Follow Up on the Question of Whether Utah’s Mandatory Divorce Education and Orientation Courses Do Any Good

ekjadmin — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:44:02 +0000

The Utah Administrative Office of the Courts has responded in part to my July 30, 2011 blog posting entitled “Is there any evidence that the Utah divorce education and orientation courses are doing any good?” (http://www.divorceutah.com/is-there-any-evidence-that-the-utah-divorce-education-and-orientation-courses-are-doing-any-good/) That blog posting took the form of the letter I sent the AOC:

July 30, 2011

An adversarial system is by nature and design a zero sum game. There is no win-win. There can’t be.

eric_k_johnson — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:20:59 +0000

Our system of litigation is adversarial. An adversarial system is by nature and design a zero sum game. There is no win-win. There can’t be. So why does the judiciary and why do the pseudo-intellectuals and cowards masquerading as peacemakers in the legal professional bemoan the fact that litigation is so “contentious”? [...]

Hiring a Utah Divorce Lawyer: A Candid Conversation

eric_k_johnson — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 21:58:30 +0000

I understand if you hesitate to spend $3,000—likely money you don’t have and will have to borrow when your finances are already stretched to the limit. [...]

SLC Confidential: The Life Of A Local Private Eye

eric_k_johnson — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:27:23 +0000

“Is it really that difficult to be a private investigator?” For God’s sake, look at Tom Selleck on Magnum, P.I. That guy had it all: a mansion, a helicopter, a red Ferrari and a sweet-looking mustache. He was cracking skulls, drinking beers and lounging poolside surrounded by ’80s chicks. I love all of those things, so maybe it was just the jealousy talking. But I concluded that anyone could be a decent gumshoe—and, consequently, that I should give it a shot. So, a couple of months ago, I got off my ass, made a few phone calls, and the next thing I knew, I was riding shotgun in a Chevy Impala with Salt Lake City private investigator Chris Martindale, of AA & Associates. We were going on a [...]

The Perils of Settling Out of Court in Child Custody Cases

eric_k_johnson — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 00:44:16 +0000

The Utah Court of Appeals, in a decision published Thursday, August 18, 2011, overturned a decision of a district court (the trial court) regarding an order in a couple's decree of divorce that provided for automatic transfer of child custody from one parent to the other if the custodial parent left Utah subsequent to entry of the couple's decree of divorce. The divorce decree specifically provided that if the mother left Utah, the father would be awarded custody of the parties’ children. The court of appeals remanded the case (sent the case back to the trial court), instructing the district court to weigh the best interest of the children before transferring custody to the father. The Court of Appeals specified in its opinion that the more rigorous "best interest of the child" review was appropriate in this case, in part because the divorce was settled out of court, rather than as a result of litigation and a [...]

How Do I Make Sure My Child Support Obligation is Fair?

eric_k_johnson — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:54:58 +0000

“How do I make sure that my child support obligation is fair? I don’t want to pay too much child support to my ex because I know he/she will just use the money on him/her-self. How do I avoid this?” I hear this question or those similar to it all the time. And it's understandable. You feel that because your ex-spouse or ex-boyfriend/girlfriend is selfish, terrible at managing money, a “partier”, etc., you worry that your children will never actually receive the benefit of any of the child support you pay to your ex. This can be especially frustrating when you feel that a large chunk of your hard-earned income goes towards these child support payments, (a.k.a. “Ex-wife’s shopping and beauty salon fund”). While there is no easy answer to how you can avoid this scenario, you can benefit from learning how child support is awarded and [...]

Make Sure You Don’t Unintentionally Confuse Alimony with Child Support

eric_k_johnson — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:21:43 +0000

If you set up an alimony payments so that payments drop substantially after the first year or two, you maybe forced to pay income tax on the recaptured [...]

Is there any evidence that the Utah divorce education and orientation courses are doing any good?

eric_k_johnson — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 17:52:09 +0000

Has anyone conducted any empirical research showing the statutorily mandated divorce education and orientation courses are doing any good? [...]

How to Improve Family Law in Utah – 1)(a) Judges stop tolerating lies – What is lie-laundering?

eric_k_johnson — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:13:00 +0000

What is lie-laundering? Lie-laundering takes two forms: one innocent, one wicked: Courts were never intended to be a forum for any and all claims and defenses, no matter how frivolous. Every system mankind has established to resolve problems values efficiency (efficiency: acting or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste, expense, or unnecessary effort). While more rigorous enforcement of Rule 11 would improve myriad facets of the justice system, Rule 11 should be more actively enforced if for no other reason than to improve the efficiency of the justice [...]

How to Improve Family Law in Utah – 1) Judges stop tolerating lies

eric_k_johnson — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:15:42 +0000

Re-establishing the truth as law's most fundamental, crucial, and valued aim in the pursuit of justice will do more to benefit the practice of law than anything else. To be intolerant of lying and fraud (even to the point of giving offense) is to be just. To be tolerant of lying and fraud is to be unjust (perhaps not totally unjust, but one's tolerance for lies and deceit is inversely proportional to how just one is, and when is being partially just a virtue, even if one contends that being partially just was for the purpose of being "civil and professional"?). Just as we have rules that govern statutes of limitation and filing deadlines, we have rules against lying and deceit. Yet nowadays you're more likely to be penalized for filing a witness list a day late than you are for lying to the court as to the reason you filed late. We need to get our priorities [...]

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