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94 Search Results for "Family Court"

April 7, 2017

THE SECRETS TO “WINNING” CUSTODY OF YOUR CHILD

...eplaced “visitation” with “time with the child”. That statute requires the family court to make findings as to the percentage of caretaking functions each parent, or a third party, did before their separation, and follow those percentages as a guide to time allocation in the court ordered parenting plan. Courts are also supposed to disregard temporary, post -separation, arrangements, because these are often artificial and against the wishes of one...

November 24, 2012

Two Posts From My Blog, Perspectives of Small Town Lawyer

...you go to www.hunterlawfirm.net. 2-25-2015.) 2. More challenging, for me, is a post that is dated today, Nov. 24, 2012, on “Children, Guardians Ad Litem, The Law, and Society”. I registered my concern over the quality of the “mandatory eight hours of training” required by Family Court Rule 47, the lack of communication between the Family Court and Juvenile Abuse and Neglect Court communities, and failures to recognize the woes of our society. That...

July 20, 2010

Mediation Conundrums, Domestic Violence, and Sociopaths

...orce. Strangely, and for reasons I have mentioned in prior blog posts, the Family Court CANNOT order them to mediation on issues of equitable distribution or spousal support. In north central WV, Upshur, Lewis, and Randolph Counties, judges expect the lawyers to attend mediation, and we do, to the great benefit of our clients. The better mediators and attorneys now can print out a complete parenting plan or agreement for the parties to read and si...

September 11, 2014

Many Thoughts on 9-11-14

...marital debt. She gets nearly $80,000. They present the settlement to the family court, which approves the property and debt settlement, but allows the wife to renege and also ask for and get alimony of $27,000. Ouch! The outcome of that too depends on further court action. 21. Even if one or both of these injustices can be undone, doing so is expensive and problematic; also stressful. 22. The core point of this post is that ignorance is NOT blis...

April 10, 2017

Unbundling of Legal Services (A Low Cost Alternative)

...ulty in obtaining legal services in WV. Something like 70% of litigants in family court are “pro-se” or self-represented. For awhile WV was in the dark ages. There was an ethics opinion that lawyers couldn’t even “ghost write”, or assist a party from behind, without becoming “record counsel”. That has been clarified. We now can do those things. Unfortunately, contrary to more progressive states, WV does not allow special appearance or special plea...

October 13, 2014

Nuts and Bolts of Preparing For Your Deposition

...y such as the plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit. Depositions are rare in family court cases because of the expense. People paying their lawyer by the hour usually do not want to pay for a deposition, unless it is a key adverse witness such as your spouse’s “paramour”. Depositions are the norm in personal injury, medical malpractice, industrial accident, and insurance bad faith cases. I know one, only one, lawyer who routinely takes depositions i...

July 20, 2020

The Framework for a West Virginia Modification Petition

...In less than 15 minutes, Mr. Hunter covers the WV Family Court Modification statute and process. If you want a family court to modify your divorce order or parenting plan, this is a great first step in determining whether you can make it happen. https://youtu.be/QPPX1Q4KBm0...

July 30, 2013

Keys to a Successful Mediation

...ssary to get the clients to a position where they could settle. Finally, I family court judge who had been a magistrate most of her career admitted to me, “I have never attended mediation.” Another judge bragged, “In my 20 year career, I never went to mediation with my client.” I respected the first judge, for her admission and for the fact she simply had never had the opportunity. The second judge, not so much. She had just proudly admitted to re...

March 26, 2018

My “Law Coach” or My Lawyer?

...It is not representation, but it helps you “ante up”, like in poker. The “Family Court Rules” require the filing of certain key documents. Your “coach” can help make sure they are “up to snuff”. We try to provide the party who just cannot afford any more than $500 at least $1000 worth of information and training in “the rules of the game”. I accept a reasonable number of follow up calls, and, so long as you haven’t screwed up your case too badly,...

March 7, 2018

2018: Mediation Tips Revised

...ssary to get the clients to a position where they could settle. Finally, a family court judge who had been a magistrate most of her career admitted to me, “I have never attended mediation.” Another judge bragged, “In my 20 year career, I never went to mediation with my client.” I respected the first judge, for hercandor and for the fact she simply had never had the opportunity. The second judge, not so much. She had just proudly admitted to sendin...