What kind of attorney do you need when you're involved in a complicated, contentious child custody dispute? An experienced attorney? An aggressive attorney? An attorney who promises to fight for…
Executive Summary A law license is not a guarantee of your lawyer’s competence, preparation, judgment, or diligence. You should not assume the worst about your lawyer, but you should understand…
A hearing is coming up, and you are nervous. That is understandable. So you ask your lawyer: “Are we prepared for the hearing?” Before you ask that question, consider what…
Executive Summary: You do not save money in divorce simply by spending less on lawyers. You save money by using legal help where it adds value and avoiding work that…
Nobody has any business demanding perfection from judges, commissioners, lawyers, guardians ad litem, custody evaluators, therapists, or court clerks. These are human beings doing difficult work, often under time pressure,…
(Guest blog by Joe Gordon) One of the biggest challenges in a gray divorce is finding a housing solution that works for both spouses without jeopardizing their retirement. For many…
Signing Form I-864 is a life-altering federal commitment. A Utah divorce decree court cannot terminate your obligation to support an immigrant ex-spouse, and ordinary prenuptial agreements and alimony waivers generally will…
Viewing Pre- and Post-Nuptial Agreements Through the Humanity Lens A premarital agreement is sold to clients as a piece of financial engineering. It provides certainty. It protects separate property. It…
Judge Kasey Wright deserves more credit than ridicule for refusing to pretend that chronic triage is competent judging. On July 13, 2026, Utah Fourth Judicial District Judge Kasey Wright submitted…
If you are in a child custody dispute and the court appoints a "guardian ad litem," it sounds reassuring. A lawyer appointed for the child? What could there be not…
Special masters and parent coordinators sound like practical solutions to exhausting parenting disputes. When parents keep fighting over exchanges, expenses, holidays, phone calls, school issues, and extracurricular activities, the idea…
On the surface, family court looks like a place of reason. There are statutes, rules of evidence, financial declarations, parenting plans, sworn testimony, judicial findings, and orders written in the…
For many parents involved in child custody disputes, the phrase “appointing a PGAL” comes up before anyone explains what it means. “PGAL” is short for private guardian ad litem. In…
Many divorce and family lawyers want to earn more. Few ask what they must do differently to be worth more. Lawyers complain about being commoditized. They complain that clients shop…
Family court is not ordinary litigation. In a business dispute, the parties may fight hard, settle, and never see each other again. In divorce and child custody disputes, the parties…
The way divorce mediation is conducted in Utah is wildly overrated, yet that fact is one of the best kept secrets in the family law legal profession. To be clear,…
In a Utah personal injury case, if a doctor testifies that a low-speed collision caused a traumatic brain injury, that opinion will usually face meaningful scrutiny under Rule 702 of…
Divorce cases spiral and stagnate because the system allows for posturing and delay without consequence. The courts are overwhelmed and apathetic. Mediation, as typically structured, does not require resolution. Without…
Good behavior in a marriage is often the wrong behavior in a divorce action (and vice versa) Divorce changes the rules midstream. That is the part most people don’t see…
Ask some lawyers or clients what a divorce costs and you’ll get an estimate. But divorce doesn’t have a fixed price (often even when a lawyer quotes you a seemingly…
You’re sitting there with a domestic violence (DV) criminal charge hanging over your head. And you’re innocent. Yet you’re scared. You're distressed. You’re tired. You want it over. Then comes the…
When people think about a divorce or child custody dispute, they picture court—hearings, arguments, big decisions. And it’s the day-to-day work in most cases that decides whether cases are won…
Most people think settlement is where they finally get to ask for everything they want. It’s not. Settlement—especially in child custody disputes—is where you ask for what you could realistically…
I. The Illusion of Protection In Utah child custody disputes, courts have (but should not have) a choice: hear from the child directly or receive their life story through a…
In a Utah custody case, your conduct is not limited to what happens in your home—it extends to what you choose to share online. Social media is not personal or…
In Utah child custody and parent-time disputes, courts routinely defer to a familiar class of professionals: private guardians ad litem (PGALs) and custody evaluators. These professionals are held up as…
The Basic Logic of Factfinding The Protection Rationale The Expertise Rationale The Record Disappears Credibility Cannot Be Tested The Court’s Position: Real Constraints, Imperfect Tools Institutional Convenience One of the…
When divorce or a child custody dispute begins, most people think they know what they’re fighting for. The house. The retirement account. The business. Parent-time. Child support. Alimony. Those are…
This series has examined a focused procedural question: whether interviews with children in custody disputes should be preserved through authenticated contemporaneous verbatim record via unedited audio-visual capture. The discussion has…
The Fragility Rationale The most common justification for not making and keeping a record of child testimony rests on fragility. Knowing that the interview will be recorded, it is said,…
A 5-part series Series Introduction Modern legal systems run on records. Depositions are transcribed. Hearings are recorded. Police interrogations are preserved. Financial transactions generate digital trails. Making and preserving records…
“Better safe than sorry.” Few phrases sound more humane. In the context of domestic violence, it feels morally unassailable. Why wouldn’t we err on the side of safety? Whatever it…
When divorce or a child custody dispute begins, most people think they know what they’re fighting for. The house. The retirement account. The business. Parent-time. Child support. Alimony. Those are real issues. They matter. They need…
Utah’s 2026 legislative session includes a proposal that deserves attention well beyond juvenile court. House Bill 372—particularly its substitute versions—revisits Guardian ad Litem (GAL) duties and standards in child welfare proceedings.…
Utah divorce law is statutory. Judges don’t invent custody standards or alimony rules on a whim. They apply what the Legislature has enacted. But statutes do not apply themselves. Judges…
People who hire a lawyer tend to assume one of two extremes. Either: “I hired the lawyer, so the lawyer does what I say.” Or: “The lawyer is the professional,…
In child custody disputes, the judge acts as the final arbiter, but they rarely get to see the daily reality of a child's life. This is where appointing an attorney…
Divorce and family law cases are often described in terms of lawyers: legal advice, strategy, negotiations, and court appearances. None of that works unless the case itself is properly built…
Every year, I watch people bring “important” documents to court that the judge will never read. Emails. Text messages. Financial records. Therapist letters. Receipts. Recordings. Sometimes the most important material…
Guest post by Joe Gordon Broker / Owner / Certified Divorce Real Estate Expert Direct: 801-577-6304 Email: Joe@Gordon-RealEstate.com www.UtahDivorceRealEstate.com This practice tip comes to you after a heartbreaking case where the…
A wide river ran through the village.A wooden bridge connected the banks. The villagers depended on the bridge. They crossed it to go to work, to the market, to visit…
This post is the second in a four-part series examining Utah courts’ reliance on guardians ad litem (GALs), private guardians ad litem (PGALs), and custody evaluators, and the legal, procedural,…
This post is the first in a four-part series examining Utah courts’ reliance on guardians ad litem (GALs), private guardians ad litem (PGALs), and custody evaluators, beginning with the strongest…
When Courts Hear About Children Instead of Hearing From Them In Utah child-custody and parent-time disputes, motions to appoint a Private Guardian ad Litem (PGAL) and/or a custody evaluator have…
There’s a persistent belief in the divorce and custody world that the “right” divorce and child custody lawyer can work miracles. That if you hire someone clever enough, aggressive enough,…
Utah law allows a child to be represented by an attorney—either a guardian ad litem (GAL) when there are allegations of child abuse, or by a private guardian ad litem…
Utah Law Does Not Support a Categorical Bar to Child Testimony Utah’s custodial statute expressly contemplates judicial inquiry into a child’s views. Section 81-9-204(5)(b)(i) provides that “the court may inquire…
People often come into court thinking they can game or “outsmart the system.” They’ve read something online, talked to a friend who claims to have “pulled one over on the…
In Utah, you don’t get a court-appointed lawyer for a divorce case because a divorce case is a civil, not a criminal, matter. That means even if your divorce case affects your…
When discovery closes in your Utah divorce, child custody, or support case, you can’t keep gathering (or using at trial) new evidence unless it fits a very narrow exception.Many people…