76 results for 'cat:"Family Law" AND cat:"Due Process"'.
J. Boomgaarden finds that the lower court properly terminated a mother's parental rights to her child. The mother claims the lower court improperly allowed the termination hearing to continue when she was physically absent from the courtroom and was allowed to testify by phone. She has not shown how there was any risks for her or her due process rights by being allowed to take part in the proceedings via phone. Affirmed.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Boomgaarden, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: S-23-0076, Categories: family Law, due Process
J. Thyer finds the circuit court properly denied the great aunt and uncle's petition for adoption after parental rights were terminated. The foster parents sought adoption but did not intervene in the dependency-neglect proceedings where the relative placement determinations were made until after termination. Following a termination of parental rights, relatives are no longer given preference over foster parents. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thyer , Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: CV-23-256, Categories: family Law, due Process, Guardianship
J. Larkin affirms the district court's decision terminating the mother's parental rights. The district court did not clearly err in allowing the mother to waive her right to counsel, since it adequately warned her of the difficulties proceeding pro se would present. It also did not violate her right to due process by removing her from trial for disruptive conduct and proceeding in default. She also failed to preserve evidentiary objections for review on appeal, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that termination was in the child's best interests. Affirmed.
Court: Minnesota Court Of Appeals, Judge: Larkin, Filed On: November 27, 2023, Case #: A23-0935, Categories: Civil Procedure, family Law, due Process
J. Darby finds the court of civil appeals improperly upheld the district court's decision to dismiss the putative father's petition to establish paternity. Though the mother says he did not timely commence the petition, the record fails to show when their relationship took place or concluded, or when he learned of the pregnancy or birth. The record also does not address when he came to believe the mother committed fraud by naming another man as the father on the acknowledgment of paternity. Vacated.
Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court, Judge: Darby , Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 118267, Categories: family Law, Fraud, due Process
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J. Prince finds the trial court properly denied the ex-husband’s motion to clarify the status of a legal separation entered by an Oklahoma court. Though the couple reconciled and lived together for 18 months after the order was entered, when they moved to Texas and the order was revived by the Texas court when incorporated into an eventual divorce decree, the previous reconciliation did not void the order. The order of separation was extinguished in Oklahoma once incorporated into the Texas divorce decree. Affirmed.
Court: Oklahoma Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Prince, Filed On: November 2, 2023, Case #: 120388, Categories: family Law, due Process, Jurisdiction
J. Emfinger finds the lower court improperly considered a modification of custody. The chancery court entered a Final Judgment of Modification and Contempt that awarded a father sole physical and legal custody of the parties’ minor child. Though the mother originally had physical custody of the child with the father having visitation, the father petitioned for, and was granted, emergency custody after the mother allegedly had legal and domestic issues that had the child living with the maternal grandparents. The father was ultimately awarded sole physical and legal custody of the child. While the instant court finds the lower court had jurisdiction over the matter, it also finds that it improperly limited the mother’s access to pertinent discovery materials from the guardian ad litem and should not have disallowed the mother’s request to allow the child to testify. The matter is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed in part.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: Emfinger, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 2022-CA-00600-COA, Categories: family Law, due Process, Jurisdiction
J. Wiseman finds the trial court improperly reduced attorney fees awarded the husband after considering the divorced couple’s respective means and property. The court concluded that fees are warranted by “evidence concerning the acts and omissions of [the wife].” Though the court concluded that fees must be reasonable given that the requested amount would require the wife to pay her entire salary, the applicable test applies to whether the charged amount is reasonable, not the paying party’s financial circumstance. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Oklahoma Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Wiseman, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 120135, Categories: family Law, due Process, Attorney Fees
J. Wood finds the circuit court properly awarded primary physical custody of the parties’ daughter to the wife with standard visitation to the father. The presiding circuit judge retired and was replaced by another judge during the pendency of the court of appeals’ reversal and remand of the court’s denial of the father’s request that the court issue findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Arkansas Supreme Court assigned a temporary judge for the limited purpose of entering findings of fact and conclusions of law, and it had jurisdiction to do this. The appeals court will not reweigh evidence which the circuit court found to show that the parents’ level of cooperation and communication does not support joint custody. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wood, Filed On: October 25, 2023, Case #: CV-23-46, Categories: family Law, due Process, Guardianship
J. Abele finds the trial court violated the mother's due process rights when it held her in contempt for alleged violations of the couple's shared parenting plan. The pro se motions filed by the father lacked specific dates and details about the mother's alleged interference with his parenting time and prevented her from mounting a defense to the claims. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Abele, Filed On: October 19, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-3896, Categories: Contempt, family Law, due Process
J. Wise finds that the trial court improperly terminated the father's parental rights to his child. The evidence was insufficient to support the finding of endangering conduct by the father. Also, the issue of conservatorship is remanded for due process violations since the father was not given notice of the hearings or provided with an ad litem attorney. Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wise, Filed On: October 19, 2023, Case #: 14-23-00287-CV, Categories: Evidence, family Law, due Process
J. Bishop finds the district court properly denied the motion to vacate a domestic abuse protection order filed by the mother against her child’s father. The father did not produce any admissible evidence to support his alleged untimely service or receipt of the court’s order for hearing. His affidavit was deemed inadmissible, and his counsel could have asked for a continuance to allow him an opportunity to testify as to when he received notice. No continuance was requested. No abuse of discretion is found. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bishop, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: A-23-195, Categories: family Law, due Process, Restraining Order
J. Alvord finds the trial court did not violate the mother's due process rights when it denied her motion for a continuance. Not only had she missed several hearings prior to the custody trial for alleged illnesses, but her attorney was present throughout the trial and was able to cross-examine the Department of Family Services, which provided the mother with a full and fair hearing. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Alvord, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: AC46336, Categories: family Law, due Process
J. Palafox finds a lower court ruled correctly in issuing a final divorce decree after the ex-wife appealed, arguing the court had erred in property and custody determinations and that she had been denied “her due process right to a full and fair hearing,” but the ex-wife has tried to present evidence that was not part of the original case record and the court was reasonable in issuing some of its disputed rulings, including on child custody in which the court was guided by precedential factors.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Palafox, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00042-CV, Categories: family Law, due Process, Guardianship
Per curiam, the Vermont Supreme Court finds the family court properly declared two children were in need of care or supervision. The mother argues on appeal there was no evidence to support the court’s statement and that her due process had been deprived. The children witnessed an argument in the home where the father was “waving a gun around” and threating the mother in order for her not to leave the home. The delay between the temporary care order and merits determination for over one year did not violate due process.
Court: Vermont Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 13, 2023, Case #: 23-AP-191, Categories: family Law, due Process
J. Johnson finds the trial court improperly granted the mother’s motion to retroactively modify child support. Such an order should be based solely on clerical discrepancies between oral pronouncements and written orders. The retroactive order amounted to a substantive change from the judgment as it provided that the father would stop paying support only after the youngest child reached 18, altering the monthly amount to provide a monthly “step-down” for the third child once the twins turned 18 and until the youngest child did too. Reversed and rendered.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Johnson, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: 09-22-00327-CV, Categories: family Law, due Process, Contract
J. Westbrook finds the trial court improperly granted the ex-wife awards for alimony and attorney and expert fees in an unequal distribution of community property and debt in the divorce decree. The court improperly adopted the wife’s proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law in its entirety, without modification. Though this does not in itself constitute an abuse of discretion, portions contain numerous legal and factual deficiencies. On remand, the court must reevaluate the awards. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Nevada Court of Appeals, Judge: Westbrook, Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: 84427-COA, Categories: family Law, Property, due Process
J. Virden finds the circuit court properly terminated the father’s parental rights to his minor child. The department filed a petition for emergency custody and dependency neglect alleging that the children were removed from the home due to parental drug use, inadequate supervision and medical neglect. The petition was filed after a family service worker dropped by the home to administer a drug test as part of an open dependency-neglect case regarding another sibling. Both parents were not in compliance with the current plan, and both produced cold urine samples. All evidence supports termination. Arguments regarding permanency goals are not preserved and would still fail because the potential family placements for the children are with a maternal relative and any rights of the paternal relatives were not derivative of their relationship with the child. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Virden, Filed On: October 4, 2023, Case #: CV-23-195, Categories: family Law, due Process, Guardianship
Per curiam, the Second District refers the matter of the attorney's noncompliance to the Florida Bar for investigation. The attorney failed to appear to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed for his failure to comply with the Second District’s orders in the appeal of a final judgment terminating parental rights. The attorney has not responded to other orders and claimed to be out of town when his telephone number on file was found to be out of service.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 2D23-1274, Categories: family Law, due Process, Attorney Discipline
J. Cadish finds the district court improperly terminated the minor child’s guardianship with his maternal grandmother after being removed from his mother when he tested positive for meth at birth. The termination investigation centered on the death of the child’s twin brother, which CPS originally claimed happened within a few days of the grandmother’s guardianship. The grandmother had the children for several months before the child’s death and no charges were brought after the death was found to have been caused by positional asphyxiation while the child slept. The district court did not give proper notice that it was considering termination such that the parties had a meaningful opportunity to be heard. The court failed to follow due process. Reversed and remanded with directions.
Court: Nevada Supreme Court, Judge: Cadish, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 84274, Categories: family Law, due Process, Guardianship
J. Pirtle finds that the trial court properly dismissed the sibling's suit alleging civil conspiracy, tortious interference with contracts, and fraud against his other siblings regarding a dispute over stock purchase agreements and ownership interests in the family farm brought after the deaths of other siblings. Statements regarding the other siblings' notice of prior agreements, as well as general allegations of collusion and fraud, were issues addressed in the underlying litigation. There had been a prior opportunity to litigate the issue, and the elements for issue preclusion are met. There was no abuse of discretion in denying the sibling's motion for recusal as the judge was not assigned to the underlying litigation. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pirtle , Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: A-22-278, Categories: family Law, Property, due Process
J. Hall dismisses a class action brought by a group of foster children who claim the New York State Office of Children and Family Services' foster care certification process violated their constitutional rights to due process when it denied their proposed caregivers' foster care certification due to prior criminal convictions. The children, many of whom still reside with their proposed caregivers, have each failed to articulate a prior or future injury and, thus, lack standing to assert their claims.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Hall, Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv6229, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: family Law, due Process, Class Action
J. McKinnon finds that the trial court gave a mother adequate notice through counsel of upcoming parental rights termination hearings, so her absence from the hearings was not a violation of her due process rights. Her rights were properly terminated because she did not comply with all the provisions laid out for reunification, including the visitation component. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: McKinnon, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: DA 22-0568, Categories: family Law, due Process
J. Bishop finds the trial court properly denied the husband’s motion to vacate the marriage dissolution decree, brought on claims that his ex-wife and her attorney had made material misrepresentations during trial. The husband failed to properly initiate his action and properly serve his ex-wife in accordance with statute governing the vacating or modifying of judgment. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bishop, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: A-22-883, Categories: family Law, due Process
J. Mitchel finds the trial court properly reduced the father’s child support payments, ordering the parties to share education expenses. The father had gone into arrearage on the payments due to his unemployment after the court previously increased them. The father has failed to comply with filing rules, not setting forth a fully developed and reasoned analysis for his argument that the marital agreement wasn't enforced. He forfeits the argument. It is well established that a trial court has the authority to modify a child support provision of a dissolution judgment entered in accordance with a settlement agreement. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Mitchel, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: 1-22-1097, Categories: family Law, due Process, Contract
J. Spain finds that the trial court improperly entered an order that awarded the mother attorney fees in a child possession case. The trial court moved forward with the hearing despite the father's vision impairment and the fact he "could not properly see or understand the exhibits and documents." As a result, the father's due process rights were violated. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Spain, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: 14-21-00288-CV, Categories: family Law, due Process, Habeas
J. Welch finds the county court sitting as juvenile court properly entered a dispositional order adopting a case plan as to the children’s placement and the mother’s drug testing, psychological evaluation and supervised visitations. The mother failed to appear at three prior hearings and did not provide written objections prior to the dispositional hearing. She therefore waived any objections to the case plan and court report. No due process violation is found in connection with the court’s admission of the documents under these circumstances. A previous order of adjudication finding the court had jurisdiction was not appealed, and the mother’s collateral attack on this is impermissible. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welch, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: A-23-007, Categories: family Law, due Process, Guardianship