Suit for Grandparent Possession or Access – An everyday person unfamiliar with family law would assume that a grandparent has the inside track in any suit affecting the parent-child relationship – such as a conservatorship suit where a parent is not involved or deemed unfit. After all, the grandparent is family. The court should see…
Read articleSuit for Sibling Access – In certain circumstances, a situation may arise where an older sibling requests to gain access to, or custody of, a younger sibling. We have written at great length about conservatorship suits, so this blog will strictly stick to suits for sibling access. For a review of conservatorship suits, go here…
Read articleGenetic Testing and Parentage Suits We have all heard of the term genetic testing, and maybe you even saw instances of it being used on television in various shows and movies. It can be some pretty interesting stuff, but how does it work within the framework of parentage suits? That is the focus of this…
Read articleParentage Suits (Part II) In our previous blog, we discussed the purpose of parentage suits in terms of legally establishing the existence of a parent-child relationship. This is important because, well, every child should have the emotional and legal benefit of knowing who both their parents are. If you did not see that blog post,…
Read articleThe ‘Why’ and ‘How’ behind parentage suits Growing up, I always had my mother and father to rely on. They were there for me when I came home from school, they took care of me when I was sick and, more importantly, they provided me a loving home to live in. Even when they eventually…
Read articleSummary of Common Family Law Terms (Vol. IV) It’s that time again where we take a timeout from my open-ended series of family law blogs. This allows us to reflect on several important legal terms and concepts we’ve discussed over the last few months. I do this because, well, it’s not like this is everyday…
Read articleSuits for Child Support – We have discussed a myriad of family law suits over the last few months, most recently suits affecting the parent-child relationship. Today, we’re going to talk about suits for child support. First things first Child support is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the benefit of a…
Read articlePreventing International Child Abduction – The topic of child abduction sounds awfully over the top in terms of the court looking out for a child’s best interest. We’ve discussed in previous blogs factors the court must investigate, including who can properly care for a child, parental fitness and paying close attention to existing family relationships.…
Read articleBest interest of the child – A court’s decision In a divorce, it can often feel like everyone involved thinks they have all the answers – even when it comes to deciding what is in the best interest of the child. Whether it’s the parents themselves, or immediate family members, everyone’s got an opinion on…
Read articlePossession and Access – Are they the same thing? – The terms possession and access sound a lot alike, and in many people’s mind, you can’t have one without the other. It’d be like having shoelaces with no shoes, or a CD without a CD player, right? After all, without possession, you can’t have access.…
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