If your child custody or divorce case goes to trial, you and your spouse will likely call numerous witnesses to testify in court. Many couples wonder whether their therapist or child’s therapist should testify in …
Decision Making in a Custody Case
A custody case is filled with opportunities for making decisions. At every stage with every player the decision making process is important. Judges have to make decisions on who wins custody. Parents have to make …
Factors to Consider in a Custody Case
New Mexico law outlines the factors for a court to consider when awarding child custody. Child custody cases are rarely pretty. Whenever two parents resort to the courtroom to resolve custody issues, it is typically …
When You Should Hire a Lawyer
The question, “Do I Need a Family Law Attorney?” comes up in discussions involving Divorce, and other issues such as, Child Custody, Child Support or Alimony (known as, Spousal support). In New Mexico, there is …
What is a Guardian ad Litem
A “guardian ad litem” (GAL) is a person the court appoints to investigate what solutions would be in the “best interests of a child.” In a family court context, the GAL will look into the …
How Does Alimony and Child Support Interact
Child support is money normally paid based on the gross income of both parents the purpose of which is to support the children’s most basic needs of food, shelter and clothing. The State of New …
What is Community Property
New Mexico is a community property state. Not every state is a community property state. In fact, only eight states observe community property laws: Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Washington. …
What is Settlement Facilitation
Alternative dispute resolution is the method used to try and prevent parties from undergoing the adversarial systems associated with going through litigation. There are many aspects to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) including arbitration, settlement facilitation, …
How to Use Scientific Evidence in a Custody Case
There are many types of evidence that are commonly used at trial. Scientific and forensic types of evidence can be extremely helpful in proving your case, but there are rules and standards that these types …
What is Daubert and Why it’s Important to Custody Cases
Daubert refers to a leading case on evidence from the United States Supreme Court and established a standard pertaining to scientific evidence. According to Daubert, the standard used by a trial judge to make a …