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240 Search Results for %22Family Court%22

April 2, 2015

WV Senate Bill 430 – The Law That No One Heard Of

...the end of this post. *** The Origins of WV Senate Bill 430 The WV Supreme Court of Appeals Courtroom It all started with the WV Supreme Court of Appeals’ stunning memorandum opinion in the case of Riffle v. Miller, No. 14-0042 (Harrison County 12-D-459-5) Although the decision was quickly rescinded, and the final decision is pending, the Court’s thinking was clearly revealed in its opinion. I posted a critical blog article, “WV Supreme Court Rule...

February 19, 2021

Family Law in WV: A Deep Dive

..., domestic violence final hearings, and some guardianship matters. Circuit Court Family courts do not hear adoptions or juvenile delinquency petitions or juvenile abuse and neglect petitions. The Circuit Court has sole jurisdiction over those. Other than small claims matters in magistrate court, there is no court that hears a larger percentage of self–represented, or “pro se”, cases than does the Family Court. Representing one’s-self in Family Cou...

February 14, 2016

The Maze of WV Child Custody Issues – Just Dropping Crumbs Won’t Get You Out

...e abuse and neglect later. Family court “shares jurisdiction” with circuit courts, and circuit courts are the appellate court for the family courts. Got it? Family court, among other things, hears the domestic violence cases that start in magistrate court. These are “restraining order” cases that activate The Federal Gun Control Act and last from 90 to 365 days. During that period, the respondent may not possess a firearm. These cases are not crim...

May 4, 2016

Is It Time to Revise Mediation in WV?

...ect to funding and the ability of parties to pay, as this is “small claims court”), family court, and to fiduciary and guardianship hearings. And, to the extent there are non-party “players” such as grand-parents, interested persons, step-parents, etc, let them come mediate, but only if the parties agree. The more that “the players” can participate in negotiations, the better the chance the settlement will “take”. Persons subject to mediation shou...

November 18, 2017

Mediation Food for Thought

...rstanding, signed by both parties, and should file these agreements in the court file with copies to the Court. 8. Barring fraud or coercion, or “good cause”, litigants should be held to these agreements as to other contracts. 9. Mediation should go hand in hand with “unbundled services” so that other lawyers can work with parties to prepare them for mediation or hearings without becoming “record counsel”. Key to this are clear, understandable, at...

August 20, 2012

Domestic Violence and Family Court

...don’t envy them. Someone noticed that the family court, domestic violence court, and juvenile court do not work together, so they passed a law. Now there are “overlap rules” so when the family court sees evidence of abuse, he/she sends a secret report to the circuit court who can order CPS to do its job. There were a flurry of these in the beginning, but I haven’t seen one in a couple of years. I know you think you know where I am going here, but...

November 24, 2012

Children, Guardians Ad Litem, The Law, and Society

...strict time constraints in juvenile court make it hard to practice in both courts. And, the court appointed nature of guardian ad litem work means that lawyers acting as guardians ad litem must be willing to work for less that $100/mo., something someone like me, with four full time staff members, cannot do. 8. One fellow bragged, and I know of at least one other who does the same thing, that he practices out of his car, with virtually no staff. T...

December 1, 2017

Family Court Mediation Streamlined – Some Ideas

...rstanding, signed by both parties, and should file these agreements in the court file with copies to the Court. 8. Barring fraud or coercion, or “good cause”, litigants should be held to these agreements as to other contracts. 9. Mediation should go hand in hand with “unbundled services” so that other lawyers can work with parties to prepare them for mediation or hearings without becoming “record counsel”. Key to this are clear, understandable, at...

September 25, 2018

A CONUNDRUM FOR FAMILY COURTS: WHAT TOOL FOR WHAT PROBLEMS? #1

...ourt of Appeals, Riffle v. Miller, Sup. Ct. No. 14-0042. Inexplicably, the Court had sustained a Circuit Court judge’s ruling that the only type of restraining order a Family Court Judge could issue was one based upon a clear finding of “domestic violence”. That meant no order preventing a person from posting naked pictures of their spouse, no order preventing Daddy from calling Mom “the C word” in front of the children, and, in Riffle v. Miller,...

December 28, 2021

Civil Litigation 101

...n set and noticed, and what happened a first. It might be questions by the Court, “a discussion” among the court and counsel, a “proffer” (offer of proof) in an oral statement by the lawyers, etc. The order must then show the court considered everything presented, and the “findings of fact” and resultant “conclusions of law that the Court determines to be true. Last, the order must “order” something clear and specific. I believe there are two crit...