Case Update: Texas Grandparent Access

The Texas Supreme Court reversed a trial court's grant of generous grandparent visitation in a case in which Mother had objected to her mother-in-law's visitation with the child after Father had died. The trial court had rejected Mother's claims that the statute was unconstitutional and awarded her mother-in-law "possession" of the child for one weekend a month, two weeks in the summer, four days during Christmas vacation, and alternating Thanksgiving weekends, as well as access through weekly telephone calls. The Texas Supreme Court found the situation in this case to be "virtually the same" as the facts of Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000). "In this case (as in Troxel) there was no evidence that the child's mother was unfit, no evidence that the boy's health or emotional well-being would suffer if the court deferred to her decisions, and no evidence that she intended to exclude [Grandmother's] access completely." See the full opinion by clicking here: In re Mays-Hooper, 2006 Tex. LEXIS 256 (April 7, 2006)
Originally posted in http://lawprofessors.typepad.com

A Taxing Problem: Divorce follows Taxes

Although not necessarily inevitable as death and taxes, some people seem to thing that divorce and taxes go hand in hand.

An AP story recently reported the opinion of Bevery Pekala, a Chicago divorce lawyer says that her practice picks up significantly right after tax day. She said people in troubled marriages find out a lot about each other when they get their financial papers in order to pay their taxes. She says this is especially true for spouses who aren't up to speed on family or business finances.