For those of us who get the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, it is a newspaper of respite. Yes, all of Friday’s news is there but the features are sections on what books to read and what piece of 16th century art or literature merits a second look. It’s WSJ light, best evidenced by the
Custody
GAG ORDERS IN CHILD CUSTODY; CAN BEST INTERESTS & FREE SPEECH BE BALANCED?
By Mark Ashton on
Father adopted a child with mother. Mother died two year later. Father remarried the stepmother in 2012, with whom this litigation took place. Stepmother adopted the child a year later. The marriage lasted less than a year. A custody agreement was formed. In June 2015, father filed for primary custody and mother counterclaimed for the…
COVID CRAZY TRAVEL
By Mark Ashton on
Imagine being a kid; any age over four. Unless you are well north of age 100, you have never seen anything like this. Adults fighting about everything and demonstrating some levels of rudeness not seen since the school bussing controversy in the 1970s where people fought in the streets over whether or how to promote…
AN IMPORTANT, ALBEIT NON-PRECEDENTIAL ADDITION TO RELOCATION LAW
By Mark Ashton on
Since 2011, we have had a statute setting forth both a procedure and a judicial standard for the determination of requests to relocate with a child. We have previously observed that the appellate decisions coming both before and after enactment of 23 Pa.C.S. 5337 have made relocation a rocky road. However, a panel decision issued…
What Could Massachusetts Ruling Non-Disparagement Orders Unconstitutional Mean to Pennsylvania?
By Aaron Weems on
It is always a good idea to keep an eye on other jurisdictions for how they deal with novel or emerging issues. One issue recently considered was the use of non-disparagement orders to prevent parties from criticizing each other in public, in front of their children, and to third parties. It is a fairly common…
MOVIE REVIEW? A Must See Movie for Separating Couples. Just Don’t Watch It Now.
By Mark Ashton on
First, a confession. I watch very few moves and when I do, I frequently feel stupid because I don’t see all the nuances others do. So, don’t see this move on my say so. Truth is that since it was premiered in 2017, the movie won a number of awards in Europe. It was produced…
RELOCATION DILEMMAS: It’s Deeper than the Factors
By Mark Ashton on
It’s not really an important case. And it’s not a precedential case. Yet, I couldn’t resist offering a summary because of the names involved. The legal community has been struggling with the issue of keeping names of parents and children out of case reports. As we have written, there is policy reason in favor of…
Update: Florida Case Highlights Coronavirus Custody Order’s Impact on an Essential Employee
By Aaron Weems on
We’re written about the impact that the coronavirus has had on custody cases and the limited availability of the court’s during this time. A recent story from Florida highlights the impact the virus has on “routine” custody cases where a party is employed as an essential employee and in a high risk environment. In…
AN APPEALING APPROACH TO AN ABBREVIATED TRIAL
By Mark Ashton on
The ruling in C.T. v. A.W.T. is non-precedential but instructive nonetheless. It’s a relocation decision out of Philadelphia County involving a six-year-old child. The single sex relationship resulting in the birth of S.T. ended in 2014. In 2018, the parties reached an agreement giving A.W.T. primary physical and C.T. alternate weekends from Friday to Sunday…
A FAMILY COURT JUDGE WEIGHS IN
By Mark Ashton on
Sunday night not only brought us the news of 1,000 deaths in New York but US officials discussing potential death numbers as high as the number killed in the US civil war. My partner Rhonda Ores from New York posted a brief essay by the trial judge responsible for coordinating custody matters in a state…