Category: Legal Developments
New Case Law – Parenting Time Change As Basis for Child Support Modification
Family law is often seen as a messy and emotionally driven area of legal work. As a family law attorney, I need to both deal with the emotional side of cases and be technically proficient…
New Case Law: US Supreme Court – Due Process and Jail Time For Contempt
The United States Supreme Court issued an oppinion on June 20, 2011 in Turner v. Rogers that touches on self represented litigant’s due process rights in contempt proceedings where jail time is at issue. The…
New Case Law – Definition of Abuse under Family Abuse Prevention Act
On August 10, 2011, the Oregon Court of Appeals decided Sacomano v. Burns. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision to continue a restraining order after a hearing. The court found that, although…
New Case Law – Amount of Spousal Support and Future Earnings
Last week the Oregon Court of Appeals issued a ruling in Hendgen and Hendgen. The court made two important rulings: 1. That the trial court’s spousal support award of $4,000 per month against husband should…
New Case Law – Life Insurance Requirement in Judgment
On March 16, 2011, the Oregon Court Appeals issued and opinion in McIntire v. Lang. The opinion can be read at http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/A141918.htm Petitioners appeal from a judgment of the probate court declaring that respondent’s claim…
Frequency of Prenuptial Agreements on the Rise
In the most recent ABA (American Bar Association) Journal there was an article on the use of prenuptial agreements. The article noted that a survey of a majory family law attorney association revealed that 73…
Military Divorce Issues – Child Custody and Deployment
Defense Secretary Robert Gates reversed the Pentagon’s prior position and now supports legislation that would prevent service members from losing custody of children solely due to deployment. Previously the Defense Department had not supported such…
Proposed Oregon House Bill 2816 Would Allow Fault To Be Considered In Setting Spousal Support
House Bill 2816 proposes to allow courts to consider fault in determining spousal support. Specifically, the proposed change would allow the court to receive evidence of specific acts of a party if “[t]he court finds…
New Case Law – Treatment of Appreciation of Separate Asset During Marriage
The Oregon Court of Appeals published an opinion in Fields and Fields on March 24, 2010. The entire opinion can be viewed here: http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/A141040.htm The case dealt with the treatment of wife’s separately held company. …
New Case Law – Indefinite Spousal Support in a Long-Term Marriage
The Court of Appeals decided the case of Bolte and Bolte on February 17, 2010. The case is an appeal from a divorce trial. The Court of Appeals modified the spousal support award made by…
