Nathan Albright's Blawg

Due Process Requires Ex Parte Notice, Even in Family Law Matters

by Virginia Leen

If you represent men in family law matters in Washington, it is common to have a client come into the office with a stack of papers — the first one being a court order already signed by a judge, kicking your client out of the family house, limiting or completely restricting time with his children, and ordering payment of bills and support. The orders contain a date to return to court approximately two weeks later so that he can present his side of the story. In almost every case like this I have seen, the man was given absolutely no prior notice that the ex parte orders were being sought, and given 20 minutes to gather his wits and personal property. After practicing family law in Los Angeles County for seven years prior to moving to Washington, I was shocked by this.

wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/bn-sept10-due+process+requires+ex+parte.htm.

In the Bronx, young single fathers (16 -24) who want to bone up on their parenting skills can participate in the Bronx Fatherhood Program.

The program runs the gamut from teaching dads how to properly feed and bathe their children to teaching them how to interact with their kids’ mothers, so they aren’t denied access.

Most students probably didn’t have good family role models growing up.

Despite this, one alumnus of the program spends several hours every day after work with his toddler daughter.

For him, every day is Father’s Day. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that, according to recent studies, dads are now struggling as much as moms with juggling family responsibilities and work.

This is attributed to a combination of the lengthening work day and dads shouldering more domestic responsibilities.

Read more in this New York Times article: For a Young Parent, Lessons in Fatherhood and this New York Times article: Now, Dad Feels as Stressed as Mom.

North Carolina Husband and Wife have two children.

Husband works as corrections officer.

Wife files for child custody, support and alimony.

Trial court orders Husband to pay ,100 in monthly child and spousal support.

Husband quits his corrections officer job after entry of the support order. …

And joins a religious commune which forbids members from making money outside the commune.

Husband fails to pay court-ordered support.

Wife files for contempt.

Husband defends on the basis of religious freedom and inability to pay.

Trial court finds that Husband’s new religious beliefs are genuine. …

And holds Husband in contempt anyway.

Husband’s change of religious heart flies in the face of the court’s order.

Husband appeals.

Appellate court affirms and holds Husband to his court-ordered support payments.

Read more in this Courthouse News Service article: Faith Is ‘Irrelevant’ to Child Support, Court Says.

An upstate New York mental health professional (Evaluator) has been arrested for allegedly falsifying his credentials … for the purpose of securing contracts with government agencies to perform court-ordered psychological evaluations.

Several charges were brought against him, some of them felonies.

The institutions reportedly granting some or all of his degrees were not legimate educational institutions, but rather pay-for-a-degree mills.

The Evaluator reportedly performed numerous court-ordered psychological evaluations over the years, which played decisive roles in child custody and timesharing rulings in family court cases, among other cases.

If the Evaluator is convicted, it could spur a significant amount of family court litigation in the communities he served.

Read more in this Glen Falls [NY] Post-Star article: Special prosecutor assigned in false credentials case and this West Palm Beach Examiner article: Doctor under contract to Saratoga Public Defenders Office arrested, alleged phony college degrees.

Google Scholar has recently added legal research.  Search Washington here.  Stories about it can be found at Internet for Lawyers and the official Google announcement is here.

We all saw the famous JK Wedding Entrance Dance.  Here’s the resulting JK Divorce Entrance Dance: