It is most often discouraged to have children serve as witnesses in a family law suit between the child’s parents. However, the Amarillo court of appeals recent decided a case that discusses the standards for securing pretrial testimony of a child for admission during a family law trial.
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Deviation from standard possession requires special findings with special deadline
By Michelle O'Neil on
Posted in Family Law Appellate Issues
Whenever a trial court, after a nonjury trial, enters a possession schedule which deviates from the standard schedule, a party may request the trial court to enter special findings about the reasons for deviation from the standard order.
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Has my marriage been a farce all of these years?
By Michelle O'Neil on
Posted in Family Law Appellate Issues
There is a strong presumption in Texas law in favor of marriage. When a question arises as to the validity of a current marriage because of a prior marriage, the presumption says that the current marriage is the one that’s presumed valid. You would think there wouldn’t be very many cases on this issue, but I’ve actually seen a couple recently. Here’s one of those:…
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Habeas granted – no jail for failure to pay a debt
By Michelle O'Neil on
Posted in Michelle May O'Neil News
The Dallas court of appeals granted the petition for writ of habeas corpus this week in a case where a lady was jailed for civil contempt of court for failure to pay a debt to her ex-husband. In the divorce decree, the wife was ordered to pay $40,000 to the husband as part of the property division contained in the decree. The specific terms of the property awarded referenced the obligation as a “debt” but ordered a date specific by which she was to make the payment. The day after the passing of the payment deadline, the ex-husband filed for contempt of court against the ex-wife for nonpayment. The Hunt County judge held her in civil contempt and ordered her to jail until she paid the $40,000.
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Writs of Habeas Corpus: Get Out of Jail Cards in the Courts of Appeals
By Michelle O'Neil on
Posted in Hiring A Lawyer
As part of our appellate practice, clients often come to us asking what they can do after they suffer an unfavorable ruling in the trial court.
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Dallas Court of Appeals Affirms Trial Court’s Judgment Voiding Premarital Agreement
Posted on
Posted in Premarital and Postmarital Agreements
This opinion is one of the few Texas cases to void a premarital agreement.
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Lawyer Fined For Wrong Case Citation
By Michelle O'Neil on
Posted in Family Law Appellate Issues
A Wisconsin lawyer has been fined $100 for getting a citation wrong in a brief submitted to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. The appeals court expressed its frustration in a footnote to an unpublished opinion, Espitia v. Fouche, Legal Blog Watch reports. The court imposed the penalty and explained the reason for it in a footnote to a 2008 unpublished opinion, Espitia v. Fouche. Here is the entire footnote:…
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