Helping real people move through divorce
Information about divorce and family law in Alabama (where I practice law)
The question is all too frequent. Am I still married? How can I find out if my spouse divorced me?
If you and your spouse have been separated for a long time, the simple answer is that there is no easy way to confirm whether your spouse ever divorced you. You can check easily enough, of course, in the court for the area where you live. But what about the area where your spouse lives? And if you have lost touch with your spouse, how can you know where he or she has lived?
There are extreme cases in which one of the parents is accused of misconduct so egregious, so frightening, that the court is reluctant to allow that parent to be alone with the children. Does that mean no visitation? Often it does, but supervised visitation is an option. In supervised visitation, someone the court trusts agrees to be present whenever the suspected parent and the children are together, to make sure the children are safe.
The divorce lawyers in Alabama had a quick conversation online today about the forgiveness of interest on child support. I thought you might be interested in hearing more about it.
Continue reading “Forgiveness of Interest – Alabama Child Support”
This case presents a juicy issue about whether long-term residence with grandparents is enough to overcome the McLendon presumption. The Court of Appeals in Roux v. Hamby, Case No. 2030852 (Ala. Civ. App. June 3, 2005) ruled quite properly, however, that the issue was not properly before it, so we’ll have to wait for resolution.
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has affirmed a trial court ruling that imputed income to the father to calculate child support, even though the court made no finding that the father was voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. The father in G.B. v. J.H., Case No. 2040065 (Ala. Civ. App. June 3, 2005) had filed a CS-41 (child support income affidavit) showing income of $252.16 per month.
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has reversed a trial court’s award of a portion of the husband’s retirement plan to the wife in a divorce, because the couple had been married less than five years when the complaint was filed. Ruling in the case of Dempsey v. Dempsey, Case No. 2040068 (Ala. Civ. App. June 3, 2005), the court remanded the case and instructed the trial court “to reconsider the division of the marital assets and to enter a judgment consistent with this opinion.” Although the Court of Appeals didn’t say so expressly, it may have been opening for the door with this language for the trial court to realign the other aspects of the property division to compensate for the husband’s keeping his retirement plan.
There’s a nice update in yesterday’s Montgomery Advertiser about the status of the proposed update of the Alabama Child Support Guidelines.
Last month the members of the Alabama Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Child Support Guidelines and Enforcement voted to take no action on a $20,000 study that recommended adjustments of the guidelines, deciding that the study wasn’t specific enough to Alabama. That means the proposal has now bounced back to the Supreme Court, which could (a) do nothing, (b) authorize a new (and undoubtedly more expensive) study, or (c) make a decision on the basis of available information. The gist of the story is that, so far, the Supreme Court is opting to do nothing.
The Court of Appeals has provided a roadmap for parents claiming reimbursement of the costs of college. In Walker v. Walker, Case No. 2030388 (Ala. Civ. App. May 20, 2005), the trial court ordered the father to reimburse the mother for various costs she had incurred for the college education of the parties’ adult child (she petitioned while the child was still a minor).
Another case where the poor trial court tries to award child support without filling out the necessary child support forms. Alabama appellate courts have said repeatedly and consistently that every child support judgment needs to incorporate a CS-42. In Batain, v. Batain, Case No. 2030907 (Ala. Civ. App. May 13, 2005), the trial court conducted a brief divorce trial, awarded custody of the child to the mother, and ordered the father to pay $1,000 per month in child support. The father appealed.
The terms “dependent” and “dependency” get confusing as we apply them to child custody in Alabama. Most of us think of a “dependent” as a child who needs the protection and guidance of Mom and Dad. In Alabama, however, the term “dependent” means something very different, typically a child who CANNOT depend on Mom and Dad and is dependent instead on the public or on the state.
There are clearly defined limits on the jurisdiction of a juvenile court in Alabama. The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has reiterated and articulated those limits in the case of S.B.U. v. D.G.B., Case No. 2031054 (Ala. Civ. App. May 13, 2005). Specifically, the juvenile court in Alabama is a court of limited jurisdiction. It can determine custody when a child is otherwise before it, but when parties have divorced and the circuit court has acquired jurisdiction over their children, the circuit court retains jurisdiction over the child unless either (1) there is an emergency that requires intervention or (2) the child is dependent.
Starting in June, child support recipients in Alabama can receive their child support payments in the form of deposits to their Visa card. AmSouth Bank will partner with the state of Alabama (Alabama Central Disbursement Division) to offer the option, which will reduce the state’s cost of printing and mailing checks. Here’s a story about it from Birmingham Business Journal.
An Athens engineer and his wife are mourning the decision they have made to give up custody of their adopted daughter Ann Baldizan. The child’s biological father attacked the adoption, arguing that the child’s mother, Irene Hill, kidnapped the child and gave her up for adoption before joining the Army. Here’s an article about the story from the Huntsville Times.
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has reversed a trial court’s transfer of custody from the mother to the father after two hearings. The trial court in Ex parte Russell, Case No. 2031146 (Ala. Civ. App. April 29, 2005) had mistakenly been informed in the first hearing that the mother had already been served with process, when she had in fact not been served.
Continue reading “Alabama Child Custody — Emergency Hearing”
A group of ministers, therapists, and teachers hopes its work will make for fewer divorces in Madison County. Calling itself the Madison County Coalition for Healthy Marriages, the group plans to participate in the statewide Alabama Healthy Marriage Initiative.
Here’s a story about the Huntsville group from the Huntsville Times, but it’s not clear from the story what the group will actually do (other than talking about strengthening marriages).
Nice article this morning in the Grand Forks Herald about school systems’ coping with the divorce of their students’ parents. Here’s the article.
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has affirmed the application of a two-pronged test to use in deciding whether to terminate the parental rights of a mother and two fathers. First, the court must find that valid grounds exist to terminate parental rights. Then it must identify and consider any viable alternatives to termination.
Continue reading “Termination of Parental Rights – Two Pronged Test”
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals says a court awarding lawyers’ fees from one party to the other in a divorce must specifically set forth the reasons for the award. In Belcourt v. Belcourt, Case No. 2030713 (Ala. Civ. App. April 29, 2005), the trial court had ordered the husband in a post-divorce hearing to pay the wife’s attorney a $1200 fee, pursuant to the Alabama Litigation Accounatability Act (ALAA), Ala. Code. § 12-19-273.
What do you do when you’re in the midst of a divorce and your spouse has moved out but hasn’t yet moved out his or her personal belongings? The most frequent threat in telephone conversations between estranged spouses is “I’ll just put it out on the street.” Can you do that?
We Alabama divorce lawyers had an e-mail conversation today about whether the wife must return the engagement ring if she and the husband divorce after a marriage of just a few months. The law in Alabama doesn’t appear to be settled on this question, although other states give us some useful guidance.
Continue reading “Does She Have to Return the Engagement Ring?”