Category: Alabama

Information about divorce and family law in Alabama (where I practice law)

South Carolina House – Ban Common Law Marriage

South Carolina is one of a shrinking handful of states that still allow common law marriage – the idea that a couple can become married not by saying “I do” but simply by intending to be married and behaving like married people. The South Carolina House has voted to change that. Here’s a story about it from WIS TV in Columbia, SC.

South Carolina is one of nine states – among them Alabama – that recognize common law marriage. If the Senate approves it and the Governor signs it, all unions that start after December 31 of this year would no longer be recognized without a marriage license.

Common law marriages are a constant source of uncertainty in domestic relations court, where one spouse tries to prove that the couple behaved like husband and wife and that he or she should therefore be entitled to property division or spousal support when they split.

Alabama – Mental Health Privilege and Child Abuse

The Alabama Supreme Court says that when the legislature provided immunity to mental health professionals who report sexual abuse of children, it impliedly repealed the statute providing a psychotherapist-patient privilege to the extent it conflicts with the immunity statute. The plaintiff in Marks v. Tenbrunsel, Case No. 1031515 (Sup. Ct. Ala. April 22, 2005) had sought psychological treatment from defendant Dr. Tenbrunsel and had obtained a pledge of confidentiality from him. Then Marks told Tenbrunsel in session that he had fondled the genitals of two little girls.

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Alabama – When is a Default Judgment Really a Default?

The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals says the trial court must affirmatively apply a three-factor analysis before denying a Rule 60(b) motion after a default judgment. The defendant husband in Campbell v. Campbell, Case No. 2030437 (Ala. Civ. App. April 22, 2005 was duly served but did not respond within 30 days. In fact, it was more than five months after service that the plaintiff wife moved for a default judgment. The trial court entered a divorce judgment based on the husband’s default, ordering property division, child custody, child support, and alimony of $11,000 per month (must have been one rich defaulting husband). The wife filed a motion to alter, amend, or vacate to clarify the judgment 27 days after it was entered, and the trial court granted her motion 6 days after that.

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Big Changes in Alabama Child Support?

Alabama hasn’t revised its child support guidelines in 18 years. Is it time to change them? That’s the question that will confront a Supreme Court committee when it meets tomorrow morning. The Alabama Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Child Support Guidelines will be reviewing a report from Policy Studies Inc. (PSI). Acording to this story in the Montgomery Advertiser, some noncustodial parents paying child support could see their payments jump by more than 30 percent.

If you have Internet Explorer, you can calculate child support under the present guidelines using the interactive child support calculator on my web site. As soon as the new figures are available, of course, I’ll get them posted here so you can see what the changes would be.

The Advisory Committee will submit its recommendation to the Alabama Supreme Court, which will make the decision whether to implement changes.

Birmingham News – Bankruptcy Bill

When the Republican-as-they-come Birmingham News criticizes anything a Republican does, you know it must be rotten. It is.

The Birmingham News has a nice editorial in this morning’s paper about the bankruptcy bill your Congress has passed and your President is poised to sign in the next day or so. Acknowledging that no one with the ability to pay should hide behind bankruptcy to avoid paying what he or she owes, the editorial says that the bankruptcy bill is an example of lawmakers looking out for the interests of corporate America at the expense of consumers and that it will encourage credit card companies to be even more reckless in extending credit to people who can’t afford to pay it back.

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Alabama Paternity – It’s the Registry, Stupid

The Alabama Court of Appeals says an unwed father who wants to protect his status as the child’s father needs to register with the Alabama Putative Father Registry, period. In L.C.S. v. J.N.F., Case Nos. 2030567 & 2031028 (Ala. Civ. App. April 15, 2005), L.C.S. was the Mom and J.N.F. was the Dad.

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PKPA & UCCJEA in Alabama – You Gotta Ask

The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals says a court confronted with a question of child custody must inquire as to whether the court of another state has jurisdiction and, if it determines this to be the case, must communicate with that court. Ruling in the case of M.J.P. v. K.H. and E.E.K., Case No. 2040166 (Ala. Civ. App. April 15, 2005), the Appeals Court applied the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (“PKPA” – 28 U.S.C. § 1738A) and the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA” – Ala. Code § 30-3B-101 et seq.) in the case of a woman with five children.

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Exhibit Recognizes Sexual Abuse

How does a victim of sexual assault deal with the unspeakable grief? By talking about it, of course, to a trusted confidant or counselor. By cooperating with the police and prosecutors to restore to herself (and occasionally himself) a sense of control over the everyday events of life. Recently, several Alabama women have turned to art.

We can see the product of their work at the Ferguson Art Gallery on the campus of the University of Alabama, in the form of about 40 wooden hearts decorated to portray and express the pain and healing they’ve experienced. Here’s an article about the display in The Crimson White.

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Hearing on Child Custody Bill

The Alabama House Judiciary Committee will have a hearing a week from today, on April 13, on House Bill 650, the fathers’ rights custody bill. The bill would mandate equal time parenting in nearly every case.

The primary support for this proposal comes from fathers’ rights groups. In its announcement of the hearing, the Montgomery Advertiser quotes somebody named Alan Rusmisel, the vice president of a group called the Alabama Coalition for Fathers and Children, as saying the bill would replace “old, antiquated joint custody statutes from Alabama divorce law.” He’s describing the Alabama joint custody statute, which became effective in 1997.

Alabama Extends Child Support Contract

The Alabama Department of Human Resources has extended its contract with the company that operates the state’s Child Support Payment Center for another three years. Tier Technologies made the announcement in a news release issued March 14. Tier began operating the Alabama Child Support Payment Center in 2000 and has since processed more than $1.2 billion in child support payments. Tier operates or helps to operate payment centers in nine states.

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Presumption of Equal Time Parenting

The Alabama legislature is considering a bill that would lock most children of divorce into equal time parenting, in which they would travel each week (or each month or whatever) between their Mom’s house and their Dad’s house. The bill is HB 650. The formatting doesn’t translate well on my blog, so the best way to read the bill is to go to the State Legislature web site, click on Search and then Keyword, and then search for 30-3-150. The legislature’s web site doesn’t work with FoxFire, only Internet Explore.

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Too Early for Appeal; Case Dismissed

A mother who has had a court transfer custody of both her children from her to their two different fathers can’t appeal her case until the court awards child support. That’s the decision from the Alabama Court of Appeals in Alvira v. Campbell, Case No. 2030423 (Ala. Civ. App. March 25, 2005).

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Proving the Present Value of Retirement Benefits

The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has reversed an award of retirement benefits from the husband to the wife in a divorce, because the wife did not prove the present value of those benefits at trial. In Wilson v. Wilson, Case No. 2030896 (Ala. Civ. App. March 18, 2005), the trial court had awarded the wife 50% of the husband’s military retirement, even military retirement he would earn after the divorce. The appeals court rejected the husband’s argument that this award violated Ala. Code 30-2-51(b)(2) (which precludes sharing of retirement earned prior to marriage) because he hadn’t raised it at trial.

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