Lee's Divorce & Family Law Blog

The Alabama Supreme Court has dressed down the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals in a custody case for reversing a trial court ruling without good reason. It’s about time. (more)

What does it take to get a family law ruling affirmed around here these days? Here’s a hint: if you’re a judge changing primary child custody in Alabama, you better say the word “McLendon.” (more)

Poor Mr. Hartley. Four years ago he reduced his child support when his oldest child reached age 19. Shoulda gone to court. Shoulda gone to court. (more)

Alabama’s relocation statute makes a rebuttable presumption that taking a child with you when you move is not in the child’s best interest. But the trial court has to give the relocating parent a chance to rebut the presumption. (more)

Mr. Blasdel got the dismissal of his own appeal that he apparently wanted. Seems a waste of all that lawyering, though. (more)

If you’re searching for a definitive statement in Alabama caselaw about the treatment of learning disabilities in child custody, don’t get your hopes up. But today’s case does have some discussion that may be helpful. (more)

Lawyers and judges often repeat the truism that Alabama’s principle of dividing marital property in a divorce is that the division should be equitable but not necessarily equal. We get a refresher in today’s case of just how unequal property division can be in Alabama and still be sustained on appeal. (more)

What does it mean when the husband and wife in a divorce case agree that child support will be “in accordance with the child support guidelines” when the non-custodial parent’s income exceeds those guidelines? Is child support set at the maximum guideline amount? Is the court free to set child support in its discretion? (more)

Every now and then the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals renders an opinion that you think might make a good bar exam question. Today’s case would be a good foundation for a question on civil procedure. (more)

Too often, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has seemed to have a schizophrenic relationship with the Ore Tenus rule, citing it with approval in some cases and shoving it aside in others, often without clear justification for the different treatment. Here, at least, is one case where the court cites it and endorses it. (more)

The BBC is reporting this morning that there may be an increase in the rate of divorces, particularly the rate of high asset divorce cases, because of the current economic crisis. I don’t see it in my practice. (more)

The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has modified its opinion in one of its recent cases on juvenile court jurisdiction. I’m not sure it makes much difference except to the parties involved, but let’s at least make sure we’re describing the change. (more)

It’s routine for divorce judgments in Alabama, particularly the judgments resulting from agreements formed by cooperative parents like the ones I serve, to provide for the parents to share extracurricular expenses. When parents insert that provision, what expenses are they agreeing to share? We have some clarity on this question now from the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. (more)

This is another of  those cases where DHR is trying to defend a juvenile court’s decision to terminate the parental rights of a child, and again the appeals court reverses. Are juvenile court judges just not getting it, or is the appeals court setting too high a standard? (more)

It’s well settled that Alabama law permits a court to order child support to continue past the age of majority when the child is disabled. Because it happens relatively rarely, however, most people who deal with it have an understanding of how it works that is hazy at best. We get some clarity in today’s case. (more)

This started out as a quiet expression of frustration about the Alabama Supreme Court’s opinion in a recent case, Ex parte Clark. It has become instead an exploration of the role narratives play in divorce. (more)

Divorcing spouses who own businesses are fond of saying something like, “well there’s two trucks, three desks, a computer, and a bunch of buckets.” I guess it’s worth $_______,” offering some ridiculously low-ball value as the portion that should be shared in divorce. Now a trial court has accepted that theory in valuing a restaurant business, and the appeals court has said “no way.” (more)

This case on working to “undo” an earlier termination of parental rights is useful in clarifying why parents can’t just agree to terminate the parental rights of one of them as part of their divorce. This is a common request parents make to divorce lawyers in Alabama, and from now on when people make it I’ll refer them to this note. (more)

Poor Ted Brown. Luckless in love, and doomed to have his own death set off a struggle between his former wife and the new wife he left behind. (more)

This case doesn’t break new legal ground, but it’s a good reminder of several of the principles that tend to come up in high-asset divorce cases in Alabama. (more)