How courts view home school in custody cases.

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

Many years ago, when I first started working as a family law attorney, home school was presumed to be a haven for the fringes of society.  People who had unusually strong religious beliefs, or who were sailing around the world with their kids, or who were living in communes, all home-schooled their kids.  In those days, home schooled kids struggled to be accepted into four-year colleges, and were seen as poorly educated, possibly indoctrinated, and socially backward.

Courts back then echoed this sentiment.  They frequently would custody of the children to the parent who wanted to put the kids into a mainstream public or private school, and express openly that the reasons for doing so were exactly as listed above: home schooled kids were weird and didn’t learn to standards.

This is all changing now.  This article has a nice collection of opinions from around the nation showing the growing trend away from the previous negative presumptions about home school.

My own experience with home school has varied, but I have generally found the courts to be much more accepting nowadays.  The one big exception I have encountered was a case where the child’s pro-home-school parent was engaging in severe parental “gatekeeping,” and was using home school as a means of isolating the child from the other parent.  The child admitted during child custody recommending counseling that home school included repeated severely negative references to the non-home-school parent as mean and psychologically unstable (both untrue statements).

This is generally how home school works in conjunction with child custody nowadays.  Home school is increasingly looked at as any other school choice, unless it is causing some harm to the children that would not be experienced in other circumstances.

Here is a link to the Washington Post article:

Home schooling and child custody – The Washington Post.

5 Divorce Facts That Might Change Your Idea of Splitting Up | World of Psychology

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

People ask me about divorce statistics all the time.  This article provides most of the answers you could ever need.

5 Divorce Facts That Might Change Your Idea of Splitting Up | World of Psychology.

 

Too young to consent, but old enough to pay.

/0 Comments/in , /by

I will occasionally post stories like these, which show the upside-down logic of family court.

In this case, a 14 year old boy had sex with a 20 year old woman.  Under Arizona law, the boy was too young to consent to the sexual encounter, making him a victim of statutory rape.

The relationship produced a child, but the boy did not know this fact.

The boy grew up, trained for a career, and started his own life.  He did not find out about the child until eight years later, when the state started proceedings against him for child support.

Arizona statutory rape victim forced to pay child support.

Deployed submariner loses a round in custody battle | Navy Times | navytimes.com

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

Deployed submariner loses a round in custody battle | Navy Times | navytimes.com.

I have been tracking this case since it started.  The father is a submariner in the US Navy.  That means one or two times a year, he will get into a submarine and disappear for months at a time. He does not see or speak to his family during that time.  It is rough life.  I am glad he is willing to do this job.

He has a daughter from his first wife, and he is remarried.  During the divorce his first wife was convicted of assaulting the daughter.  The courts gave sole legal and physical custody to the father.  He moved to the Seattle area with his daughter and wife.

Last year, the ex-wife asked the court to award her custody of the daughter. The court then started making orders that appear to violate the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.  One order threatened this deployed submariner and father with sanctions for his failure to appear at a hearing.  Think about this: while deployed, submariners are functionally gone from planet Earth.

Even now, the family court seems to be ignoring the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.  The father is still deployed on a submarine, and yet the court is entering orders modifying child custody.

I have encountered judges in my own practice who make light of the SCRA.  Since then, I have seen a larger emphasis placed upon the relief the SCRA offers, but this news article is not the only case of a parent taking advantage of the deployed status of a service member.  It is my hope the pending legislation aimed at preventing this kind of result in the future.

Imputing income to a nonworking spouse.

/0 Comments/in , /by

In family  court, sometimes a higher wage earner will defeat his or her own reported income by quitting a job to become “self employed” or to work “under the table.”  Other times, a lower wage earner who is qualified to do work will avoid looking for work, or will remain intentionally under-employed.  In cases like this, it would not be fair to require the spouse who is working at his or her capacity to bear the burden of the other parent’s failure to find work or to maximize earning potential.

In such cases, California will “impute” income to the party who is not working to full capacity, or who is unwilling to embark on a career.  In a manner similar to this article from Florida, below, California courts will determine (a) what the party’s qualifications and training are; (b) whether there are jobs available in the area; (c) which available jobs the target spouse would qualify to work in; and (d) the amount the target spouse would earn if he or she sought such employment.  This number will then be used to determine child and spousal support.

The downside of imputed income is this: the non-working spouse may have a higher amount of support to pay based upon imputed income, but may still never pay the full ordered support.  Arrears in the tens of thousands may build up.  Interest may blow that figure up significantly. But nothing can create income where there is none.  At times imputed income can be cold comfort.

 

It’s The Law: Income can be imputed for alimony or child support – Marco Eagle.

How to Plan for a Divorce – WSJ

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Though this article is written for people generally and needs some fine-tuning for California, it is the best I have seen in years related to pre-divorce planning.

In addition to these steps, someone wanting to prepare for or initiate a divorce in California needs to consider several other issues, including establishing the date of separation, temporary arrangements post-separation (including co-habitation agreements or arrangements where the parties continue to live in the same home, only separately) and dealing with regular expenses.

In cases where nothing is urgent, I often give clients advice to put off filing for divorce to allow them to prepare other aspects of their lives, including preparation for separate living, arranging estate plans, or other similar issues.

Review the article carefully.  If you have questions about how to prepare for your divorce, call us for a free 20 minute consultation.

How to Plan for a Divorce – WSJ.