT App 14 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS STATE OF UTAH, Appellant, v. JOEL CHANCE REDDEN, Appellee. Opinion No. 20200700-CA Filed January 27, 2022 Fifth District Court, Cedar City…
Family Law Legislation 2022 - Part 1 This blog post reviews four bills among new proposed legislation during the 2022 session of the Utah State Legislature that deal with divorce…
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…
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 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…
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 …
2021 UT App 134 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS STATE OF UTAH, IN THE INTEREST OF J.P. AND T.P., PERSONS UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE. T.L., Appellant, v. STATE OF…
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 affects the outcome of court cases more, the relative strengths and experience of the opposing lawyers, actual facts, relevant law, or some other factor? I answer this question in…
I just received and responded to a survey from Alyx Mark, assistant professor at Wesleyan University and a law and society scholar. After completing the survey, I sent this e-mail to Professor Mark:…
I’m assuming that this question comes from someone who is a minor child (i.e., someone who is under the age of 18 and not a legally recognized adult or legally emancipated). This…
Erring on the side of caution is not merely cowardly, not merely corrupt, it is evil. We are to look upon it as more beneficial, that many guilty persons should escape unpunished, than…
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…
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…
With rare exception in Utah (so rare that it might as well be non-existent), the way courts insist upon custody evaluations being conducted consists of: the court imposing one and…
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…
I don’t want to appear immodest, but honestly, my book is probably the best source in one volume: https://store.legal.thomsonreuters.com/law-products/Treatises/Utah-Family-Law-2020-2021-ed-Vol-2-Utah-Practice-Series/p/106664782 You can also find the laws governing Utah divorce and family…
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…
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…
MCQUARRIE v. MCQUARRIE - 2021 UT 22 In the Supreme Court of Utah. Melvin C. MCQUARRIE, Appellant, v. Janette Colledge MCQUARRIE aka Janette Kendall, Appellee. No. 20190902-SC Heard March 5,…
In re Z.C.W. - 2021 UT App 98 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS STATE OF UTAH, IN THE INTEREST OF Z.C.W. AND C.C.W., PERSONS UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE. R.D., Appellant, v. C.L.W., Appellee. Opinion No. 20200039-CA Filed September 23, 2021 Third District…
In Utah, the answer is: it’s likely that Mom will pay child support to Dad. Generally, unless the primary joint custodial parents makes orders of magnitude more than the other…
Unless the child support order provides for a change in the child support obligation or benefit in the event and due to the parents moving out of the country, then…
I will answer this question based upon the law of the jurisdiction where I practice family law (Utah). So the question is: How can I get an emergency hearing for…
I don’t know, and I doubt that statistics are kept on such a question. If there are such statistics, I do not know of them. Generally, the reputation appointed counsel…
First, whether you “truly believe” something or “find it hard to believe,” testifying to something you believe or don’t believe, as opposed to testifying as to something you know, is…
No. I do support that idea that one’s own child support entitlement should be an insurable interest in the amount of the entitlement itself (meaning that if you are the…
No, mothers are not being treated "worse" by the legal system these days, with more and more states leaning toward awarding joint custody to fathers more. Mothers do not have…
For the jurisdiction where I practice divorce and family law (Utah), the laws the court must consider are found in Utah Code § 30-3-10, 30-3-10.2, and, if the question of…