Abortion and the Family

Abortion remains a hotly debated topic. What happens, however, when abortion intersects with family law? Currently, such considerations are non starters. A woman’s body is her body and her decision. We have seen fathers who …

Legal Technicians in New Mexico

Paralegals who draft divorce documents. Former, disbarred attorneys handling mediations. These are just some of the examples of legal “professionals” who hold themselves out as providing a service. Calls are being made to identify these …

Common Law Marriage Isn’t Common

In movies and stories we hear about common law marriage. However, common law marriage isn’t common. What we mean by this is that not every state recognizes common law marriage. The reason this is an …

Are Judges Biased?

Judges take an oath to apply the laws of the State and the United States in a fair and impartial manner. That makes sense and we applaud the fact that our judges are beyond the …

Same Sex Couples and Domestic Violence

Domestic violence isn’t a scourge that is isolated to heterosexual, married couples. Domestic violence can occur in unmarried relationships and in same sex relationships. Recently, North Dakota refused to extend domestic violence protection to same …

Do we split the baby?

Many people are familiar with the biblical story of King Solomon and his wise distribution of justice. The story goes like this…two women came before the King with each claiming the right to a baby. …

Interim Division

During the pendency of a divorce, the court must complete an interim division of income and expenses. Most people think this is interim child support or alimony and that is not the case. Interim division …

The Impact of a Stipulated DV Order

Whenever a person finds themselves in domestic violence court there are several potential outcomes. One outcome could be a dismissal of the action. Another outcome could be a finding of domestic violence and the entry …

Statute of Limitations and Child Support

An often overlooked argument to use for child support arrearages is that of statute of limitations. Statutes of limitations are laws passed by legislative bodies in common law systems to set the maximum time after …

Retroactive Child Support

A common concern for many people is retroactive child support. In this post we will address the different situations that give rise to possible retroactive child support obligations. The first and most common situation when …