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…
There now is a fascinating TV Series about a man whose life lasts forever, which is aptly called Forever. It’s a greatly entertaining show. But I digress. Point here is, contempt purge are not like the TV show. They simply cannot last forever. In Wellons v. White, the Court of Appeals reminded again that a civil contempt order must have a purge that is not “impermissibly vague.” Just as importantly, the purge must be finite, meaning that there should be an end to the punishment. (If you really need something that lasts forever, consider diamonds. Or a permanent injunction.) The…