Parents and judges often prove reluctant to use testimony from children in divorce and other actions involving custody determinations, even though children frequently possess critical knowledge of parental behavior material to those determinations. Without a child’s testimony, hearsay rules limit a...
In proceedings involving the calculation of child support to be paid by a parent, the obligor’s assets are considered when determining whether to impute income to that parent and in determining the amount of income to impute. Oddly though, parties rarely ask the trier of fact to construe a parent’s...
Discovery violations frequently occur in lawsuits, including divorce actions and other family matters. Through accident or intentional gamesmanship, parties served with written discovery requests or deposition notices too often ignore their obligations to respond or respond evasively. The victims of...
When a person willfully disobeys a prior court order, including a child custody order, a court can hold the offender in contempt.(1) The finding of contempt can be either “civil” or “criminal,” depending on the action taken by the court to deal with the contempt. Criminal contempt “imposes unconditi...
