In a marital dissolution action, the husband [who is also a lawyer] claimed that pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act [ERISA; 29 U.S.C. § 1001], his pension plan was exempt from levy on a writ of execution to pay his spouse’s attorney for attorney fees. The court rejected his argument “on the ground there […]
Notice And Hearing Required Before Court May Order Sanctions.
In Marriage of Duris (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 6; March 14, 2011) 193 Cal.App.4th 510, [123 Cal.Rptr.3d 150], the court conducted a hearing on a motion to modify child support. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court ordered the moving party to pay $10,000 in sanctions because of “unnecessary legal activity.” The Court of Appeal reversed. […]
Doctrine Of Quasi-Judicial Immunity And The Litigation Privilege Preclude Man From Suing The Guardian Ad Litem Appointed By The Court During His Divorce Proceeding.
After a husband’s lawyer informed the judge on the day trial was to begin that his client had checked himself into a hospital in Massachusetts for severe depression, the court refused to grant a continuance without evidence of the man’s condition. The next day the lawyer presented a letter from the man’s physician, and the judge, […]
Fiduciary Duty Of Disclosure: Pretty Soon They’ll Be Talking About Real Money.
A male lawyer and a female married in 1985. In 2000, he entered into an “of counsel” relationship with a law firm specializing in securities litigation which entitled him to a referral fee of 10 percent in a class action. In 2003, the couple separated and the two entered into a marital settlement [MSA] agreement in […]
United States Supreme Court Issues Proposition 8 Opinion.
On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling on the Proposition 8 matter in an opinion authored by John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States. After first noting the public is currently engaged in an active political debate over whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, the high […]
DOMA Found Unconstitutional By High Court.
Two New York women were lawfully married in Canada in 2007. One of them died in 2009, leaving her entire estate to the survivor who sought to claim the estate tax exemption for surviving spouses. The Defense of Marriage Act [28 U.S.C. § 1738C ; DOMA] barred her from succeeding on her exemption claim. § 3 […]
Court May Not Deny Custodial Parent Permission To Move.
When a parent seeks to move away from the area where the other parent, with joint custody, resides, the court should not determine whether that custodial parent is permitted to move. Rather the inquiry should assume the custodial parent will move and determine, using the child’s best interest as a guide, whether the move should require […]
Husband Beater Got No Spousal Support.
In dissolution proceeding, husband requested relief from paying spousal support because of wife’s domestic violence. He detailed 19 written police reports, five arrests, three criminal convictions, three criminal protective orders, one civil temporary restraining order, and three probationary periods. The trial court found wife was statutorily ineligible to receive spousal support based on her history of […]
Board Of Psychology Imposed Discipline On A Psychologist–So You’ll Need To Be Monitored Doctor.
When the Board of Psychology imposed discipline on a psychologist, the trial court denied the doctor’s writ petition. The psychologist acted as a special master in a family law proceeding in California and testified in a family law proceeding in Florida. In the California matter, he emailed one of the spouses “that he could not work […]
Child Abduction Custody Case Involving Member Of Military Not Moot.
In an action involving the International Child Abduction Remedies Act [ICARA; 42 U.S.C. 11601], a member of the U.S. Army filed for divorce shortly after he returned from deployment to Afghanistan. His wife, a citizen of Scotland was deported and took their child with her after a federal district court concluded the child’s habitual residence was […]