Family Law

Man Can’t Get Alimony Reduced Because Ex-Wife Is in Jail

A New York judge has refused to reduce a man’s $4,000 a month in alimony payments to his ex-wife who is in jail after pleading guilty to a drug possession charge. Justice Elaine Jackson Stack refused to lower the amount, saying it could be detrimental to the woman when she…

Dec 17, 2007 1:09 PM CST

Broken Elevators Delay Bronx Family Court Hearings

Out-of-service elevators at the Bronx Family Court have led to hours-long waits for working elevators by litigants and witnesses. Some judges have been forced to postpone hearings because of the delays, the New York Times reports. In some cases judges issued arrest warrants for people who were waiting in the…

Dec 12, 2007 2:29 PM CST

R.I. Gay Couple Can’t Divorce There, State High Court Rules

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has refused to allow the state’s courts to grant a divorce to a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts. The 3-2 ruling (PDF) released Friday said Rhode Island defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and the legislature would have to change…

Dec 10, 2007 1:49 PM CST

Adult Children Sue French Parents for Support—and Win

A growing number of adult children suing their parents for support—and winning—has sparked a lobbying effort to revise the French law that holds parents responsible for supporting their children into their 20s and beyond. French parents’ obligation to “nourish, maintain and raise” their children dates back to an 1804 Napoleonic…

Dec 7, 2007 10:50 PM CST

No Right to Divorce Counsel in Wash.

There is no right to taxpayer-funded counsel in a divorce case under the Washington state constitution, the state’s supreme court has ruled in a closely watched case. But it would still be a good idea to provide divorce lawyers to those who can’t afford them, the supreme court says in…

Dec 6, 2007 7:45 PM CST

Divorce Harms the Environment

Here’s a new reason to avoid divorce: It harms the environment. A new study by Michigan State University researchers says divorced American households in 2005 alone spent 46 percent more per person on electricity and 56 percent more on water because they now lived in separate households. If they had…

Dec 4, 2007 7:46 PM CST

Employer on Hook for $1.17M in Child Support Fines

In an unusual family law enforcement action in Illinois, the state supreme court has awarded a whopping $1.17 million to a mother who has fought for years to collect $12,000 in back child support. Here’s the twist. The father isn’t the target of the bulk of the award. Rather, the…

Nov 30, 2007 5:48 PM CST

Worth Mag. Lists Top Lawyers for the Wealthy

CORRECTED: A magazine for the well-to-do is coming out with its annual list of the top 100 lawyers for the well-to-do. Texas lawyer John Bergner announced in a press release this week that he’s been named in the list again, along with two other lawyers from Texas. Lawyers from Schiff…

Nov 20, 2007 5:54 PM CST

Wife Seeks Share in Church ‘Asset’ in Divorce Case

In a case that could signal the start of a potential new trend in New York state, the soon-to-be-divorced wife of a pastor is contending that his church should be treated as a marital asset. The wife, who is not named, says her husband treated the Brooklyn house of worship…

Nov 19, 2007 6:17 PM CST

Should Parents Be Able to Disinherit Minor Children?

Everyone agrees that Anthony “Corky” Sliwkowski loved his daughters. Yet when the Rhode Island dentist died in 2004, it turned out that he had disinherited the girls, then aged 11 and 13, and a grown son, cutting them all out of his $3 million estate. Their mother sued, hoping to…

Nov 12, 2007 11:57 PM CST

Death Detective Extraordinaire Aids South Florida Researchers

Those who need details about a little-known death long ago in or around Miami, Florida, may be some of the luckiest information-seekers in the country. A local volunteer has compiled an extraordinary 4,000-page record of virtually all deaths listed in the local newspapers for more than a century. And, as…

Nov 12, 2007 6:25 PM CST

Not Only Paul McCartney But Legal Counsel Divorcing Heather Mills

Only a few weeks ago, it looked like Paul McCartney’s divorce was going to end with an eye-popping agreed $102 million settlement with his soon-to-be ex-wife, Heather Mills. But now it is almost certain to go to trial, as the almost-settled case erodes into acrimony, reports the London Times. The…

Nov 9, 2007 4:29 PM CST

Father Loses Appeal Dubbed ‘Roe v. Wade for Men’

A Michigan father who contended he should have the right to decide whether to pay child support has lost his appeal. Men’s rights groups had dubbed the lawsuit a ”Roe v. Wade for men,” drawing objections from women’s rights groups, the Associated Press reports. Matthew Dubay said his ex-girlfriend had…

Nov 7, 2007 1:35 PM CST

Spurned Dad Files Suit for Alienation of Affection

A Canadian millionaire who contends the mother of his children turned his children against him has sued her for alienation of affection. Moses Segal contends in the New Jersey lawsuit that his former common-law wife, Cynthia Lynch, cut off all contact between him and his two children, the New Jersey…

Nov 6, 2007 2:22 PM CST

It’s Game On For Family Lawyers

Web Extra: Clips from Earthquake in Zipland

Nov 1, 2007 8:08 PM CDT