News & Articles

Over on my How to Use a Lawyer blog, I posted a blog with the title above.  For some reason, this seems to continue to happen all the time, but especially in family law matters, where everyone else seems to know better.

It is always frustrating to try and help a client who has come to me (the attorney) for help after there have been significant negative events happening in their situation without responding or mitigating the damage.  A client may come consult with me, I explain what needs to happen, they don’t do anything to protect…

At times the issue of common law marriage arises in the context of divorcing parties, or separating parties, or those who need to establish a legal marriage relationship.  Utah law on the subject is as follows:  30-1-4.5.   Validity of marriage not solemnized. (1) A marriage which is not solemnized according to this chapter shall be legal…

In Utah, as I imagine it is in most states, child support and visitation are not connected.  In other words, just because a parent doesn’t pay court-ordered child support doesn’t mean the non-paying parent doesn’t get visitation with the children.  In other words, not receiving child support that you are owed is not a legal…

In the 2012 legislative session, the Utah legislature passed a law that closed the loophole to the 90 day waiting period to obtain a divorce. The law for some time has been that there is a 90 day waiting period from the date of filing a divorce to the date the divorce can be granted.…

I was attending a continuing legal education seminar the other day entitled, “Domestic Mediation: Who, What, Where, When, Why?,” presented by a local attorney master mediator whom I really respect.  One of the topics covered was the question, “Why Mediations Fail?”  Here are the points that were made: The parties are not yet ready to…