What if a trial judge announces an order on the record, then goes home and has a change of heart? Sure, he already told the lawyers and the litigants that Mother can have the custody of the kids, but he did not actually put it in writing. Can the judge back out? If he said that custody goes to Mother, can he wake up the next day and write an order giving custody to Father? The Court of Appeals today spoke plainly on the subject. Somewhat surprisingly, the answer is “yes.” The oral pronouncement means nothing at all. The written order can…
To me, applying certain parts of UCCJEA is a little like the LSAT games section. If Mom and Dad entered into an incorporated agreement for child custody in Virginia, then Mom and children moved to North Carolina, then Dad followed to North Carolina, but did not like it in North Carolina and moved to Texas, will the North Carolina court have jurisdiction to modify the Virginia child custody order. What if Dad filed his motion to modify child custody in North Carolina court, it was heard in North Carolina, but then Mom and child left North Carolina and moved…
You cannot ask a trial court to modify its existing orders ‘just because.’ That goes for any order, including child custody orders. Seems like an obvious point, but the Court of Appeals last month had to provide a refresher. In Davis v. Davis, the Court vacated portions of a child custody order that modified an existing order under the guise of “clarification.” Divorce practitioners and trial courts get so comfortable with the practice of changing child custody orders to fit changes in the child’s circumstances that they sometimes forget the core—the trial court has to actually find those substantial…
Let’s say your client is bitterly unhappy with the result of her equitable distribution hearing. You re-read the trial transcript and confirm to yourself what you knew all along: you have a good appeal. You advise your client accordingly and brace for the inevitable: she wants to appeal now. Right away. Yesterday, if possible. But her alimony claim is still pending. Now what? In the olden days, you were stuck. You could have yourself an immediate appeal of equitable distribution order. Or you could have yourself an alimony trial. But you could not have both, because any unresolved…