Family Law

Court Order Nixed in Case re Lawyer’s Claimed $6K Baby-Purchase Offer

A judge in Utah has dismissed a protective order giving the state custody of a baby whose Arizona parents are accused of arranging to sell it for $6,000 to a local lawyer. Because the infant hasn’t yet been born, the state has no jurisdiction, ruled 3rd District Juvenile Judge Jim…

May 12, 2010 8:35 PM CDT

Fla. AG Defends $120K Payment to Expert Now Embroiled in Rentboy Scandal

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is defending the state’s payment of more than $120,000 for expert witness testimony by an anti-gay psychologist now caught up in the so-called Rentboy scandal. The state had originally planned to pay George Rekers $60,900, but when he exceeded his contracted hours, the total fee…

May 12, 2010 1:40 PM CDT

Accused of Violating Court Order, Prominent Divorce Lawyer Reaches Pact with His Ex-Wife

Two years ago, it was Dominic Barbara’s wife who was arrested after the well-known New York matrimonial lawyer claimed she threw a plate of pasta at him. (The case was later dropped.) But now it is Barbara himself who is the focus of court attention, after being arrested Tuesday for…

May 5, 2010 8:47 PM CDT

Despite Male-to-Female Sex Change, Woman Is Still a Man Under Texas Marriage Law

The attorney general of Texas is a staunch supporter of the state law requiring marriage (and, he says, by extension divorce) to be between a man and a woman. But a request last month by the El Paso County Attorney for a ruling concerning one woman’s plan to marry another…

May 5, 2010 6:20 PM CDT

Wife of Ex-Mayor of Detroit Sues County DA, Says Her Money Was Spent on Hubby’s $1M Restitution

As the disgraced former mayor of Detroit faces a possible jail term for having violated his probation in a political corruption case by not making required payments toward his $1 million restitution, his wife has filed a federal lawsuit in Texas contending that Wayne County and its district attorney took…

Apr 22, 2010 5:15 PM CDT

Parents of Woman Disabled in Childbirth Can Help Her Sue to Visit Triplets, Judge Says

The parents of a woman who was severely disabled as a result of giving birth to triplets can help her sue to win the right to visit her children, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled. Abbie Dorn, 34, who now lives with her parents in South Carolina, communicates…

Apr 22, 2010 12:06 AM CDT

Is Utah a Magnet for Unfair Adoptions? State Chief Justice Sees a Risk, and Critics Agree

A Virginia father’s fight to regain custody of a daughter adopted without his consent highlights Utah’s pro-adoption laws in cases of children born out of wedlock. The case highlighted on Dr. Phil has produced “a cross-country court fight,” the Washington Post reports. Nightclub worker John Wyatt filed for custody of…

Apr 14, 2010 3:05 PM CDT

Judge Decides Custody of Divorcing Couple’s Family Photos

A New York judge had to step in when a divorcing Long Island couple couldn’t decide how to divide about 7,000 family photos. Judge Vito DeStefano of Nassau County ruled that the husband should get 75 percent of the photos because he was “intricately involved” with taking and cataloging the…

Apr 14, 2010 1:32 PM CDT

Dad Can Take His 3-Year-Old Daughter to Church, Judge Rules

Threatened with possible contempt sanctions for taking his young daughter to church, Joseph Reyes as of today has the court’s permission to do so—and he can visit with her annually on Christmas and Easter. However, it is still possible that Reyes will be penalized for defying an earlier court order…

Apr 13, 2010 10:46 PM CDT

Adoption Experts See Possible Criminal Violations in Mom’s Return of Boy to Russia

Adoption experts see possible criminal and civil violations in a decision by an adoptive mother in Tennessee to return her 7-year-old son to Russia. Torry Hansen, a 33-year-old unmarried nurse from Shelbyville, put the boy on a plane to Moscow last week with a note saying she no longer wants…

Apr 13, 2010 1:13 PM CDT

Woman Severely Disabled After Childbirth Seeks Visitation With Her Triplets

A disastrous series of childbirth issues that left Abbie Dorn in what some describe as a vegetative state with no possibility of recovery has now moved on, legally, from the $33 million malpractice settlement with which her parents are funding a $33,000-a-month rehabilitation program that they say has achieved significant…

Apr 12, 2010 11:28 PM CDT

Meddling Mom Charged with Facebook Harassment after Son Complains to Prosecutors

An Arkansas mother is facing a criminal charge of harassment after her son told prosecutors she hacked into his Facebook account, changed his password and posted slanderous things about him. The mother, Denise New of Arkadelphia, told the Associated Press that she accessed her son’s Facebook page after he forgot…

Apr 8, 2010 3:10 PM CDT

No Food Stamps for Service Dog, But His Disabled Owner May Now Have a Lawyer

A service dog doesn’t qualify for food stamps, a Pennsylvania court has ruled, because he isn’t human. But the animal’s disabled owner, James Douris, may not have to argue the legal issue on his own much longer. Although he lost a pro se Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court case arguing that the…

Apr 7, 2010 7:24 PM CDT

81-Year-Old Woman Sues for Back Child Support

There is no statute of limitations on child support, and an 81-year-old woman hopes she will be able to use the law to settle an old score. Rosemary Douglas is asking a Los Angeles court to order Urban Joseph Grass to pay $57,000 in unpaid support payments for a child…

Apr 5, 2010 3:36 PM CDT

Aunt of 3-Year-Old Who Drowned in Beach Accident Is Charged with Aggravated Manslaughter

The aunt of a 3-year-old boy who drowned at an Oleta River State Park beach in Florida has been charged with aggravated manslaughter, apparently because authorities felt she didn’t keep a close enough eye on him to prevent the accident. Nico Foster was also watching five other children when Kieonn…

Apr 2, 2010 9:14 PM CDT