Family Law

High school student, 18, moves in with lawyer’s family, sues parents for support and college tuition

Updated: An 18-year-old high school student in New Jersey wasn’t getting along with her parents. She says they abandoned her, threw her out of their home and refused to pay her tuition at Morris Catholic High School, where she is an honor student. They say she left voluntarily because she…

Mar 4, 2014 11:10 PM CST

Did judge take oath on time? Refused a recusal, divorce litigant gets issue to state’s top court

What John Myser originally wanted was a recusal from the judge hearing his Minnesota divorce case. But when Scott County District Judge Caroline Lennon refused to step down, he began researching rules that applied to jurists. He discovered that judges are supposed to take—and file with the secretary of state—an…

Mar 4, 2014 5:00 PM CST

Two years after ex-wife is accused in alleged murder plot, dad is still seeking custody of daughter

There’s a new twist in a battle between a Connecticut dad and his ex-wife, who has been accused in an alleged plot to have him murdered. Frustrated in his bid to obtain custody of his daughter, Eric Stevens has filed an ethics complaint against the girl’s court-appointed guardian ad litem…

Mar 3, 2014 1:48 PM CST

A new documentary takes on the ‘divorce business’

With the tagline “Divorce is big business” and a trailer full of ominous music, the documentary Divorce Corp. might seem like a feature-length complaint about lawyers. But Joe Sorge, who co-wrote and directed the film, says it’s neither anti-lawyer nor anti-judge. Rather, he says, it’s a criticism of the adversarial…

Mar 1, 2014 10:50 AM CST

Federal judge in Texas strikes state’s ban on same-sex marriage

A federal judge in Texas has struck down the state’s constitutional and statutory ban on same-sex marriage, agreeing with the plaintiffs that the ban violates their right to equal protection and due process under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. constitution. “Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose,…

Feb 26, 2014 9:20 PM CST

Parents fight to regain custody of daughter after hospitals disagree on diagnosis

The parents who lost custody of their 15-year-old daughter last year amid a medical disagreement about her diagnosis are back in court today. Lou and Linda Pelletier say they lost custody of their daughter after taking her to Boston Children’s Hospital because of what appeared to be a bad case…

Feb 24, 2014 3:49 PM CST

Suit claims Utah adoption laws allow ‘legalized fraud and kidnapping’

A federal lawsuit filed last month claims Utah’s adoption-friendly laws violate the constitutional rights of unwed fathers. The suit filed in Salt Lake City on behalf of 12 fathers says Utah erects a “confusing labyrinth of virtually incomprehensible legal mandates and nearly impossible deadlines” for fathers seeking to stop adoptions,…

Feb 20, 2014 12:15 PM CST

Oops. Legal strategy emails were sent by Guardian Angels founder to his ex-wife, her lawyer says

Lawyers for Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa and his girlfriend had accused his ex-wife, Mary Sliwa of intercepting his legal strategy emails last year and sharing them with her lawyer in a hard-fought child-support case. But Sliwa forgot that he had automatically blind-copied his wife on Guardian Angels correspondence for…

Feb 18, 2014 7:14 PM CST

Divorce lawyer says ballroom dancing is important to his 55-year marriage

Image from Shutterstock. Tampa, Fla., divorce lawyer Arnie Levine offers one of his secrets to a long-lasting marriage: ballroom dancing. Levine is “a divorce court terror in a tasteful charcoal suit,” the Tampa Bay Times reports, but he has been married 55 years to his wife, Gail. The couple goes…

Feb 14, 2014 2:10 PM CST

Virginia’s gay-marriage ban is struck down

Updated: A federal judge in Norfolk has struck down Virginia’s ban on gay marriage in a case argued by Theodore Olson and David Boies, the same lawyers who won a California gay-marriage case in the U.S. Supreme Court by challenging opponents’ standing. Judge Arenda Wright Allen ruled on Thursday, overturning…

Feb 14, 2014 1:15 PM CST

Judge appeals sanction for his relationship with prosecutor

A Las Vegas family court judge is appealing a recent ethics ruling which would suspend him without pay for three months due to his relationship with a former prosecutor in his courtroom. Judge Steven Jones is appealing the latest ruling in the legal ethics case against him to the Nevada…

Feb 13, 2014 4:40 PM CST

Kentucky’s ban on recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages is struck down

A federal judge has struck down a Kentucky constitutional provision and state law that refuse recognition to same-sex marriages performed in other states. U.S. District Judge John Heyburn II said the ban violates the equal protection clause, report the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and SCOTUSblog.…

Feb 13, 2014 4:32 PM CST

Lesbian may adopt her wife’s children, Idaho Supreme Court says

A lesbian couple married in California has won an adoption battle in Idaho. As a result of an Idaho Supreme Court ruling on Monday, Darcy Drake Simpson will be allowed to pursue the adoption of her spouse’s two children, the Idaho Statesman reports. A magistrate had denied the adoption without…

Feb 11, 2014 5:56 PM CST

New DOJ guidelines call for equal recognition of same-sex married couples

New guidelines that are to be issued Monday by the Department of Justice call for same-sex couples who are legally married to be treated, as much as possible, the same as opposite-sex married couples. Binding on federal employees, including those who run the courts, the new policy will “formally instruct…

Feb 10, 2014 7:30 PM CST

Married couple face first-degree murder charges in water-intoxication death of girl, 5

The father and stepmother of a 5-year-old Tennessee girl are facing first-degree murder charges over accusations that they caused her death by forcing her to consume an excessive amount of grape soda and water and failing to seek medical attention when she began to show signs of distress and injury.…

Feb 7, 2014 6:25 PM CST