Family Law

Bad Economy Makes Divorce Issues More Difficult

Divorce lawyers say the troubled economy is complicating financial issues in divorces—and even discouraging divorce filings. Lawyer Henry Gornbein of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., told Dolan Media Newswires that the downturn in the housing market is hitting divorcing couples particularly hard. “The two largest assets in a divorce are typically the…

May 9, 2008 1:05 PM CDT

Group Presses Gay-Marriage Challenges

A legal advocacy group is pressing three New York lawsuits that seek to bar recognition of gay marriages performed elsewhere. The Alliance Defense Fund represents New Yorkers in the cases who object to their government paying benefits to the same-sex spouses of public employees, the New York Sun reports. The…

May 9, 2008 12:25 PM CDT

Texas Man Gets 30 Days for Not Paying Legal Bill

Individuals can’t constitutionally be imprisoned in Texas for failing to pay a debt. But because a legal fee represents more than mere money, a state appeals court has upheld a judge’s contempt ruling sentencing a man who didn’t pay a $1,750 attorney fee as required by a family violence protective…

May 7, 2008 6:07 PM CDT

Closed Trial in One Governor’s Divorce; Closed File in Another’s

Although a former New Jersey governor and his soon-to-be ex-wife have been going at each other publicly for months, the first three days of their divorce trial, which started today, will be held behind closed doors. Reportedly focused, at this point, on the custody of their one child, the divorce…

May 6, 2008 8:22 PM CDT

Special Prosecutor to Oversee FLDS Ranch Raid Criminal Cases

The state attorney general will serve as special prosecutor in all criminal cases arising from a raid early last month on a Texas ranch run by a religious sect that reportedly promotes polygamy and underage “spiritual” marriages of teenagers to much older men. It isn’t clear exactly what criminal cases…

May 6, 2008 5:44 PM CDT

Texas Ranch Raid Sparks Senate Leader’s Call for Federal Task Force

Sparks flew in Arizona, Nevada and Utah last week after the Senate majority leader criticized prosecutors in those states for not being as aggressive as Texas authorities in pursuing claimed child abuse among a religious sect that reportedly advocates polygamy and “spiritual” marriages of underage teenage girls to much older…

May 5, 2008 11:04 PM CDT

Hearst Heir’s Malpractice Suit: Lawyer Helped Wife Steal $20M

A New York appeals court has reinstated a $20 million malpractice and fraud suit brought by a grandson of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst against the grandson’s wife and the couple’s lawyer. After he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1989 at age 55, John Randolph Hearst Jr. contends, his wife,…

May 2, 2008 10:49 PM CDT

Texas Changed Marriage Age to Restrict Rights of Polygamy Ranch Residents

Much has been written, in recent weeks, about the number of teen girls entering into “spiritual” underage marriages at a Texas ranch from which some 462 children were removed last month. However, it was not until the fringe religious group that operates the ranch, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ…

May 2, 2008 3:48 PM CDT

Texas Official Sees ‘Cause for Concern’ in Broken Bones of 41 Sect Boys

A Texas official told a legislative committee yesterday that at least 41 boys removed from a polygamous sect had broken bones. Carey Cockerell, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said very young children were among the boys who had bone fractures, the New York Times reports.…

May 1, 2008 12:42 PM CDT

Texas Appeals Court Refuses Emergency Relief in Ranch Raid Case

After a state appellate court’s denial of emergency relief concerning 462 children in a religious sect that were removed from a Texas ranch in a several-day raid early this month, all involved are settling in for what appears likely to be a lengthy course of litigation. Except for babies, the…

Apr 28, 2008 8:13 PM CDT

Possible Life Term for Texas Mom in Child-Surgery Abuse Case

A Texas mother was convicted yesterday by a jury in an unusual child abuse case of putting her now 13-year-old son through at least two unnecessary surgeries, and now faces a possible sentence of life in prison during the penalty phase of the trial. At trial, prosecutors said Laurie Williamson,…

Apr 25, 2008 7:16 PM CDT

Lawyers Who Support Religious Liberties Question Polygamy Case

Some lawyers who support religious freedoms are questioning the removal of more than 400 children from a polygamous sect. These lawyers argue that evidence of some underage girls being forced into marriage doesn’t merit the wholesale removal of all children from a Texas ranch. An emergency appellate hearing in the…

Apr 25, 2008 2:47 PM CDT

Texas Appeals Court to Hear Emergency Challenge in Polygamy Ranch Raid

As Texas officials separated more than 100 mothers from their children in a controversial 462-child custody case concerning a religious sect that has advocates polygamy and teenage marriages, a state appeals court has agreed to hear a due-process challenge on an emergency basis. (The number of children said to be…

Apr 25, 2008 12:11 AM CDT

‘Bad Dads’: New Fox Reality TV Program Collects Child Support

Forget about watching cops place the cuffs on badly behaved adults after breaking up fights and catching them with illegal narcotics. The truly compelling law enforcement reality program may be watching an expert child support enforcer confront deadbeat dads. Viewers will soon have a chance to find out for themselves:…

Apr 24, 2008 9:37 PM CDT

When Protective Orders Don’t Work, Satellite Monitoring May Control Abusers

It’s a sad and all-too-frequent story when an abuser, often male, violates a court protective order. Today, for instance, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that a woman found murdered yesterday had an order of protection against her husband. While he is reportedly not a suspect in that crime, he is…

Apr 22, 2008 11:27 PM CDT