Collin County Family Attorneys Blog

A California judge ruled last week that Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannielynn, who is now six years old, is entitled to sanctions stemming from her mother's lawsuit against her former husband's estate, which is worth an estimated $500 million to $1 billion. Therefore, the young girl could potentially receive somewhere near $49 million in sanctions, based on prior statements by the judge in the case.

Following her billionaire husband's death, Smith became involved in a heated legal battle, which eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2006, the Supreme Court issued its initial ruling in the case, siding with Smith regarding her choice of venue. The court held that she could pursue her claim in federal court, overturning the Ninth Circuit's finding that the case belonged in Texas state probate court.

Then, some years later, after both Pierce Marshall and Anna Nicole Smith passed away about a year apart from each other, the legal battle, still unresolved, continued.

Continue reading "Dannielyn Smith Awarded Sanctions in Anna Nicole Smith's Legal Battle" »

According to several sources, the San Antonio Spurs basketball player Tim Duncan is in the process of divorcing from his wife of 12 years, Amy Duncan.

Amy allegedly filed for divorce in March, stating that the marriage was, "unsupportable because of discord and conflict," according to one of the documents filed.

The divorce has reportedly been halted temporarily until the Spurs are eliminated from or win the NBA championship, with one of the documents reportedly stating that Tim Duncan's employment is, "currently making extraordinary demands on him and hopefully will continue to make those demands for the next 30 or so days."

The pair reportedly signed a prenuptial agreement before the marriage, and the 37 year old, who signed a 3 year $36 million deal last year, reportedly wants to enforce it.

It has since been confirmed by the Spurs that the Duncans are divorcing. Hopefully the couple will be able to work out the details of their divorce as amicably as possible since two minor children are involved. Especially considering the particularly emotional divorce one of his teammates recently went through.

Continue reading "Texas Athlete's Alleged Divorce Touches on Issues of Premartial Agreements" »

According to reports, a Texas judge has been charged with at least eight different criminal counts in relation to actions completed in his official capacity, which include alleged abuse of office. Specifically, he is accused of retaliating against the attorney who represented his wife in their marital dissolution case, among other accusations.

The indictments accuse Judge Christopher Dupuy of:

Conviction on any one count, among potential other punishments or fines, would result in automatic removal from office.

While detailed information isn't readily available, some information has surfaced from the filing of a civil lawsuit, which is also seeking the judge's removal from office. The petition for removal accuses the judge of abusing his authority in retaliating against several attorneys, and failing to obey an order from a state appeals court, among other allegations.

One indictment accuses the judge of retaliation against a local attorney who was representing the judge's wife in a custody dispute over their children. It claims that after refusing to comply with a deposition, the judge then drove to the courthouse and wrote up a contempt of court order against the attorney. The attorney stated that the judge held her in criminal contempt, and sentenced her to 120 days in jail. The charge was later overturned by the court of appeals. The allegations include claims of several other local attorneys being retaliated against, or otherwise being oppressed because of the judge's official authority

The judge's former wife allegedly filed for an emergency protective order, following an affidavit taken from the judge's former fiance, which stated that he intended to kill his former wife, and flee with the couple's two children out of the county.

A hearing to show cause is scheduled for June 7, during which time Dupuy can argue why he should not be removed.

Continue reading "Galveston County Judge Faces 8 Separate Criminal Charges" »

I came across an article recently, which described how more and more Texas Baby Boomers are turning to Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms in order to settle their divorces.

A recent national study found that while divorce rates are down overall, the rate among the baby boomer demographic is rising. Surprisingly, the amount of separations for Americans over 50 has recently doubled. The trend has been given the term "grey divorce."

However, in lieu of following the traditional courtroom path, many individuals are exploring other ways of finalizing their divorce without the litigious fight. The two most demonstrative examples of these alternative methods of divorce resolution are mediation and collaborative divorce.

Mediation

Mediation begins in the same manner as a typical divorce, with the filing of a petition for divorce. Next, the parties agree to go before a mediator to discuss their case. A mediator is an impartial third party, who is commonly a retired judge or experienced attorney. This person will attempt to work with the parties to come to an agreement in order to settle their disagreements. Parties may have attorneys represent them during this process. In fact, some attorneys enjoy these types of divorces, and market themselves as less litigious, etc.

Collaborative Divorce

Collaborative divorce is another option for couples seeking to finalize a divorce without going the traditional courtroom route.

According to the collaborative law process, the parties sign a written agreement to use their best efforts and make a good faith attempt to resolve their disputes without resorting to judicial intervention. The court's only role is in approving the settlement agreement, making any relevant legal pronouncements, and in signing the orders required by law in order to effectuate the parties' agreement. Under collaborative divorce, attorneys may not serve as litigation counsel, except to ask the court to approve the settlement agreement

Continue reading "Texas Baby Boomer Divorce and Alternative Dispute Resolution" »

Former Los Angeles Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt is urging the court to throw out her $131 million divorce judgment from her former husband and former Dodger owner Frank McCourt.

Her attorneys are alleging that she was misled regarding the value of the Dodger baseball team and accompanying franchise related opportunities, which was sold subsequent to the divorce's finalization for $2 billion.

Jamie McCourt said her ex-husband committed fraud by misrepresenting the Dodger assets as worth less than $300 million during their divorce, while he allegedly knew all along what the true value was but did not disclose it to her. Her attorneys believe she was cheated out of roughly $770 million. In fact, her attorneys allege that she had placed the value at $2 billion at the outset of the divorce proceedings, which originated in October of 2010, but later lowered this estimation based upon documents that were provided by Mr. McCourt's legal team.

The essence of her argument is that she was defrauded as to the value of the Dodgers and other related business opportunities, while Mr. McCourt knew the true value the entire time. Frank McCourt's legal team alleges that Ms. McCourt failed to do her due diligence, and further that the value of the assets was not solidified at the time of the judgment. Following the divorce settlement, the Dodger franchise filed for bankruptcy, and it is after that point that Mr.McCourt was able to sell it for $2 billion.

If Judge Scott Gordon tosses out the divorce settlement, the parties would most likely resume arguments regarding whether the Dodgers are community property under California law, or whether Frank McCourt owned the team outright. The judge ruled previously that a post marital agreement stating Frank McCourt held sole ownership of the Dodgers was invalid.

Continue reading "Former Dodgers CEO Disputes $131 Million Divorce Settlement " »

The internet is alight with speculation regarding the divorce of Oklahoma oil mogul Harold Hamm. According to the Forbes' 2013 World's Billionaires list, Hamm is worth an estimated $11.3 billion. The vast majority of his fortune is reportedly held in shares of Continental Resources, an oil giant.

His second wife Sue Ann Hamm, who is a lawyer and economist, filed for divorce last year. She has since alleged that her soon to be ex was cheating on her. Therefore, absent a prenuptial agreement, she could potentially be entitled to half of Harold's 68% stake in Continental, which if executed precisely, would mean that the former husband and wife would each be 34% owners of the company, essentially one-third co-owners.

However, Oklahoma law calls for "equitable distribution", which means that the court will make a determination regarding fairness. Factors to be considered include the length of the couple's 25 years of marriage, the fact that they have two children together, and Sue Ann's many years contribution to the company as an executive.

In cases such as this one, it seems likely that the couple will eventually reach an agreement regarding division of the company rather than an outright liquidation. It is common practice for other assets to be offered in lieu of those that parties wish to retain, even though the other party may legally be entitled to them.

The company released a statement on its website re-affirming the private nature of the proceedings, and stating that the matter will not affect the company.

Continue reading "Oklahoma Oil Tycoon Faces Potential $5 Billion Divorce Judgement" »

I came across this article a few weeks ago, which discusses the outcome of a study regarding the impact of parents divorcing on childrens' religious beliefs.

According to the results of the study, children with two "religious" parents are more likely to leave their church if the parents divorce. The impact is so great, in fact, that researchers from Baylor University discovered that children in these cases are twice as likely to become estranged from their church when compared with children who have parents who stay married.

Additionally, the study concluded that these children's religious beliefs were affected post-divorce across all religions.

Researchers plan to further explore the reason behind the finding. In other words, why is it that these children of divorced parents are more likely than their peers to leave their church following divorce?

What the article does not address, however, is the impact of divorce on those children who have only one religious parent, or those with two somewhat religiously observant parents. It would be interesting to note whether the correlation is somehow tied to the integrity of the family unit, with religious beliefs representing a piece of that puzzle.

Continue reading "New Study Finds Divorce Twice as Likely to Drive Children away from the Church" »

The internet is alight with so much expansion, it seems almost everything is just a click away. Recently, there have been reports of increasing numbers of Texas couples looking to the internet in order to file for divorce. The potential draw of this option is that it seems to promise to provide a fast and relatively inexpensive way for couples to dissolve their marriage. The reality, however, is that rather than simplify, these one size fits all documents may only complicate things further, leading to additional legal costs in the long run.

For example, some programs only address the matter of dividing real property. Straightforward assets that fall within this category are things such as the marital household, personal affects, any cars, other real estate, etc. However, given the fact that Texas is a Community Property state, there are many other additional assets that these programs or forms may not take into account, such as one spouse's retirement benefits, or stock options acquired during the marriage. Custody arrangements are another major consideration that stock forms may not properly take account of.

One specific example of a potentially complex issue is when a spouse-owned business is involved. In most cases, if a spouse has worked extensively to build or grow a business during the time of the marriage, then it is considered to be community property subject to division. Alternatively, in some cases a business can be considered shielded from division under the "alter ego" doctrine, meaning that it is separable from the spouse's contributions.

What is further alarming, is that it has been reported that some people are actually using the online filing systems in order to deliberately exclude relevant information, such as in hiding assets, and in some cases even children! It is important to keep this in mind if your former spouse informs you that they intend to complete the divorce electronically. Hiring an attorney is the only way of ensuring that your best interests are being watched out for. Once a divorce has been finalized, it can be incredibly difficult to appeal the terms.

Continue reading "Beware the Allure of Online Legal Forms" »

There have been several reports in the news lately regarding allegations being made against American parents abusing their adopted Russian-born children. The most recent case was following the death of the three year old boy who died this January, in what Texas officials have officially ruled as an accident. Russian officials have publicly declared their outrage regarding the manner in which the investigation was handled, and regarding the fact that state prosecutors decided not to bring charges against the adoptive parents.

Now another Texas family is facing international scrutiny, following allegations of sexually abuse of one of their three adopted teenager Russian-born children. According to various sources, Texas Child Protective Services confirmed that they had received an anonymous tip earlier this week, alleging that the 16 year old daughter was sexually abused by her adoptive father. The parents maintain their innocence.

Due to the gravity of the allegations and CPS's investigation regarding the family, the girl and her 15 year old sister were removed from the home and placed into foster care. A hearing will be held later this month to determine their custody. Additionally, their 17 year old brother has been missing for some time, and is now being considered an "endangered runaway." The girl has now been questioned by law enforcement officials, and denied the claims made against her father. The Sheriff reported that the allegations were allegedly made by a friend of the girl, which the parents claim they did not learn of until the day after the girl reportedly got into some sort of trouble at school.

Continue reading "Texas Parents Investigated for Sexual Abuse Claims" »

In some custody cases, a court may order extended standard visitation, giving the parent receiving visitation periods with their children extra time with them. This means that, if agreed by the parties and/or approved by the court, the periods may be extended as follows:

• Weekends during the school year to begin after school when dismissed until school begins again (so Friday after school to Monday beginning of school).


• Thursdays during the school year to begin after dismissal on Thursday until beginning of school on Friday.


• Spring Break beginning when school is dismissed until school resumes again.


• Christmas break and Thanksgiving break beginning when school is dismissed.


• Extended visitation may also include additional time on Father's Day and Mother's Day weekends, as well as additional time on extended weekends during the school year (like school holiday or teacher in-service days).

A court may order extended visitation, or the parties may elect to enter the agreement (or revision) into the record by filing a written document with the court or making an oral statement on the record.

Extended visitation is a great option and should be considered by any parents who are really willing to co-parent.

Last month, a woman walking her dog made a shocking discovery. Her dog came upon what turned out to be a newly born child, with umbilical cord still attached, wrapped inside of a plastic Walmart bag in a dumpster near an apartment building. Then baby was believed to have been born just hours before, and was believed to be born at around 35 weeks, which is slightly premature. Despite her exposure to the elements, she did not suffer physical injury or any fevers, and was judged as behaving typically for a newborn.

The baby girl, whom hospital rescuers have nicknamed Chloe, was born with a tooth. This so called "natal tooth" occurs in about 1 out of every 2,000 births, and officials believe it may help them locate the baby's biological parents.

During a hearing this past Monday, a judge granted ongoing custody to Child Protective Services.

CPS says they've received hundreds of tips, but so far none of them have led to the baby's parents.

Continue reading "Baby Chloe to Remain in CPS Custody" »

Deion Sanders's contentious divorce with his former wife Pilar Sanders has been in the headlines lately for the decision recently reached regarding the custody arrangement for their three minor children.

After deliberating for a few hours, the jury returned their determination, which essentially re-affirms the temporary custody Deion was granted in May of last year.

Reportedly, eleven of the twelve jurors voted to grant Deion full physical and legal custody and conservatorship of his 13 and 11-year-old sons. However, regarding their 9-year-old daughter, the couple will share physical and legal custody. Both parties were seeking sole custody of all three of their children. Pilar Sanders's attorney has stated that they plan to appeal the decision.

I have previously written a more in depth account regarding what the court takes into consideration in determining the best interests of the child. These various considerations include the child's wishes, the child's physical and emotional needs, both presently and in the future, any physical or emotional threats to the child's wellbeing, etc. The determinations are made based on each child's individual circumstances.

Continue reading "Collin County Jury Grants Custody to Deion Sanders in Heated Divorce" »

A new study indicates that alcohol may be one of the greatest indicators of potential divorce over the long term.

Researchers followed almost 20,000 couples located in Norway over a term of 15 years. The couples participated in surveys regarding alcohol use and mental distress, before the period of observation began sometime between 1984 and 1986.

The results of the study may be surprising to you. The results indicated that they supported the conclusion that heavy drinking, by either men or women, increased the risk of divorce. This was true even after the results were adjusted to remove the "light drinkers" from the mix. Researchers even found this to be true when they further adjusted for those individuals with indicators for mental distress and demographic factors.

Interestingly, the likelihood of divorce was even greater when only the woman in the relationship drank. In fact, one of the researchers said in a statement about the study, "The risk of divorce is estimated to be tripled when the husband's level of drinking is low and the wife's drinking is heavy, compared with couples where both drink lightly."

Continue reading "Alcohol May Greatly Influence Likelihood of Divorce in Texas and Elsewhere" »

A recent KXAN article reportsthat the funding for Texas Legal Aid programs are running out.

Most people are aware of the fact that they are entitled to free legal counsel should they be unable to afford an attorney in criminal cases. However, the same is not true of civil matters. In other words, if someone sues you and you are unable to defend the suit, you are basically out of luck.

Legal Aid programs seek to fill that gap. They generally operate by receiving funding from various governmental or other eleemosynary sources and programs, and then providing free legal services to individuals who meet income guidelines. Individuals facing domestic abuse in the home, and other related Family Law issues, as well as Real Estate cases are among the most common sorts of matters handled by legal aid organizations in Texas. Veterans are also commonly involved in these sorts of legal financing issues when they return from service overseas only to be confronted with foreclosure proceedings, for example.

According to at least one estimate, more than 5.7 million people in Texas qualify for legal aid based on their income, but the state only has enough funding to help about 100,000. The problem is becoming compounded by the fact that while poverty is rising throughout the state, funding continues to shrink.

Legal Aid programs in Texas, as in many other states, are primarily financed by a fund that accumulates interest from lawyers' trust accounts throughout the state. Lawyers are required to have trust accounts to hold their clients' funds which have not yet been earned, but lawyers cannot legally keep the interest these accounts earn, they must return them to the state. Thus, while the trust accounts are continuing to earn interest, the rates are so low that the fund is only expected to generate $4.4 million from 2012, compared with $20 million in 2007.

Additionally, the federal government has chopped away at the funding for the national Legal Services Corporation, which has lead to a $6.1 million cut in funding last year for three of the largest Texas legal aid groups.

Legislators, judges, and other lawyers have been pushing the Attorney General's office for an increase in the available funding for such legal aid programs from the current $10 million to $50 million, in order to ensure that such needs are being met. It would fund legal aid services for those who qualify with money recovered by the attorney general in successfully won "consumer protection, public health or general welfare" cases.

While not required to provide pro bono legal services, according to the State Bar, in 2009 Texas lawyers provided 2.24 million to 2.56 million hours of their time, valued at nearly $500 million worth of free legal services.

It is sort of a sad reality that the people who will need legal help the most in a down economy, will probably be even less likely to get it because of a lack of funding. Hopefully lawmakers will be able to put together a better financing package in order to increase the number of Texans helped by these legal aid programs.

If ever there was an occasion to be clear and precise in your language, that place is in your divorce decree. The reason is simple and plain -- the Legislature has provided in the Family Code that "a court may not amend, modify, alter or change the division of property made or approved in the decree." This means that generally speaking, what's submitted by the parties and approved by the court is the final say in dividing property.

However, a court may issue a clarification order upon request to clarify. So if a court did enter an order that modifies or changes the division of property that was originally approved, that decision is unenforceable. Of course, if there is a need for clarification, a court will provide "a reasonable time for compliance" before enforcing contempt or any other remedies.

Of course, child support can be modified in certain circumstances, as can child custody. We'll explore these topics in upcoming posts.