If you are a separated or divorced parent confused over your holiday parent-time schedule, you are not alone. You would think figuring out when you have your children for a holiday would be straightforward. Unfortunately, it is not so easy if your custody order follows the statutory holiday schedules. Oftentimes, even attorneys are unable to...
Divorce Reimagined
Sharing Custody, The Holidays, and COVID-19: “Create a Roadmap for Success”
Last year the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts published some useful tools to help those sharing custody in the holiday season. For the full Roadmap, visit their file here. “1. PLAN EARLY: If there is one piece of advice you take away from these guidelines, it has to be this one. If there was ever a holiday season that could not be...
The 5 Step P.L.A.N.S. for a Positive Divorce: Weathering the Storm
"Feare no more the heate o’ th’ Sun, Nor the furious Winter’s rages." - William Shakespeare As with any devastating storm, your divorce can often leave a path of destruction. Feelings of helplessness and despair regularly take over. Fear prevails. Anger may ensue. Must it be this way? “NO.” Can you avoid it? The answer is an affirming “YES.”...
Seven Frequently Asked Questions About Divorce in Utah
Many of the clients who schedule initial consultations have not made the decision to divorce yet. Often, the client or the client's spouse has brought up the topic of divorce and my client simply wants to know what his or her options are in the event the couple decides to divorce. Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions 1....
Update from the 2nd District Court and In Person Hearings
FROM THE SECOND DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS RE: RESUMPTION OF IN-PERSON HEARINGS WHEN: We are currently contemplating returning to in-person court on September 1, 2021. In-person court can resume if the courts are in Yellow as long as appropriate precautions are taken. If the virus count prompts a return to Red, in-person hearings will only take place...
Financial Planning in Divorce – 5 Steps to Getting Your House in Order
Author and Netflix superstar Marie Kondo says, “When you put your house in order, you put your affairs and your past in order, too.” Nothing could be closer to the truth in divorce— When you put your financial house in order in divorce, you put your affairs and your past in order, too. Here are 5 steps to getting your house in order: Step 1: Be...
Financial Planning in Divorce – The Family Home
“This being human is a guest house every morning is a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He maybe clearing you out for...
Alimony – To Pay or Not To Pay?
Next to child custody, alimony is the most hotly contested issue if you are divorcing in Utah. Why? Because there is no formula or calculator to determine the amount of alimony. Instead, alimony is based on multiple factors, which can be highly subjective. In Utah, the primary purposes of alimony are (1) to get the parties as close as possible...
A Checklist for Divorce Financial Planning
Ten Types of Documents to Gather When Considering Divorce Socrates said, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” This may be true in life but is extremely damaging in divorce. It is critically important that you take affirmative steps to understand and familiarize yourself with your finances when considering divorce. You will be...
Divorce, Abraham Maslow, and Financial Support
It would be lovely if the starting point of any divorce could be deciding what we want. But more often than not, my first consultation with clients involves questions of survival. Many clients fear what their financial future will look like. They have worked hard to get where they are financially. Divorce presents a sharp reality that what one...
What Next? – Divorce Options
In the fall of 2020, I found myself in the emergency room. I thought I was having a heart attack. Luckily that wasn’t the case but the doctors had no answers for me. They did not know what was going on. One mentioned a panic attack. Well, whatever it was, it woke me up. For decades, I have pushed through the stress of my job and avoided all...
Child Custody 101
Growing up in the 70s and early 80s, I did not know anyone whose parents were divorced. My first introduction to “child custody” disputes was from watching Kramer v. Kramer, the 1979 movie where the mom (Meryl Streep) abandons her husband and son but returns after 15 months to claim her child. The custody battle involved each parent’s lawyer...
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Recent Posts
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Byron Kominek, Owner and Manager of Jack's Solar Garden, explains how he revitalized his family farm with modern technology. A creative approach that mixes old-world farming and new-world energy production in mutually beneficial symbiosis.
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Wills, Trusts, and Probates: Estate Planning with Wayne Bennett
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The Ripple Effect Episode 131: Ivory Homes’ Water Wise Developments
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The Ripple Effect Episode 130: PFAS and Artificial Grass
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NLRB Decision Governing Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Provisions Applies Retroactively and Extends to Other Agreements
In the wake of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) February 23, 2023 opinion in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023) regarding whether employers could include confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions in severance agreements, many questions remained...