child Archives

State in Interest of P.J.R., 2023 UT App 27

THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS STATE OF UTAH, IN THE INTEREST OF P.J.R., A PERSON UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE. C.S., Appellant, V. STATE OF UTAH, Appellee. Opinion No. 20220264-CA Filed March 23, 2023 Sixth District Juvenile Court, Manti Department…

Scott v. Benson – 2023 UT 4 – Fraudulent Voluntary Declaration of Paternity

2023 UT 4 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF UTAH TAYLOR LYNN SCOTT, Respondent, v. SARAH CATHERINE BENSON, Petitioner. No. 20210922 Heard October 3, 2022 Filed April 20, 2023 On Certiorari to the Utah Court of Appeals Third…

My children’s father is a bum. Can he get 50/50 custody awarded?

The question is: I’m a stay at home mom, my BD is always working unreliable and inconsistent hours, he wants 50% custody of our son. Will he be granted 50%? His hours always vary from 4pm 7pm 9pm even 2am…

How can I make sure father won’t gain custody?

My husband cheated on me and we’re getting a divorce. He begged me not to take his children away, but I want him to suffer. How can I make sure that he won’t gain custody or even visitation rights? Surely…

Can a 16-year-old child choose not to have visitation with a parent?

Technically, no. Practicably/pragmatically, yes. Technically, a minor child (even a child of 16 years of age) does not have the legal right to choose whether he or she will comply with the parent time “visitation” scheduling orders that a court…

So I want to ask my dad to divorce my mom.

So I want to ask my dad to divorce my mom. She has a troublesome personality, to say. I’m currently 16 and the relationship between not just me and my mother, but also the one between her and my father,…

Can an adult child be sued for helping one parent divorce the other?

Taking your question literally: Can? Yes. You can file a lawsuit for any “reason” or no reason at all. Crazy and/or malicious people file crazy/malicious/frivolous/unintelligible lawsuits all the time. Just because you can file a lawsuit does not mean, however,…

How can I help my stepdaughter get away from an abusive mother?

How can I help my 12-year-old step daughter get away from an emotionally abusive mother? Tell the child’s father (your husband) about the trouble and have him handle it. It’s not legally your fight. You should certainly share your observations…

Is it wrong for a parent to go to their adult child for emotional support?

May 19, 2022

Divorce Utah

Divorce, Divorce Law, Emotional abuse, Family Law, Fathers' Divorce Issues, Men's Divorce Issues, Mental Illness, Mothers' Divorce Issues, Women's Divorce Issues

boundaries, child, child-parent relationship, co-dependency, divorce, emotional abuse, emotional health, parents

Is it wrong for a parent to go to their adult child for emotional support concerning the parent’s marriage? I am a divorce and family lawyer and a parent, but I am not a mental health professional. That doesn’t mean…

If both parents are wonderful, will the court still favor the mother?

If both parents are wonderful, will the court still lean towards full custody to the mother? [Note: I am a divorce lawyer of 25 years. I am not bitter about “what happened to me in my divorce” as I am…

Why isn’t 50/50 custody the default resolution in child custody cases?

I have studied this question throughout my career, and I’ve been a divorce and family lawyer for 25 years. If there is one family law question to which I know the answer, it is this one. Eventually, a rebuttable presumption…

Is it damaging for a child to witness a divorce/parents fighting constantly?

Is it damaging for a child to witness a divorce or witness their parents fighting constantly? Yes. Yes, of course. Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277 https://www.quora.com/Is-it-damaging-for-a-child-to-witness-a-divorce-or-witness-their-parents-fighting-constantly/answer/Eric-Johnson-311

What to do when child won’t comply with the custody award?

What will happen if the court ruled in favor of a mother to have the custody of her child but the child refuses to go with her and she prefers to stay with the father? This situation (and this question)…

What if a parent sued their child for all the money they spent raising them?

January 28, 2022

Divorce Utah

Child Care Costs, Child Care/Surrogate Care, Child Support, Judges, Parent Time, Parental Fitness, Parental Rights, Uncategorized

child, Child Support, family finances, finances, judge, lawsuit, parent, parenting, sue

What would happen if a parent were to sue a child for every single penny they spent on raising such a child and the judge were to rule in the parent’s favor? You’d likely have an incompetent and/or biased judge. …

How does a divorce and separation from one parent affect children’s future relationships? Can this cause trust issues or commitment issues in the kids’ future relationship?

Can this cause trust issues or commitment issues in the kids’ future relationship? Yes, of course. How? When the children have witnessed and experienced the destruction of their parents’ relationship—a relationship that is not only part and parcel of their own…

Should a child whose rights are not protected be held accountable?

July 8, 2021

Divorce Utah

Best Interest of the Child, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Children in Divorce, Fathers' Divorce Issues, Men's Divorce Issues, Mothers' Divorce Issues, Women's Divorce Issues

child, denial, denied, protected, rights, unprotected

If one’s rights are not protected, then one’s rights are being denied. And one whose rights are not protected cannot, in one sense, be held accountable/responsible for his/her exercise of those rights, if for no other reason than that one…

How to Explain to Your Kids You Are Getting Divorced (Guest Post)

June 24, 2021

Divorce Utah

Co-parenting, Coping With Divorce, Divorce, Fathers' Divorce Issues, Men's Divorce Issues, Mothers' Divorce Issues, Women's Divorce Issues

child, children, Children in Divorce, divorce, family, father, mother, parents, team, trauma

Author Bio: Cristin Howard runs Smart Parent Advice, a site that provides parenting advice for moms and dads. Cristin writes about all of the different ups and downs of parenting, provides solutions to common challenges, and reviews products that parents need to…

What exactly does the term “will make best efforts” mean in a child custody case?

June 3, 2021

Divorce Utah

Child Custody, Custody, Fathers' Divorce Issues, Legal Custody, Men's Divorce Issues, Mothers' Divorce Issues, Parental Rights, Physical Custody, Women's Divorce Issues

child, child custody, custody

Great question. Here’s a good summary taken from the world of contract law (frankly, the definition of the term “best efforts” likely applies equally well when the term is utilized in a settlement agreement and/or court order in the divorce…

I suspect my husband fathered a child with someone else. Can I challenge our divorce ruling?

If I suspect my ex-husband fathered a child with someone else while we were married, can I challenge our divorce ruling? If, by this question, you mean that you are the wife; and you discovered, after you divorced, that your…

How do I console a father who has lost custody of his child?

April 27, 2021

Divorce Utah

Child Custody, Child Custody Modification, Custody, Custody Evaluation, Divorce Court, Divorce Fears, Divorce Law, Divorce Lawyers, Divorce Mistakes, Divorce Preparedness, Family Law, Fathers' Divorce Issues, Legal Custody, Legal System, Men's Divorce Issues, Parent Time, Parental Alienation, Parental Fitness, Parental Rights, Parenting Plan, Personality Disorders, Petition to Modify Decree of Divorce, Physical Custody, Utah Law, Women's Divorce Issues

adversity, alienated, between, bitterness, blind, child, consolation, Dad, damage, damaged, deep, deprive, ex-spouse, exclusion, father, good, grief, happy, heal, injustices, Jesus Christ, kids, life, lost custody, miserable, negative, never found, overwhelming, pain, parent, parents, permanently, positive, right, rise above, satisfaction, scars, suffer, time lost, truth, wounds, wrongs

How do I console a father who has lost custody of his child? “He’s [the father who lost custody] permanently damaged.” That’s what someone else wrote in response to your question. It’s true. Time lost between a parent and child…

Tag: child