American Journal of Family Law articles from December 22 2001

American Journal of Family Law archives from December 22 2001

Collaborative divorce.
December 22, 2001... Sherri Goren Slovin is a divorce lawyer in Cincinnati. Once upon a time, she litigated many of her cases. Time and time again, she found that when she thought she had "won," the bitterness of the trial endured and post divorce issues...

Dual representation in domestic relations.(legal ethics)
December 22, 2001... In many jurisdictions fifty per cent of the divorces are handled with no lawyer. Of the remaining cases approximately half are handled with only one lawyer, presumably representing just one of the parties. To counter this declining market for...

Use of an ESOP as a creative property division solution.(employee stock ownership plans; closely held business as marital asset)
December 22, 2001... When a significant portion of the marital estate is a closely held business, the property division of assets presents unique problems. The business is normally illiquid, may not produce significant cash flow, and one spouse will normally...

ERISA and division of employee benefits in matrimonial cases.
December 22, 2001... Each of the fifty states has its own, often unique, approach to the division and distribution of the marital estate in divorce or dissolution cases. This is particularly true where pensions and other employee benefits are concerned. (1)...

Model standards of practice for family and divorce mediation: guidelines for a mature profession.(Model Standards of Practice for Family and Divorce Mediation)
December 22, 2001... The development of ethical guidelines, codes of conduct and standards of practice are important to the development of any profession or field of practice. They are critical in establishing the credibility of a new field. Careful thought,...

Conducting psychological evaluations in relocation cases.
December 22, 2001... Relocation cases present challenging dilemmas or both the family court judge and the family forensic evaluator. The decision to move to a distant city is considered by many primary custodial parents (usually, but not always, mothers) to be a...

Taxes and the undervaluation of `S' corporations.(marital dissolutions)
December 22, 2001... S corporations are often undervalued in the context of marital dissolutions. This is a result of business appraisers who incorrectly reduce earnings for hypothetical income taxes in the valuation of these entities. This adjustment is often...

Losing perspective: a danger in working with high-conflict divorces.
December 22, 2001... High-conflict divorces-- involving protracted litigation and continued acrimony between spouses-- stir intense feelings in all who deal with them. A recurrent problem in these divorces is that individuals surrounding disputing couples often...

Excess earnings and discounted future earnings to value a law practice interest.(Virginia)
December 22, 2001... COMMENTARY BY JAY E. FISHMAN, ASA, CBA AND WILLIAM J. MORRISON, CPA/ABV The husband's interest in his law firm was valued at $319,569, by the Court of Appeals of Virginia, affirming a ruling based on the opinion of the wife's expert....

Restrictive legend on stock awarded to wife unenforceable.(Illinois)
December 22, 2001... A restrictive legend on shares of stock awarded to the wife as part of the divorce settlement was ruled unenforceable by an Illinois appellate court. Marriage of Devick, 735 NE2d 153 (Ill App 2000), found sections 8-401 of the UCC applicable...

Procreation bar unless current children are supported.(condition of probation)(Wisconsin)
December 22, 2001... A condition of probation in which a judge barred a man from having additional children unless he showed that he could support not only that child but his nine other children as well was ruled constitutional, by the Wisconsin Supreme Court....

Prenuptial waiver of retirement accounts.(waivers of an interest in spouse's retirement account)(North Carolina)
December 22, 2001... Although ERISA's spousal waiver restrictions, in 29 U.S.C. [section] 1055(c)(2), applied to waivers of survivor benefits they did not apply to waivers of an interest in a spouse's retirement account the North Carolina Court of Appeals has...

Increased value of business during marriage.(Maryland)
December 22, 2001... Placing a figure of $340,000 on the increased value of the husband's photo processing business during the marriage was affirmed by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. Long v. Long, 743 A2d 281 (Md. Spec. App. 2000), explained that the...

Accrued leave time not marital.(Kentucky)
December 22, 2001... The wife's $10,800 worth of sick leave and $2,800 worth of vacation leave were ruled to be nonmarital by the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Bratcher v. Bratcher, 26 Sw3d 797 (Ky App 2001), adopted the approach taken by Maryland in Thomasian v....

Unvested stock options not marital.
December 22, 2001... Unvested stock options given to the husband by his employer one month before the divorce was ruled not to be marital property, by the Connecticut Appellate Court. Hopper v. Hopper, 757 A2d 673 (Conn App 2000), explained that in deciding...

Support for children between 18 and 21.(Oregon)
December 22, 2001... A statute permitting a court to order support for children between the ages of 18 and 21 applied only in situations where the parents were not cohabiting, the Oregon Supreme Court has decided. Marriage of Crocker, 22 P3d 759 (Or 2001), found...

Telephone expenses as college costs.(New York)
December 22, 2001... The father was required to pay one-half of his child's college telephone expenses, a New York appellate court has held. Skolnick v. Skolnick, 705 NYS2d 396 (AD 2nd Dept 2000), interpreted the parties' separation agreement, in which each...

Lump sum payment in installments dischargeable.(Indiana)
December 22, 2001... It was error for a trial judge to rule that a lump sum award to the wife (of $394,000) to equalize the property distribution was nondischargeable support or maintenance, according to an Indiana appellate court decision. Frazier v. Frazier,...

Therapist did not intentionally interfere with father's custody.
December 22, 2001... A therapist who met with a child at the behest of the mother owed no duty to the custodial father upon which a claim for intentional interference with custodial rights could be based, the Oklahoma Court of Appeals has held. Paulson v....

Visitation denial as relocation factor.(North Dakota)
December 22, 2001... The custodial mother's past refusal to allow the father to exercise his visitation rights was a factor leading the Supreme Court of North Dakota to deny the mother's request to relocate (to Montana). Hentz v. Hentz, 624 NW2d 694 (IND 2001),...

Grandparents denied fees award.(attorneys fees)(Oklahoma)
December 22, 2001... Paternal grandparents who were awarded visitation were denied attorney's fees against the custodial mother, by the Oklahoma Court of Appeals. Sicking v. Sicking, 996 P2d 472 (Okla App 2000), explained that "Oklahoma follows the general rule...