Justia Family Law Opinion Summaries

After declaring them dependents of the court, a California juvenile court removed M.V. and I.V. (together, Children) from the physical custody of their parents, J.V. (Father) and M.Z. (Mother), and placed them with a relative caregiver pending reunification efforts. Father, Mother, and the Children appealed those dispositional orders, arguing substantial evidence did not support the court’s findings, by clear and convincing evidence, that there was substantial danger to the Children if they were returned home and that there were no reasonable means to protect them without removing them from their parents’ custody. After review of the juvenile court record, the Court of Appeal agreed and reversed the dispositional orders as to both Father and Mother. View "In re M.V." on Justia Law

Appellant Raymond Dapo filed suit against his adoptive mother for sexual abuse that allegedly occurred 13 years earlier. He then agreed to release the adoptive mother from liability in exchange for her filing a third-party equitable apportionment claim against the Alaska Office of Children’s Services (OCS) and assigning the claim to him. OCS challenged the validity of this assignment. The superior court agreed with OCS that the assignment of the adoptive mother’s apportionment claim was void; it invalidated the assignment, dismissed the claim with prejudice, and awarded OCS attorney’s fees. Dapo appealed. The Alaska Supreme Court found that because a defendant prosecuting a third-party equitable apportionment claim possessed nothing in the claim itself that could be assigned, such claims are not assignable, and the Court affirmed the superior court’s invalidation of the assignment in this case. But the Supreme Court also concluded that it was error to dismiss the apportionment claim with prejudice; the Court thus vacated the order of dismissal and remanded for the court to provide the adoptive mother a reasonable time to decide whether to pursue the claim herself. View "Dapo v. Dept. of Health & Soc. Svcs" on Justia Law

Mother appealed a family division order modifying legal parental rights and responsibilities and parent-child contact as to son. The court first issued a parental rights and responsibilities order in 2015, based on the parties’ agreement. In October 2017 father filed emergency motions to modify legal and physical parental rights and responsibilities and parent-child contact, alleging that mother was suicidal and unable to care for son. On the same day, the court granted a temporary modification solely on the basis of father’s filings, awarding sole legal and physical parental rights and responsibilities to father pending a hearing to determine whether a longer-term modification would be appropriate. Following a hearing in January 2018, the court ordered the parties to return to the terms of the original 2015 parentage order, pending a final determination on the motions to modify. At the conclusion of merits hearings held in March 2020 and 2021, the family division issued its order dividing legal responsibility for son between the parties, awarding father responsibility for educational matters and mother responsibility for all other matters. Physical parental rights and responsibilities remained shared, but the court modified the parent-child contact schedule so that the parties alternated weeks on Fridays instead of Thursdays and mother would only care for son after school every other week. On appeal, mother argued this order should have been reversed because the court: (1) abused its discretion by dividing legal rights and responsibilities between the parties; (2) impermissibly relied on DCF history; (3) erred in allowing son’s attorney to participate at the merits hearing; and (4) did not make sufficient findings relative to son’s best interests. Finding no reversible error, the Vermont Supreme Court affirmed. View "Vance v. Locke" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the county court adjudicating Xandria P. as a juvenile under Neb. Rev. Stat. 43-247(3)(a), holding that there was no merit to the appeal.The court's order of adjudication found that Xandria was a juvenile under section 43-247(3)(a) who was abandoned by her parent, lacked proper parental care, or whose parent neglected or refused to provide proper or necessary care. The court found that the home environment created by Xandria's parents was injurious to her health, safety, morals, and well-being. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the State sustained the adjudication petition by a preponderance of the evidence; and (2) the juvenile court had jurisdiction over the petition. View "In re Interest of Xandria P." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court granting Mother's request for primary physical custody of the parties' daughter, V.F., and denying Father's request fo primary physical custody, holding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion.Under a parenting order entered as part of their Arizona divorce the parties shared physical custody of V.F. Father later moved to South Dakota, registered the Arizona divorce and child custody order, and moved to modify the original shared parenting arrangement. Mother, who lived in California, opposed the motion and sought primary physical custody of V.F. The circuit court granted primary physical custody of the child to Mother. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the court's decision to grant primary physical custody of V.F. to Mother was not an abuse of discretion. View "Flint v. Flint" on Justia Law

Bryon Updike appealed a divorce judgment, arguing the district court erred when it calculated child support and when it distributed the parties’ assets and debts. April Updike cross appealed, arguing the court erred when it failed to include a commencement date for the child support obligation. After review, the North Dakota Supreme Court found the district court did not err when it imputed income to Bryon for purposes of child support, and the court’s property and debt distribution was not clearly erroneous. The Supreme Court modified the judgment to include a child support commencement date that the parties agreed to on appeal, and affirmed the judgment as modified. View "Updike v. Updike, et al." on Justia Law

Chase Eikom appealed a second amended judgment entered after he moved to amend parenting time. He argued the district court erred in denying his request for parenting time on all major holidays and to extend time during the summer. Eikom also argued the court erred in establishing the requirement his parenting time be reduced if he misses four or more weekends in a year. Because the North Dakota Supreme Court could “discern the rationale behind the district court’s findings, and the findings are supported by the evidence, the court did not err.” Judgment was affirmed. View "Eikom v. Eikom" on Justia Law

Plaintiff S.C. appealed a circuit court order denying her request for a domestic violence protective order against defendant G.C. The trial court concluded plaintiff did not meet her burden of proving a credible present threat to her safety based upon her admitted presence in defendant’s home during the timeframe of the alleged abuse. On appeal, plaintiff argued the court erred as a matter of law when it relied on her in-person contact with defendant as the sole basis for its decision. She also contended that the court erred when it made certain evidentiary, trial management, and other rulings that deprived her of a fair hearing and violated her due process rights. After review, the New Hampshire Supreme Court agreed it was legal error for the circuit court to rely solely on plaintiff’s contact with defendant in denying her petition, and therefore vacated and remanded for further proceedings. View "S.C. v. G.C." on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the decree entered by the superior court terminating Mother's parental rights and remanded this case for a new trial, holding that the conduct of the trial violated Mother's right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article 10 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.On the first day of the two-day virtual bench trial conducted in this case was afflicted by technological issues, resulting in Mother's inability to participate and interruptions to the testimony of certain witnesses. The virtual trial resumed two days later. The judge ultimately issued a decree terminating Mother's parental rights to her child. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment below, holding that the trial was conducted in violation of Mother's right to due process. View "In re Adoption of Patty" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court affirming the family court's order setting aside a Mediated Settlement Agreement (MSA) between Petitioner and Respondent on the grounds that it was enforceable because there was no meeting of the minds, holding that there was no error.Petitioner filed for divorce from Respondent on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. The parties participated in mediation and entered into the MSA that gave rise to this action. After a hearing, the family court concluded that the parties did not have a "meeting of the minds" in reaching the MSA and determined that the entirety of the MSA was unenforceable. The circuit court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the lower tribunals did not err in finding that the MSA was invalid. View "Donna S. v. Travis S." on Justia Law