Parenting Time and decision-making

What is a High Conflict Case

Not all parental separations are alike. Not all parental separations have to be disastrous for the children. Social science research tells us that the biggest

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What’s a COBI

It would be easy to read recent Court of Appeals decisions (Gish for example) as limiting a trial court’s power to appoint independent mental health

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All the Good Things

We’ve all seen countless things happen since things really started to go south (which in Arizona was somewhere around the 2nd week in March, give

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Not all parental separations are alike. Not all parental separations have to be disastrous for the children. Social science research tells us that the biggest factor for poor developmental outcomes for children of separation/ divorce is the level of conflict...

Here’s the beginning of my annual Arizona Court of Appeals’ recap for family law cases.  In 2022, we have a total of thirteen (13) reported COA opinions (two were consolidated), all out of Division One; plus one Special Action decision,...

The title of this post is intentionally provocative.  Just about everyone who reads this is sure they’re the better parent.  This post is written for every parent who disagrees with what the court ordered for parenting time and legal decision-making...

It would be easy to read recent Court of Appeals decisions (Gish for example) as limiting a trial court’s power to appoint independent mental health experts to help with the implementation and enforcement of parenting plans. That’s not the case....

The question of whether a parent must release his or her mental health records in a child custody proceeding, for review by the other parent, the court, or a court-appointed evaluator, is at least partially answered in JF v. CF,...

Gish v. Grayson  (June 28, 2022, Arizona Court of Appeals, Division 1) clarifies how family court judges can make enforceable and clear orders for the use of a TI (Therapeutic Interventionist) or COBI (Court-Appointed Behavioral Interventionist) that do not unlawfully...

Way back in 2008, I wrote an article and a blog post about the First Right of Caretaking provision in Parenting Plans.   It’s also sometimes called “first right of refusal” (as if the child was a house being sold) and...

Picture this scenario:   Mother and Father go to trial; one parent has a mental health issue that has affected day-to-day functioning or parenting, and that issue is raised as a reason to award the other parent sole decision-making, or to limit...

This NY Times Modern Love column on March 7, 2021 (“My Two-House, Duffel-Bag Life”) was kind of incredible in describing a high schooler’s feelings about her parents’ divorce (which apparently happened at her age 7). Although it sounds like the...

We’ve all seen countless things happen since things really started to go south (which in Arizona was somewhere around the 2nd week in March, give or take a few days) due to COVID. From the time I started to realize...

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