Equitable Paternity
April 27, 2007
Recently, the New York State Court of Appeals equitably estopped a man from denying paternity in order to protect the child's best interests. The man had no biological link to the child, but was deceived by his paramour into thinking that he was the father. <i>Matter of Shondel J. v. Mark D.</i>. The impact this ruling could have on same-sex couples and the children of their unions is potentially significant ' not just for couples in New York, but for same-sex couples in all states that value the best interests of the children of those unions.
'The Continuum of Value'
March 27, 2007
Despite no seeming fundamental economic differences, there have been occasions where divorce courts in different states have reached different conclusions of value for the same type of business. These states reach such different conclusions as to what constitutes marital property because they have different views as to the meaning of the term 'value.' This article represents a summary of some of our findings concerning the application of the premises and standards of value in divorce matters.
Litigation
March 27, 2007
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
Marriage, Divorce and Estate Planning
March 27, 2007
Trusts and estates law is replete with special rules, or exceptions to the general rules, designed to recognize and protect the financial side of the marriage partnership. What happens, however, when husbands or wives decide that they no longer wish to be married? Once the decision is made to end the marriage, one spouse usually wishes to minimize any benefits that the other spouse could obtain from the estate.
Religious Rights of Divorcing Parents
March 27, 2007
Other than holding that courts cannot use race as a criterion for decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has not delved deeply into defining the constitutional rights of divorcing parents in the context of a custody dispute. In <i>Shepp v. Shepp</i>, 906 A.2d 1165 (Pa. 2006), however, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently held that a divorced parent had a constitutional right to advocate his sincere religious belief in polygamy to his 9-year-old child.
Litigation
February 27, 2007
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
Hedge Fund Analysis and Valuation
February 27, 2007
Determining the value of a hedge fund investment is completely different from and far more complex than the relatively straightforward way of determining the value of shares of a publicly traded stock. During the past 10 years, the explosive growth of the hedge fund industry has made the analysis of hedge fund investments and hedge fund businesses an increasingly common part of the financial due diligence necessary in matrimonial cases.
The Progressive Lawyer
February 27, 2007
In Part One of this series, we defined the newly evolving role of the parenting coordinator (PC) and discussed various statutory authorities for the PC role. In Part Two, we dealt with additional PC topics. Part Three herein concludes the series by providing a comprehensive PC order of appointment, which can be modified to fit just about any desired PC situation.
Marital Spying
February 27, 2007
While marital spying could land a spouse in hot water, it can also put attorneys in some sticky situations. Divorce lawyers say they are treading very carefully as to how they handle feuding spouses who spy on each other. Clients will often tell their lawyers they have proof that their spouses are cheating, but they will not disclose how they got it. Other times, they might wiretap or open private e-mails without knowing this was illegal, and then tell their lawyer about it. Lawyers have to be extremely careful not to condone or listen to information gained through these methods. They must also be cautious when discussing spying tactics with clients, because they could be held liable if they review, or even know about, private information obtained illegally.
Anxiety and Therapy in Parenting
February 27, 2007
While courts often use parents' psychiatric conditions as a basis for custody decisions, solid research on the actual impact of parental mental illness on children is limited (For an overview of this issue see Jenuwine & Cohler, 1999). Common sense and clinical wisdom converge in suggesting that parental mental health is an important factor in parenting. However, systematic empirical studies of children of even severely mentally ill parents often show that common sense and clinical wisdom can be mistaken. Children are much less affected by their parent's illness than one would think.
