Family Law

Warring parties in Robin Williams estate case make progress, with mediator’s help

The widow and three adult children of actor Robin Williams are still at odds over the ownership of some of his personal belongings and the money needed to maintain his widow’s home. But, with the help of a mediator, they have resolved issues concerning a number of other items, so…

Jun 1, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

Family law attorney who shot estranged husband is cleared by grand jury

A Texas family law attorney initially charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the February shooting of her estranged husband has been cleared by a San Patricio County grand jury. It declined to indict Kimberly Frost-Salazar, 41. She and a male friend said in 911 calls that she…

May 27, 2015 12:00 PM CDT

After a week in jail, tearful mom agrees to have 4-year-old son circumcised

Jailed for the past week after being held in contempt and charged with interfering with child custody, a Florida mom on Friday tearfully agreed to the circumcision of her four-year-old son. She had battled with the boy’s father for years in an effort to avoid the surgical procedure. Heather Hironimus…

May 22, 2015 12:45 PM CDT

London judge sides with divorcing US lawyer in battle over baby grand piano

Attorney Richard Fields doesn’t play the piano at all and his estranged wife Ekaterina admittedly is no expert. But somehow a $100,000 baby grand piano in the couple’s former New York apartment has become a focal point in divorce proceedings in the family division of London’s High Court. Legal fees…

May 20, 2015 12:30 PM CDT

Mom jailed in battle with dad over circumcision of 4-year-old son; judge is asked to halt surgery

A Florida mom was arrested Thursday and jailed for contempt because of her refusal to cooperate with the court-ordered circumcision of her 4-year-old son. The boy’s father wants the surgery, and Heather Hironimus initially agreed to it in a parenting plan she now disavows. Meanwhile, an emergency hearing is scheduled…

May 18, 2015 12:55 PM CDT

Judge who called parents ‘knuckleheads’ and their dispute ‘retarded’ is chided by top state court

Indiana courts will tolerate a judge’s “crusty” demeanor toward litigants, if evenly applied, but a juvenile court judge in Marion County went too far, the Indiana Supreme Court has found. In a case to determine whether a teen should be placed in state custody, the state supreme court said the…

May 14, 2015 7:22 AM CDT

As same-sex marriage gains ground, some employers cut benefits for same-sex couples who don’t wed

Same-sex marriage has become legal in 37 states and the District of Columbia in recent years, and could soon be more widely recognized, depending on how the U.S. Supreme Court rules in pending cases. However, now that same-sex marriage is possible in a majority of states, a number of employers…

May 13, 2015 11:50 AM CDT

Woman gets life without parole for running her 9-year-old granddaughter to death

Following the recommendation of the Alabama jury that convicted a woman of capital murder earlier this year for running her 9-year-old granddaughter to death, a judge on Monday sentenced Joyce Hardin Garrard to life without parole. The 50-year-old woman in the Etowah County case, told the judge at one point,…

May 11, 2015 5:15 PM CDT

Judge’s unusual paternity case ruling: Dad fathered one twin, but not the other

There was good news and bad news when DNA test results arrived for a man who contested paternity of twin girls a New Jersey woman said he had fathered. He was the father of one of the girls, but not the other. In what is said to be the first…

May 8, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Federal suit says Marriott denied new mom lactation breaks because she’s a surrogate

A California woman filed a federal lawsuit against Marriott International Inc. last week. It says she was denied lactation breaks after giving birth last year because she is a surrogate mother. In addition to damages, Mary Gonzales seeks a declaratory judgment that supervisors at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott where…

May 5, 2015 3:00 PM CDT

Power outage closes Houston courthouses, but judge marries one young couple on the sidewalk

An electrical outage on Monday closed municipal courts in Houston, west of downtown. However, one couple who’d come to the courthouse to get married got lucky, reports KHOU: A judge performed the ceremony on the sidewalk. The courts are expected to reopen at 1 p.m.

May 4, 2015 11:35 AM CDT

Summit on legal innovation in legal services gets underway in Silicon Valley

It might be strange to attend a conference about innovation in legal services and hear the names Carole King and Herbert Hoover invoked as major themes. But it worked in the context of the National Summit on Innovation in Legal Services. For the next couple of days, I’ll be at…

May 3, 2015 12:26 AM CDT

South Dakota class action highlights violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act

When South Dakota's Pennington County petitioned to take custody of Madonna Pappan's children, the hearing lasted slightly more than 60 seconds.

May 1, 2015 5:50 AM CDT

Supreme Court arguments, delivered in 3-minute increments and a 36-minute ‘super cuts’ audio

Not everyone waiting in line got seats for the Supreme Court’s full oral arguments on gay marriage on Tuesday. For those who didn’t make the cut, some accommodations were offered. For those who didn’t want to wait in line for days—or didn’t want to pay others to do it for…

Apr 29, 2015 7:55 AM CDT

Did Roberts’ sex-bias question signal a possible vote to support gay marriage?

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. used a hypothetical from an amicus brief supporting same-sex marriage in oral arguments on Tuesday, signaling a way he could use sex discrimination law to strike down bans on gay marriage, according to a law professor who signed the brief. The New York Times…

Apr 29, 2015 7:10 AM CDT