General Family Law Posts
An expensive conversation: The need to learn to communicate with your co-parent
I was in court the other day contesting a temporary restraining order (TRO) that had been brought against my client to prohibit my client from enrolling the parties’ children in a new school after my client had moved, even though my client-parent is the primary caregiver. The opposing party-parent claimed that my client-parent, allegedly based on…
Read MoreWaste of the Marital Estate
When a spouse grossly misuses property of the marriage, to include cash or money earned by either of the spouses, this is termed “waste of the marital estate.” Examples of waste of the marital estate include, but are not limited to money spent on extramarital relationships or gambling. Marital assets expended on habits or hobbies by…
Read MoreInteresting Article on the Timing of Divorce
I just happened to run across this interesting article, “Best & Worst Times – Financially – to Split Up.” Interesting thoughts, though I don’t necessarily agree with everything in the article (see my prior posts on those subjects).
Read MoreExtra-marital property
The most common extra-marital asset or property that a spouse may receive during the marriage is an inheritance from a spouse’s parent(s). This asset is not treated as income like wages or other earnings earned during the marriage, in part, because the spouse did not receive the inheritance due to the receiving spouse’s efforts during the…
Read MoreComingling of property in the marital estate
The biggest difficulty in separating out each spouse’s property and/or debts from marital property, or the “marital estate,” is that most times spouses will commingle their property and/or debts during the marriage. Unless a very clear accounting is kept making it clear that the intent of the spouses was to maintain the property or debt…
Read MorePremarital property
Premarital property is that property that each spouse brings into the marriage, which is each their separate property and generally not considered part of the marital estate. As in all things legal, there are exceptions to the premarital property laws. The biggest exceptions have to do with commingling of premarital property or debts with marital…
Read MoreContested Divorce is Expensive
Of late I have been contemplating a flurry of incoming phone calls from folks looking at getting a divorce or who have been served divorce court papers by their spouse. It is no surprise that, given the current economy or not, cost is a huge concern for people, as it should be. Costs to be…
Read MoreCalculating Alimony
Divorce clients appropriately ask about how alimony is calculated. In Utah, there is no specific formula for alimony as there is for child support. The most accurate outline for how alimony is determined is the law itself, which can be found by Clicking Here, specifically paragraph (8). The application of the law to every case…
Read MoreThe life of a divorce
The life of litigation as it normally applies to a divorce case can be divided into three main phases: Initiation Phase, Discovery Phase, and Resolution Phase.
Read MoreDivorce and Holidays
Holidays are the most difficult times to deal with a divorce. Try to be aware of this and make sure you are occupied with friends and/or relatives.
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