All posts by HawkesAdmin

Family Law Update

Business Division

 

Brown v. Brown, 2020 UT App 146

Utah Court of Appeals

Attorneys: Julie J. Nelson, Troy L. Booher, Alexandra Mareschal, Ron W. Haycock, Jr., S. Spencer Brown, Scarlet R. Smith

District Court: The Honorable Derek P. Pullan

Summary: Jerry purchased and paid off a dental practice and building by 1996. The parties were married in 1996. The parties had several children from previous marriages and one child together. They decided Yvonne would stay home with the children. Yvonne occasionally filled in at the dental office on an emergency basis. Regardless of how much she worked, the dental office paid

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Family Law Update

Termination of Parental Rights

In the Interest of B.T.B. and B.Z.B., 2020 UT 36

Utah Supreme Court

Attorneys: Martha Pierce, LaMar J. Winward; J. Robert Latham

Juvenile Court: Fifth District, Honorable Judge Michael F. Leavitt

Summary: In a private action, a father was accused of neglecting, abandoning his children making only token efforts over five (5) years to contact them. The mother petitioned to terminate his rights. A second parent adoption was not on the table. The appellate court disagreed with previous appellate decisions that the requirement of whether a termination is strictly necessary flowed “almost automatically” from the best interest standard. The Supreme Court upholds the Court of Appeals and finds that strictly necessary must be found and that it is part of the best interest analysis.

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Family Law Update

Common Law Marriage 

Volk v. Vecchi, 2020 UT App 77

Utah Court of Appeals

Attorneys: David S. Pace; Karra J. Porter; Kristen C. Kiburtz

District Court: Third District – Honorable James D. Gardner

Summary: The parties were in a relationship between 1999 and 2015. The appellate court upholds the district court in finding that there was a common law marriage.

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Family Law Update

 

Alimony

Petrzelka v. Goodwin, 2020 UT App 34

Utah Court of Appeals

Attorneys: Ashley E. Bown; Tess A. Davis

District Court: Thomas Willmore (1st District)

Summary: The wife was 42 and the husband was 61 when they married. They lived in her house and kept their finances mostly separate during the marriage. The court was within its discretion to deny him alimony and to stop the division of her retirement account on the date of separation.

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Family Law Case Update – October 2019

Gardner v. Gardner, 2019 UT 61

Supreme Court of Utah

Attorneys: Robert W. Hughes, Julie J. Nelson, Erin B. Hull, Jill L. Coil, Luke A. Shaw, Kyle O. Maynard, David W. Read

Summary: The marriage was 22 years. The court gave wife alimony based on a reasonable need, rather than her actual need based on the standard of living. It also only gave her 10 years of alimony instead of the length of marriage. Both decisions were based on an equitable result since it found that her alleged affairs substantially contributed to the demise of the marriage. Affirmed.

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Family Case Law Update

This case law update has a significant amount of information about many family law subjects such as custody, protective orders, alimony, and attorney fees.

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Family Case Law Update

This case law update includes information about protective order violations, accumulated interest on premarital property, and several termination issues. Enjoy!

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Family Case Law Update

SLlaw done-37The court has focused on the right to counsel in private termination cases and has also given helpful clarifications around protective orders and stalking injunctions. Enjoy!

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Is There an Easier Way?

Family_LGBTBefore I dive into my next case law summary blog, I’d like to take a step back and offer some basic advice for anyone going through a divorce or custody battle. Divorce is complicated and excruciatingly difficult, both emotionally and technically. I have done a lot of these, and there is one question that could really make things easier for so many people: “is there an easier way?” Parties to these cases could really help themselves if they started asking this question at every turn. They should ask it of themselves, of their lawyer, and of the opposing lawyer.

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Family Case Law Update

mom_baby

This case law update has a summary of all of the family law decisions from the Utah Supreme Court and the Utah Court of Appeals since the last update. There is a particularly helpful summary on proceeds from civil litigation, whether or not they are marital or separate property, and a helpful discussion about the UCCJEA. Enjoy!

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