I have discussed on this blog many times how the most difficult job a Family Court Judge has is making custody orders. Property and support can be legally or technically difficult, but they will never compare to the emotions of making custody orders. Never is this task more difficult then…
The Oklahoma Supreme Court issued a decision on November 17, 2015 in the case of Ramey v. Sutton in which the biological mother in a same sex relationship wished to cut ties between her partner and child after their break-up which followed almost 10 years of co-parenting. In this case,…
There is only one type of case more heart-wrenching than a move-away case: an international move-away case. While domestic move-away cases are complicated enough, international move-aways add additional layers of complexity that must be considered by both parties and the Court. Currently, there are only 4 published family law move-away…
Part one of this blog introduced the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (“AAML”) and the AAML’s new publication addressing the division of parenting time for families going through divorce or separation, titled Child Centered Residential Guidelines (“AAML Guidelines”). Here we will delve into an examination of the publication and summarize…
If you are considering a divorce or are already involved in the divorce process, you have likely done some research and been left scratching your head in bewilderment. Divorce is so common these days that you may assume it’s easy to do. Unfortunately, however, it’s not the most “user friendly”…
In my last blog I talked about how a custody evaluation is ordered, what it costs, and how long it takes. If you have not read that blog, it may be helpful to go back and take a look before you continue. If you prefer to get right into the…
In earlier blogs I discussed what a parent can expect during child custody mediation, both private mediation and court connected mediation. Both scenarios, while nuanced, are quite straight forward. What happens if you are involved in a high-conflict child custody case and the court orders a custody evaluation? What does…
In an earlier blog I discussed what to expect from court connected child custody mediation (Family Court Services – “FCS”). If you have not read that blog yet, go back and take a look since I give a background on child custody mediation generally. In today’s blog, I am going…
The focus of this blog is parents involved in contested custody cases and required custody mediation. Contested custody cases come in all shapes and sizes. On one end of the spectrum you have the high-conflict custody cases (the knockdown, drag out fights) and on the other end you have the…
Earlier this week, we discussed the basics of how the UCCJEA determines which states get to make custody and visitation orders over children. We did not discuss the more appropriate forum exceptions of Family Code sections 3427 and 3428. These are discussed below. As noted before, there are 4 types…