Category: Child Custody

November 24, 2010

The immediate danger statutes – emergency custody and parenting time

As Oregon divorce and family law lawyers, we talk to a lot of parents who want an immediate change of custody or immediate suspension of parenting time.  It can be frustrating to learn that it…

November 18, 2010

Overprotective Parenting – Impact on Child Custody Proceedings

The November isse of the American Bar Association Journal had an interesting article on overprotective parents.  The article says that psychologists are concerned that overprotective parents often leave a child without an independent outlet.  Interestingly,…

April 15, 2010

New Case Law – Custody Determination

On April 14, 2010, the Oregon Court of Appeals filed an opinion in Stevens and Stevens.  The entire opinion can be found here:  http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/A138624.htm The appeal was filed by father due to a trial court…

March 9, 2010

New Case Law – What is a “Written Response”? (or, how to avoid a default)

With almost 80% of cases in domestic relations involving pro se (self represented) litigants, it is not uncommon for a party to fail to respond to a pleading and find themself defaulted.  The court of…

February 7, 2010

Oregon’s Parenting Policy

When consulting with Oregon parents about parenting time and parenting plans, I get lots of questions about what kind of parenting time a judge might order.  There is a lot of misinformation about what Judges…

February 3, 2010

At what age can a child decide custody/parenting time?

This is a trick question.  There is no age at which a child can make these decisions, until he/she turns 18 and the court no longer has jurisdiction over them. There are, however, a few…

December 3, 2009

Do I need to tell the other parent if I am requesting an emergency custody order?

There are two forms of emergency custody order. A pre-judgment order (meaning that it is taken out at the time the original custody request is filed with the court) and a post-judgment order (meaning that…

November 19, 2009

Can a parent “take the child and run?”

If a custody matter has not yet been filed, then under Oregon law, the parent with whom the child was living at the time paternity of the child was determined is determined to have legal…

June 16, 2009

Facebook and Divorce

Time magazine ran an article on the use of social networking sites like Facebook in divorce cases. The article can be reviewed here. When going through a divorce or custody case it is very important…

March 9, 2009

Top 10 Ways To Get Along And Avoid An Enforcement Action

As a Portland, Oregon based family law firm we field a lot of questions about problems with parenting plans.  We hear questions about  parents not returning the children on time, about sharing transportation after a parent moves a short distance, and about…