Posts belonging to Category divorce court

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM HAVING LANGUAGE INTERPRETED AGAINST YOU WHEN YOU ARE THE DRAFTER

All attorneys know there are “rules of construction” in the interpretation of contracts and agreements.  These rules call for the Court to first see if the language is clear without further testimony.  If the language is not clear, the Court might hear testimony as to the intent of the parties.  If the intent is still [...]

YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR NAME IN YOUR DIVORCE

All too often, a female client will think about changing her name after we have entered the divorce.  She wants to know how to do it.  This is a shame, because it is easy to incorporate the name change in the Order of the divorce with one sentence and it is done!  One consideration for [...]

IF IT AIN’T WRITTEN DOWN, IT WON’T HAPPEN

Divorce negotiation is a tricky thing.  It is much more complicated than a business negotiation because of the emotions involved.  It is also made difficult by the fact that few married people can negotiate at what we call “arms length.”  Each party has emotional leverage on the other.  Most often, one party has superior emotional [...]

New Family Law Act in BC– Leads the Pack in Canada

The fact that Bill 16, Family Law Act has been passed is a sign that the traditional system needed reform. The new act addresses some of the fundamental problems in the system and we look optimistically to the impact it has on children and families in general.  I do not think anyone can argue or [...]

Mediation vs. Litigation – A common sense trend to Resolving Matrimonial Issues

Finding yourself on the doorsteps of divorce is hard enough emotionally but add the multitude of decisions that are going to have to be made and it can feel completely overwhelming. While there are only two main areas for decision-making; kids and money, coming to resolution can take years and use up a lot of [...]

CAN WE REALLY RELY ON “PRECEDENT” IN DIVORCE CASES? IS GAMBLING NOW GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE?

Lawyers are taught that they are to rely upon “precedent” in advising their clients and presenting their cases.  “Precedent” means that the matter has been decided a certain way before by a court of authority and it should be decided that way again.  But the truth of the matter is that precedent seems to do [...]

IMPACT OF GAY MARRIAGES AND ADOPTIONS IN STATES THAT DO NOT PERMIT IT

A wide range of complicated legal issues sit upon the horizon in the clash between States that allow rights for gays and States that don’t.  The wall seems to have fallen blocking gay marriage, and those married in States where it is legal will be moving into States where it is not.  With regard to [...]

MISSISSIPPI IS THE FIRST STATE TO ALLOW A DIVORCE SOLELY ON THE USE OF MARIJUANA

Mississippi Code Section 93-5-1 (Rev. 2004) lists “habitual and excessive use of opium, morphine, or other like drug” as a ground for divorce. A grant of divorce on this ground requires the plaintiff to establish that the spouse’s drug use was (1) habitual and frequent, (2) excessive and uncontrollable, and (3) that involved opium, morphine, [...]

WHEN THE POST DIVORCE SITUATION CHANGES, DON’T WAIT TO CONSULT A LAWYER ABOUT CHANGING THE ORDER OF DIVORCE

I have witnessed countless times when the situation of the parties and the children changes after the divorce and the parties do nothing to change the Oorder.  This often leads to unfair results down the road.  Many times, the parties are getting along quite well and agree on changes, but that does not mean there [...]

IS COURT EFFICIENT? NO! HEARINGS AND TRIALS AND HOW TO HANDLE THEM

There are many different kinds of court dates: there are emergency hearings, temporary hearings, discovery hearings, pre-trial conferences, and trials.  The court system usually does not operate quickly.  In some areas, litigants may wait literally years to get a trial date.  The longer the trial, the longer the wait. Clients generally do not have to [...]

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