When “Playing It Safe” Hurts Utah Families
"Err on the side of caution" sounds sensible in divorce and child custody disputes. Who wants to be accused of taking chances with someone's safety? But before accepting that explanation,…
In Utah Family Law, Delay Is Not Neutral
Family litigation takes time. Some delay is inevitable and some is justified. Judges have crowded calendars. Lawyers have conflicting trials. Discovery takes time. Serious child-safety allegations may require investigation before…
Proffer Hearings in Utah Family Court: When a Disputed Fact Requires Actual Evidence
Summary: Proffers save time by letting lawyers tell the court what witnesses would say. That works well when the parties agree to proceed that way or when the court assumes…
Let Two Fit Parents Share Equal Time. A Defiant Teenager Is the Best Reason Why.
"Mom, why are you only setting one place for dinner tonight?" "Because your dinner’s at Dad's house tonight. It's your night with him tonight, and I know he's got dinner…
The Arrest Is Not Really the Evidence: Probable Cause and Domestic Relations Cases
A parent tells the police that the other parent assaulted her. An officer responds, interviews people at the scene, and arrests the accused parent. Weeks later, the parties are in…
Child Parent-Time Refusal in Utah: How Courts Tell “Can’t” from “Won’t” (“I can’t make them” is where the inquiry starts)
"Why hasn't your son been to his father's home since March?" "He's sixteen. I can't make him." Sometimes that answer is true. Sometimes it's the end of a long, ugly…
Can You Ask the Court to Test the Custody Schedule You Are Proposing?
Suppose you are asking for joint or equal physical child custody. The other parent opposes it. Why not ask the court to put your proposed schedule into effect temporarily so…
Who Gets the Benefit of the Doubt? What the Lindsay Clancy Case Can Teach Utah Family Courts
The Lindsay Clancy murder trial is about as far removed from an ordinary Utah divorce case as one can imagine. Clancy admitted killing her three young children in Massachusetts in…
When “Erring on the Side of Caution” Becomes a Substitute for Proof
There is a powerful argument for caution in family court, and it deserves to be taken seriously. When a judge or commissioner is confronted with an allegation that a parent…
If a PGAL Can Interview a Child, So Can a Judge or Commissioner
Utah Courts Should Stop Paying an Intermediary to Tell the Factfinder What the Factfinder Can Hear Directly When a child's wishes, concerns, experiences, or perceptions matter in a Utah child…
The Performative Care Trap: Why Family Court Is Addicted to Therapy
There is a ritual that plays out with remarkable regularity in Utah family court proceedings. A divorce becomes ugly. A parent is angry. A child is anxious. Communication deteriorates. Someone…
When “Special Training” Becomes a Credentialist Dodge
What “Special Training” Does a Judge Really Need to Talk to a Child? In Utah child custody disputes, one of the stock objections to having a judge interview a child…
Let the Judge Talk to the Child. Have the Judge Talk to the Child
One of the strangest objections to judges interviewing children in child custody disputes is that the interview might make the child anxious. Of course it might. The child’s parents are…
When (and Why) Cheap Therapy Culture Makes Family Law Worse
Mental-health awareness has helped people recognize genuine illness, obtain treatment, and speak about suffering without shame. That is real progress. But family law increasingly reveals the other side of the…
Public Comment on Proposed Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 110 — Judicial Interview of a Minor Child
Summary: 1. Proposed paragraph (b)(2) applies to judicial interviews substantially the same restrictive threshold the Legislature imposed on compelled child testimony. 2. Concerns about litigation abuse and judicial workload justify…
When a Label Changes the Past: Testing Memory Instead of Trusting It in Custody Disputes
Here is the objection this post is going to draw, so I deal with it directly instead of dodging it: raising questions about the reliability of memory sounds like it's…
Kids Don’t Belong in the Driver’s Seat: How Utah Custody Law Rewards Defiance and Calls It Protection
A fit parent is awarded equal custody of two teenagers. Nothing in the record suggests that parent is dangerous, neglectful, or unfit—the court has already said so. A few months…
When the Old Lame Excuses Fail, New Ones Will Be Invented
Judges in child custody disputes should hear from children more often. A lot more often. It should be routine, the presumptive course, the default. Not because children should decide custody…
When Family Courts Punish the Innocent Parent
Child Custody Defiance Should Not Cost a Fit Parent Both the Children and More Money Suppose a court orders equal custody. Both parents are fit. One parent is ready, willing,…
Protection Without Prejudice
A temporary protective order should do one thing well: protect against the danger actually alleged and shown by nothing less than a preponderance of the evidence. It should not become…
The Paper Shield: Protecting Victims Without Abandoning Due Process
Few legal proceedings can rearrange a person’s life as quickly as an ex parte protective order. A judge can remove someone from the family home, restrict contact with children, limit access to…
The Standard of Proof Is the Immune System of Family Law—and Courts Keep Suppressing It
This post is a companion to The Bloodletting of Family Law. That post diagnosed a system that mistakes itself for the cure. This one is about the cure the system…
The Bloodletting of Family Law: When the System Mistakes Itself for the Cure
For centuries, physicians bled their patients and called it medicine. The patients got weaker; the doctors, confident in their training, prescribed more bleeding. Medicine now has a name for harm…
Guardian ad Litem in Utah: What a GAL or PGAL Is Supposed to Do—and What Usually Happens Instead
If you are in a child custody dispute and the court appoints a "guardian ad litem," it sounds reassuring. A lawyer appointed for the child? What could there be not…
Arb-Med in Divorce: Why the First Reaction May Be Wrong
New ideas are rarely adopted by the average person first. That is a useful point Seth Godin recently made in his blog recently. When you ask ordinary people whether they like a…
When an “Absent” Parent Was Pushed Out
When a parent isn't active in a child's life, most people think they already know why. He must not care. She must have checked out. He must have wanted something…
Utah Child Custody and Long-Distance Relocation: “The 150 Miles or More Rule”Explained
Few child custody disputes create more uncertainty than relocation. A parent may wantto move for a new job, remarriage, school, lower housing costs, or to be closer to family.Those reasons…
Does Child Support Cover School Fees and Extracurricular Activities in Utah?
One of the most common sources of conflict between co-parents is not just custody exchanges, holiday schedules, or even the monthly child support payment. Often, it is the steady stream…
The “Best Interests” Standard: Common Factors Judges Consider in Utah Child Custody and Parent-time Disputes
When parents separate or divorce, one of the most important questions is how custody of their children will be determined. Many parents enter the process believing the court will automatically…
Walking in Their Shoes: The Reciprocal Argument Rule in Family Law Litigation
Family court is not ordinary litigation. In a business dispute, the parties may fight hard, settle, and never see each other again. In divorce and child custody disputes, the parties…
Child Custody and Parent-time Awards Need to Incorporate More Humility
Many parents (I’d say even most parents) enter family court hoping someone will fix everything. Believing that: the judge will see through the lies. the custody evaluator will identify the…
Parens Patriae: Why the Court Gets Involved in Your Family
If you’re dealing with a divorce or a child custody dispute, there’s something you need to understand early: This is not just your case. That’s not rhetoric. It’s how the…
Part I – The Fragility Rationale and the Case for Making and Preserving Records
The Fragility Rationale The most common justification for not making and keeping a record of child testimony rests on fragility. Knowing that the interview will be recorded, it is said,…
Should a Guardian ad Litem Speak for the Child—or Over the Child?
Utah’s 2026 legislative session includes a proposal that deserves attention well beyond juvenile court. House Bill 372—particularly its substitute versions—revisits Guardian ad Litem (GAL) duties and standards in child welfare proceedings.…
The Language Barrier of Divorce: Decoding Divorce Jargon
Divorce is hard enough on its own. Add in legal paperwork packed with unfamiliar terms, and it can feel like you’re suddenly expected to speak a completely new language. For…
When the System Resists Hearing from the One Person Who Actually Lives the Case
Seth Godin observed that every important medical innovation of the last several centuries—handwashing, antibiotics, acknowledging the dangers of smoking—was initially resisted by the medical establishment. Not because the ideas were…