Britney Hires New Lawyer for Child Custody Case

Britney Spears has hired a new lawyer to represent her in the ongoing custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline. Stacy D. Phillips, a Columbia University law grad, replaced Sorrell Trope, who gave up the case citing communication problems with the troubled pop star, reports People.

Court Upholds Custody of Children by Tribal Court

The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday the custody of two children whose parents had been in jail may be transferred to the tribal court of the Sac and Fox Tribe.

Scofflaw Dad Ran - Six Times

Timothy Burt likes the coastal life of South Carolina better than the snow-blanketed hills of Cincinnati, at least judging by how many times the wanted felon has fled there.

Hamilton County taxpayers have paid about $4,300 to return Burt from South Carolina to Hamilton County six times on a criminal conviction for failing to pay child support.

Child support records show that Burt currently owes the two children named in the indictment $55,415. He owes a third child, age 8, $19,000. That child is not involved in the criminal case.

Let Judge Decide What's Relevant in Custody Cases

In the best interests of the child …

These words should be the defining factors in cases involving parents and child custody issues. Let's face it, the kids have to come first.

But back in 2003 Virginia made a misstep, becoming the first and only state to prohibit the admission of almost all meaningful evidence in child custody and visitation cases regarding parents' mental health and their parenting strengths and weaknesses. This, despite the fact that Virginia law does require courts to consider the condition of parents in such cases.

Family Court Project Takes Different Road to Resolutions

Some of the most contentious and time-consuming court proceedings in Vigo County are not high-profile criminal cases, but rather, the hundreds of custody, divorce and paternity battles that rage off the radar each year.

As the overwhelmed courts struggle to find time for family legal issues, a little-known resource is working hard to clear the court caseload and make the process less painful for the families involved.

Britney Spears' Child-Custody Hearing Held Without Her

Britney Spears' child-custody hearing was held Wednesday without the pop star, who showed up at the courthouse but abruptly left — prompting a court commissioner to uphold the order suspending her visitation rights.

Bill Would Protect Troops’ Child Custody Rights

Deployed service members sometimes fight two wars: one overseas and one over child custody agreements.

Stacey Adair of Wichita told Kansas lawmakers last week about the custody problems his sister faced after she deployed to Iraq.

Child Custody, Visitation Issues Considered

The House Judiciary Committee waded through a series of bills Wednesday that are designed to ease or eliminate disputes between divorcing parents on such issues as child custody and visitation.

Legislators have heard numerous tales from disgruntled and discouraged parents in recent years about those issues, and agreeing on solutions proved elusive Wednesday, too.

Child Custody, Visitation Issues Discussed

The House Judiciary Committee began wading through a slew of bills Wednesday that are designed to ease disputes between divorcing parents, often catching their children in the middle.

Legislators have heard numerous tales from disgruntled and discouraged parents in recent years about child custody and visitation issues.

Various laws have been passed to offer solutions, but that piecemeal approach has not been successful, said Rep. Mike Vehle, R-Mitchell.

Court Denies Father’s Motion in Child Custody Case

The Superior Court has denied a man’s motion to set aside a judgment stating he is the biological father of a minor child.

The court said it is statutorily prohibited from declaring the nonexistence of a father-child relationship and finds that such declaration would not be in the best interest of the child.

Designed to Help Kids, 2 Laws Take Effect

Protecting children from abduction and securing the financial condition of children whose parents are divorced are the intent of two laws that take effect today.

Several child support collection amendments are included in HB18. In particular, state law will now allow a court to approve a method of child support payments other than income withholding. The amendments also allows the state agency in charge of collecting delinquent payments — the Office of Recovery Services — to enter into special agreements with payers for electronic payment of child support.

New Year Signals Start of New Child Custody Rules

When the New Year rolls around, significant new rules for child custody cases will apply to new filings. This comes on the heels of major recent child support changes, with which we are all still struggling! Some of what has been enacted is helpful, but the parenting plans are a nightmare.

Changes to child elections of custody have been long overdue. Currently, a child who turns 11 years old has the right to talk to a judge about custody; once the child turns 14 years old, the child has virtually an unfettered and absolute right to choose between the parents.

Closed Courtroom Sought for Quets Custody Hearing

The adoptive parents of twins kidnapped by their birth mother last year are asking that a Wake District Court judge close the courtroom to the public for a custody and visitation hearing being held in two weeks.

Lawyers for Denise and Kevin Needham, an Apex couple, filed a motion asking that a Jan. 2 child custody and visitation hearing in Wake County’s family court be closed to the public because of extensive media coverage in the case.

Family Law

Child custody cases take place in our court system every day. But lately, the process has become a bit more difficult. The problem stems from a new law passed earlier this year. It dictates what the state will pay lawyers who accept these cases, sometimes unwillingly. Now a local judge is speaking out against the new program.

The state legislature changed system for compensating attorneys that represent parents at a child custody hearing this summer. The pay in a case works out to $13.13 an hour. Lawmakers significantly reduced the amount of compensation was and created the Office of Regional Council to help cover the cases.

Custody rules 'exposing children to war zones' - National - theage.com.au

In a finding that challenges the Howard government's changes to child custody laws, new research has found that children aged under 10 can be emotionally harmed by shared-parenting arrangements in many families.

Where parents cannot co-operate and remain hostile towards each other, shared-parenting arrangements can result in a higher-than-normal rate of clinical anxiety in the children, the research found.

Hasselhoff, Ex-wife Agree on Child Custody

David Hasselhoff and ex-wife Pamela Bach have agreed on post-divorce terms that include joint custody of their teenage daughters, Hasselhoff's attorney confirmed.

The former 'Baywatch' star and Bach divorced in August 2006 after more than 16 years of marriage. After months of negotiating custody and financial arrangements, a deal was struck Friday, attorney Melvin Goldsman said Tuesday.

Stuck Together: Inside the Modern Divorce

Martha McCarthy, who has been practising family law for more than 15 years, says "You cannot agree to anything on a temporary basis that you wouldn't be willing to live with in the long term."

And so, she explains, for anyone who seeks some sort of serious child custody arrangement or desires sole custody of children, relinquishing any bit of ground in the household arrangement -- even temporarily -- is simply out of the question.

Grant Gold, another family law lawyer who has a surprising number of clients who continue to live together for increasingly long periods of time, says he tells those who say they cannot stand living in the matrimonial home that "what you lose by getting out is the ability to get back in in a hurry.… I don't want anybody leaving until there are arrangements in place for kids, for money; if you're the dad, I don't want you leaving until we have visitation nailed down."

Only 2.3% of Israeli Divorced Dads Have Custody?!

A new Israeli parliamentary subcommittee is holding hearings on fathers' rights and child custody. It is claimed in the hearing that only 2.3 percent of divorced men in Israel have custody of their children--amazing.

On Your Own in Domestic Court

Annette Morgan, 41, is no stranger to the domestic court system. She can use terms like "remand" and "guardian ad litem," describe how proceedings for child custody work in practice, and discuss eloquently the problem of not having any records kept during domestic court hearings.

But like many involved in domestic court, she is not a lawyer and doesn't even have a college degree. She's learned because she's had to, having struggled for the last two years to change a permanent custody order that bars her from seeing her son.

Evaluators in Child-Custody Cases Scrutinized

Psychologists and other mental health professionals are increasingly playing a role in child custody disputes.

Using a battery of psychological tests and expert judgment, psychologists make recommendations about which parent should have custody.