American Journal of Family Law articles from March 2007

American Journal of Family Law archives from March 2007

"Thrust upon" conflicts.
March 22, 2007... A number of years ago I presented a man in a divorce, whom I will call Tom. It was a very substantial case, with complex property issues. Shortly after I began my representation of Tom, I was retained to represent George. George's issues were...

Coaching, not therapy.(response to Sanford M. Portnoy, American Journal of Family Law, vol. 19, p. 231, Jan. 2006)
March 22, 2007... The Red Badge of Courage, the great novel about the Civil War, was written in 1895, some thirty years after the end of the war. Similarly, the great World War I novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, was written in 1929, fifteen years after...

Controversial "double dipping" issue in divorce.
March 22, 2007... Is the double-dipping argument an issue to consider in divorce valuations? When the determination of asset value for property distribution is based upon expected excess compensation, the use of that income stream for alimony calculations can...

Effective business valuation reports for family law purposes.
March 22, 2007... Valuation analysts are often called on to prepare business valuation/security analysis reports for a variety of transaction, taxation, accounting, financing, litigation, and strategic planning purposes. The transaction purposes include...

Improving representation of divorcing parents and children.
March 22, 2007... "As lawyers, we cannot change what has happened to our clients in the past, but we can positively affect what will happen to our clients during the legal process and in the future." (1) This statement states a fundamental truth to all family...

Is the moneyed spouse lying about the money?
March 22, 2007... Is the moneyed spouse (1) lying about his/her money? You are confronted with this chronic question because you and your client can "sense," "see" and "feel" the discrepancies between lifestyle and reported income. But convincing the court is...

Choice of law in interstate child support modification cases.
March 22, 2007... When an original child support order has been entered in State A, but the mother and child move to state B and the father moves to state C, and the mother brings an action for child support modification in state C, under section 611 of UIFSA,...

Prenuptial agreement claims fall within "domestic relations exception".(Cassens v. Cassens)(Illinois)
March 22, 2007... The wife's claims relating to the interpretation of a prenuptial agreement fell within the "domestic relations exception" to federal diversity jurisdiction, and therefore could not be removed to a federal court, a federal court for the...

No immunity for guardian ad litem.(Maryland)
March 22, 2007... An attorney appointed by the court to serve as the guardian ad litem for a child in a divorce proceeding did not have immunity from a malpractice suit, the Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled. Fox v. Wills, 890 A2d 726 (Md 2006), involved a...

QDRO "clarified," not modified.(qualified domestic relations orders)(Wyoming)
March 22, 2007... An amended QDRO "clarified" the original QDRO, but did not amend it, and therefore did not violate the rule that once the court entered a judgment dividing marital property, it did not retain the jurisdiction to modify its marital property...

$15 million within range of evidence for toy company.(Iowa)
March 22, 2007... In a "classic battle of the expert witnesses, the Court of Appeals of Iowa set the valuation of a company which manufactured and sold toys at $15,000,000. Marriage of Keener, 723 NW2d 450 (Iowa App 2006), detailed the different approaches...

Standards of Value: Theory and Applications.(Book review)
March 22, 2007... Book review of Standards of Value: Theory and Applications, by Jay E. Fishman, Dr. Shannon P. Pratt, and William J. Morrison. John Wiley & Sons (2006), 386 pages (ISBN-0-471-69483-5). Standards of Value: Theory and Applications addresses...