The Texas Supreme Court recently laid out what evidence is needed to prove up attorneys fees at trial. This case has been lauded as one of the most important cases to come out of the Texas Supreme Court. In Rohrmoos Venture v. UTSW DVA Healthcare LLP (578 S.W.3d 469), the Court addressed two different methods
What is timely filing of jury demand and payment of jury fee when e-filing doesn’t cooperate?
We have seen this issue arise more than once lately: A party files a jury demand and pays the fee close to but before the 30-day deadline prior to trial; however, the e-filing system delays acceptance of the filing and payment until after the 30-day deadline, so the trial court denies the jury trial. We
Win: Clarification of standard for temporary orders in modification suit
The 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth issued a very important opinion today in a big win for O’Neil Wysocki’s appellate team on Michelle O’Neil and Karri Bertrand. The underlying order awarded Father the exclusive right to determine the children’s primary residence without regard to geographic restriction and gave each parent the independent right to make educational decisions. Mother filed to modify the orders and sought temporary orders in the modification suit. The trial court left the primary designation with Father but ordered the children to be enrolled in the Mother’s school district. In the intial hearing, the trial court made no finding of significant impairment, but later entered such finding.
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6 steps to adulting and not hating your ex
I enjoyed this article in the Washington Post by Lisa Bonos. Is it possible to get divorced and not hate your ex? A divorce necessarily comes after a lot of emotion and turmoil in the relationship. Sorting through that emotion and processing to the other side of the hatred river takes emotional maturity and “adulting” (as the new millennial lingo goes). The bottom line is that you have to love your kids more than you hate your ex. The article suggests six principles to keep in mind:
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International child abduction remedies
What remedies are available to left-behind parents when a child is removed from the child’s primary country to another country?
There has been a recent uptick in the number of cases where a parent unilaterally removes a child from the child’s place of residence to another country in an attempt to be the child’s sole parent. The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction (read the text of the treaty here) is a multilateral treaty ratified by 98 countries as of May 2018 providing an expeditious protocol for the return of a child unilaterally removed from the home country. The treaty requires the country to return a child when wrongfully removed in breach of the custody rights of the left-behind parent. The law of the state/country where the child resided determines the “custody rights”, which provides some fluidity in the laws.
Non-cash compensation in a Texas divorce
Highly compensated individuals may have a laundry-list of deferred compensation awards going out over many years. Sometimes these compensation methods require negotiation transactions during a divorce that may or may not be legally permitted without full transparency. In most Texas courts, there are “standing orders” that automatically apply to every divorce that prohibit certain types of transactions. It is important to understand the marital assets in order to prevent the client from inadvertently violating one of these rules.
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Start up company valuations in divorce
Most business valuations in the divorce context are performed upon long-standing businesses. Valuing an early-stage start-up company poses some challenges. In 2013 the AICPA released a guide detailing a framework for assessing the six typical stages of a business’ lifecycle.
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Evaluating a valuation report
Because business entities are often a large part of a marital estate for divorce, family lawyers and clients should understand how to review the report and spot issues even before hiring or relying upon the party’s own expert for review.
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Valuation of company for divorce
Often in divorces, a spouse or both spouses may own a closely-held business. While the business itself may not be divisible in the divorce, the value of the business entity as an asset of the marital estate can be an important component to the division. There are several considerations at play when valuing a business entity for divorce purposes.
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Online impersonation in Texas divorce suits
Interesting article in Texas Lawyer this week about the effect of online impersonation having growing relevance in Texas family law. People are increasingly impersonating spouses, paramours, and others online out of spite or to gain leverage. In 2009, Texas made it illegal to pretend to be another person online to harass, stalk, or defraud someone. For example, it would be illegal to create a fake website in an ex’s name and provide personal details about sexual acts. The law says a person commits an offense if he or she, without obtaining the person’s consent, uses the name or persona of another person with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate, or threaten by (1) creating a page on a website or other commercial social networking site, or (2) sending messages through an existing website or social networking site. This offense is a third degree felony, punishable by 2-10 years in prison.
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