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Ramifications of Not Paying Child Support

March 12, 2012 By Maricopa County Court Leave a Comment

Statistics have shown that nearly fifty percent of marriages in the United States unfortunately end in divorce. As such, one will find that many involved in the dissolution of their marriages are required by court order to pay child support. Children born out of wedlock, too, may receive regular payments from a non-custodial parent, though regardless of how a child comes to need financial support it is not always guaranteed that the parent ordered to pay will do so. The ramifications of not paying support may prove cumbersome for all involved.

To better understand why it is in one’s best interest to pay child support when legally obliged, we should consider why such financial aid is assigned to parents or guardians. Regardless of whether the parents of one or more children have been married, each is obligated to see to the care of any minors in their care. Typically when custody is awarded to one parent who sees a significant increase in costs (coupled with a decrease in household income), the non-custodial parent may be ordered as a result of divorce proceedings or other legal judgment to pay a set amount designed to assist in the child’s welfare. How much a mother or father pays a month can depend upon the needs of the child, the income bracket of both parents and other considerations.

Consequent hearing and / or negotiations may work in later years to lessen or raise the amount of money a parent must pay. Should the custodial parent re-marry with the new spouse assuming guardianship of the child, for example, child support payments may decrease or disappear altogether. Payments normally are made until the child reaches legal age.

Should a non-custodial parent cease paying support, either because he/she is unable to or simply neglects his/her duty, the debtor risks a number of consequences which range from dealing with collections to serving jail time. A parent owing child support may find his or her personal and financial records seized, wages garnished, and / or a lien may be placed on his/her property until proper payment is made. Any parent dealing with a former spouse or partner who is delinquent in support payments may find it a challenge to get what is needed, particularly if the debtor leaves the state. The assistance of a good attorney can help win back what is legally owed.

If you are in a situation where child support is owed to your children, work with a reputable lawyer to make sure payments are fair and consistent.

Kathryn Lively is a freelance writer specializing in articles on North Carolina lawyers and Outer Banks lawyers.

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Arizona Marital Property Laws: Designation of Assets in Divorce – Community and Separate Property

March 8, 2012 By Maricopa County Court Leave a Comment

By Scott D Stewart

In any divorce proceeding, the issue of how to divide assets and debts must be resolved. This article provides a framework for understanding Arizona marital property law and determining whether an asset is separate property or community property.

Community Property and Separate Property.

Community property is marital property.It includes all assets accumulated during the marriage, regardless of whether the asset is in one spouse’s name or the other. A.R.S. 25-211. Although assets acquired during the marriage will likely be community property and subject to equal division between the spouses, there are exceptions: the asset was owned prior to the marriage, or was acquired by gift, or acquired by inheritance during the marriage. A.R.S. 25-213.

An asset that is separate property is not a part of the marital estate and will not be subject to division in a divorce. If an asset was acquired before the marriage, it may remain the separate property of one spouse at the time of dissolution. This is not a hard and fast rule. The characterization of property depends in great part on how the asset was used during the marriage, usage can change the asset’s character from separate to community property. Furthermore, a portion of the asset’s value may remain separate property, while a portion becomes marital property. All of this depends on the facts of each individual case.

The parties are always free to agree on the designation of an asset as the separate property of one spouse or the community property of both spouses-this is a part of the negotiation of a divorce.

Acquisition Determines the Character of Real Property.

An asset is characterized as either separate property or community property at the time of purchase or acquisition. Separate property, followed by marriage, is still separate property. Generally, when community money is used to pay a mortgage or used to make improvements to the separate real property of one spouse, however, the non-owning spouse is entitled to reimbursement. That is, reimbursement for the community money spent on the other spouse’s separate property.

Here’s an example: Husband owned a home prior to the marriage, his separate property. During the marriage, marital funds were used to pay down his mortgage thereby reducing the principal owed. The reduction in principal may be a community asset subject to division. If marital funds were used to improve Husband’s property which resulted in an increased property value, then that increase in value is a community asset, too.

Transmutation of Separate Property into Community Property.

Transmutation of separate property means the ownership has changed — what started as separate property was converted into marital property. The methods of transmutation are straightforward: transmutation by agreement between the spouses, transmutation by gift from the owning spouse to the community, or transmutation by commingling the separate property with marital property so much so that it loses its prior separate character.

Transmutation by Gifting Real Property – Creating Joint Tenancies.

When one spouse conveys his or her separate real property interest to both spouses as joint tenants, the law presumes it was a gift to the community. This legal presumption can be rebutted, but only with clear and convincing evidence. When a party owns a home prior to the marriage and subsequently conveys title in joint tenancy to both spouses, he or she has gifted the value of the home to the marriage — it becomes a community asset.

Donative intent is required for a valid gift to the community.

The only way to defeat this legal presumption that a joint tenancy conveyance is a gift to the community is to convince the court, by a burden of clear and convincing evidence, that no gift to the community was ever intended – that is, there was no donative intent.

Case #1. Sloane v. Sloane — Yes donative intent.

If the alleged transmutation of property occurs by gift, then the usual rules as to sufficiency of evidence apply. One of the first requirements of a valid gift is donative intent. In one case, the husband asserted that, although he transferred his property (acquired before the marriage) from his name to jointly titled property with his wife (during the marriage), the property should not be considered community property because he lacked donative intent. He conveyed the property into joint tenancy not to gift it to the community, but as a testamentary device to avoid a future probate proceeding. The court found husband’s argument insufficient and held the property had been transmuted from separate property into community property. The point from this case? There is a presumption created by a joint tenancy that cannot be overcome by the hidden intentions of one spouse. The legal presumption that the joint tenancy creates a gift to the community can only be overcome by evidence proving a common understanding or agreement between both spouses that the character of the property was to be something other than a joint tenancy.

Case #2. Nationwide v. Massabni — No donative intent.

In another case, there was sufficient evidence to show husband never intended a gift of his separate property to the community. The real property deed was in husband’s name only, as his separate property. To avoid garnishment of his separate property by a creditor, he claimed it was really community property. Because only husband was liable on the debt, community property was out-of-reach for this creditor. Husband’s evidence in support of his donative intent to gift his separate real property to the community included a promissory note payable to both spouses over the subject property. The court rejected husband’s claim of community property because, in part, his wife wasn’t added to the promissory note until after his creditor had filed the lawsuit against him. Consequently, the court ruled that there was no donative intent, no gift to the community, and the asset remained husband’s separate property.

Joint Tenancy and a Co-Tenant’s Right to Reimbursement.

In a dissolution of marriage, the court may consider the expenditure of separate funds for the purpose of fulfilling existing joint obligations. When property is held in joint tenancy, the law of joint tenancy permits reimbursement to the contributing co-tenant. The court cannot, however, order a substantially unequal division of property held in joint tenancy for the purpose of reimbursing the spouse who used separate funds to acquire that property. A substantially unequal division of property held in joint tenancy can only be agreed upon by the parties.

Here’s a case in point. In Whitmore v. Mitchell the court recognized that spending separate monies after the joint tenancy was created may entitle the contributing spouse to reimbursement. Absent an agreement to the contrary, a court may not order a substantially unequal division of jointly held property solely to reimburse one of the spouses for spending his or her separate funds to acquire the property. This court made an important distinction on the reimbursement of separate funds. First, a joint tenant has a right to reimbursement for separate funds used to improve the jointly held property. When property is acquired with separate funds after the marriage and put in joint tenancy, there is no reimbursement for the separate funds used to buy the property-that was a gift to the community. If after the property is purchased the spouses hold in joint tenancy, then the contributing co-tenant may be reimbursed for separate monies used to benefit the other co-tenant. “[T]here can only be a right to reimbursement when a joint obligation exists. The obligation does not come into existence until the property is purchased [and placed in joint tenancy].” Second, if the asset is community property and separate funds were used to make improvements to it, then the contributing spouse has no right to reimbursement.

(There was one rather extreme case when the ArizonaSupreme Court allowed a substantially unequal division of joint tenancy property. The marriage was of extremely short duration, in only two weeks the parties had physically separated and, in another two weeks, had filed for an annulment. Toth v. Toth)

The same rule applies to community property — the court cannot order a substantially unequal division of community property for the purpose of reimbursing the spouse who used separate funds to acquire the asset. There is no reimbursement for subsequent expenditures on community property in a divorce either, unless, once again, there is an agreement to reimburse between the parties.

Scott David Stewart is an attorney practicing family law in greater Phoenix, Arizona. He is AV Rated by Martindale Hubbell, has a perfect AVVO Score of 10.0/superb, and is a member of the State Bar of Arizona, American Bar Association-Family law Section, and Maricopa County Bar Association-Family Law Section. Prior to forming the Law Offices of Scott David Stewart, he worked as Deputy County Attorney for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office where he honed his trial skills and developed strategies for success that he continues to use and implement in his law firm today. His experience as prosecutor opened his eyes to the need for passionate legal representation for children during divorce proceedings. Children’s voices and needs are often relegated behind the desires of their parents. Stewart’s number one goal is to ensure that children are the focal point of any dispute between parents.

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Filed Under: Family Court Tagged With: arizona divorce, Divorce, property settement

Child Support Hurdles for Fathers During a Divorce

February 21, 2012 By Maricopa County Court Leave a Comment

By Brad Hart -

Divorce is a hard time in anyone’s life, but when a child is involved, the emotional and legal turbulence becomes even worse. When the father is getting divorced, child support payments will often be discussed in court. Before the court appearance, there can be a lot of gray areas that can leave you wondering how much you have to pay, what your rights are and if the child support payments will leave you penniless. This article will go through these issues, so you have a better idea of what will be expected of you.

Father Visitation Rights

Unless there are extenuating circumstances that are directly brought up during the court session, if you are paying support then you have visitation rights. Some vengeful mothers may try to deny this, keeping you from ever seeing your children. However, the legal system does allow you to see your children periodically, unless there is reason to fear for their safety.

One of the biggest problems with this is that, if the mother denies your visitation rights, it can be very difficult to assert this right. This normally requires more court appearances and lawyers that cost a lot of money.

Child Support Payment Amounts

There are many factors that go into determining your payments. One of the most important aspects is what state you live in, because each state has different ways of determining payment amounts.

Other factors include how much money you are making, expenses and the child’s standard of living prior to the divorce. At the same time, similar circumstances may yield very different payment values. This is because the judge and jury will weigh these factors, and different people will come to different values.

When deciding on payments, you should reveal all of your financial information. The more information you show, the fairer the payments should be.

Adjustments

Maybe you are making $1,000 a week now, but what happens if you lose your job or get demoted? This severely limits your income, so do your child support payments go down as well?

Unfortunately, this cannot be determined when the initial child support agreement is made, since no one knows if you will lose your job or if your income will decrease. Due to this, you will still be expected to pay the same amount, even if you are not making any money.

This can normally be corrected in court, if you can prove your income and if you show that you are not trying to game the system. Some fathers lie about their income, or work at places for less than a year so it does not count towards the amount, which makes this harder for good fathers that really are facing hard times. However, if you prove that you are working and show that this is just from bad circumstances, the child support will typically be decreased.

Unmarried Fathers

If you did not marry the mother of your child, then you might think that you do not have to pay child support. However, if you can be proven as the biological father, regardless of marriage, you are still required to pay child support. Marriage may have been considered years and years ago, but it is no longer a requirement for child support.

Child Support Length

There are four different factors that can cause child support to stop. If any one happens, then you no longer have to pay child support.

� The child is no longer a minor. However, if the child has special needs, then age might not be a determining factor.

� A stepfather adopts the child, which terminates your parental rights.

� The child enters the military.

� The child is legally considered an adult because he or she is self-supporting, which can occur before the child reaches 18.

There are many factors that go into determining child support, and there are also many factors that affect it after the divorce is finalized. Hopefully, you now have a better grasp on what is expected from you during this time and consider hiring a divorce lawyer.

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Filed Under: Child Support, Family Court Tagged With: arizona child support, Child Support, maricopa county family court

When Do Child Support Payments Begin?

February 9, 2012 By Maricopa County Court Leave a Comment

By Greg Tolland -

After weeks, sometimes months of deliberating you make the decision to get divorced. Among the first thing you should do is hire an attorney, then fill out your net worth statements. From there, a judge will hear your case and ultimately will grant you a divorce. Once the divorce is completed you find out you are 7 months behind in child support payments although your divorce was just finalized. You standing there scratching your head, and wondering why?

Domestic Relations Law (“DRL”) is why. It states that “such order shall be effective as of the date of the application therefore, and any retroactive amount of child support due shall be paid in one sum or periodic sums, as the court shall direct, considering any number of temporary support that have been paid.” Or put simply, once the divorce application is served, the support payments will start from that day. So, say your partner filed for divorce and you were served with papers on April 5, 2011. Your divorce was completed August 5, 2011. As of August 5, 2011, you are in arrears for four months of support payments.

In determining any child support that is owed, the judge will consider any brief support payments which you made prior to the divorce. For example, if you are in arrears $15,000.00 and you’re able to demonstrate that you are paying child aid each month for a total of $9,000.00, you are in arrears $6,000.00. What if you pay too much? Your own children will be grateful however, you will not acquire a credit. In simple terms, child income support for the year is $9,000.00 and you can show you paid $14,000.00, your spouse will not be responsible to return the extra cash.

It is imperative that you pay back all of the support you owe. The good news is, the court’s may allow that you to divide up your expenses into monthly installments in addition to the court required payments. Going back to our example, if you are required to pay $1,000.00 every month in child income support and owe $12,000.00 in backed support ($1,000.00 x 12 months) the court may allow you to break up the payments for the following year. For instance, you will still pay $2,000.00 court ordered support, in addition to another $2,000.00 a month in back child support for the first year, or in other words, that first year you will pay $4,000.00 per month.

Learning point: Retain precise records of all payments going to your partner through the divorce procedure. Often it might take around 24 months prior to when the divorce is finished, so you should always be either making payment on the child support or saving enough for whenever the day comes. Develop a paper trail very similar to you would with your taxes. Pay your husband or wife using a check to help you to have a record of every transaction. Keep in mind that if you are not the custodial spouse, you might be responsible for child support. Talk to your lawyer about potential child income support liabilities and plan accordingly. Make sure you retain the services of a lawyer once you and your spouse opt for divorce, you can never be too careful in times that requires one to surrender part of your income.

If you found this article helpful and would like to learn more about child support, contact a Long Island divorce lawyer today to safe guard your rights.

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Filed Under: Child Support Tagged With: arizona child support, arizona family court

Child Support Laws – What You Need to Know

February 2, 2012 By Maricopa County Court Leave a Comment

By Joan Baker -

Child support laws exist to protect children and parents. Single parents who are victims or abuse or violence benefit greatly from these laws, as are single parents who have amicably divorced. These payments ensure that a child or children do not become disadvantaged due to the break up of their parents. Courts have the power to issue these orders and every state has their own law.

Without financial support, single parent families would struggle to survive. A court will decide what level of support is fair and appropriate for each situation and this may differ depending on a number of factors. Judges have flexibility in most states in terms of stating how much must be paid by the non-custodial parent. A judge’s decision is final but an appeal can be placed.

The parent who earns more generally has to contribute more to the well being of the child. If the non-custodial parent earns less than the custodial parent then they will generally have to pay less child support than if they earned more. The idea is to balance the finances so that the child or children have the best opportunity for a normal life after the parents have separated. It is not only income that is taken into account when determining the support amount, but also the assets of each parent such as the family home. The ultimate aim of the law is to ensure a certain standard of living for the child that would be possible if the parents were still together.

If the non-custodial parent is unable to pay child support then the court is able to temporarily suspend the payments until the circumstances change. The parent will be encouraged to get a higher paying job and the custodial parent must then be reimbursed for the extra expenses that were incurred during the non-payment period.

In the event of split custody, a court will determine child support requirements on a case by case basis. If the child is with each parent half of the time equally then certain laws may be waived or suspended, however it is too complicated a subject to speculate generally.

Child support laws are vital if the welfare of children is to be considered once their parents are separated. Speak to your local Child Support agency to find out specific information about your state laws.

To get the 9 critical strategies for winning child custody when dealing with irrational, vindictive or abusive ex’s, click here: http://www.WinningChildCustodyStrategies.com

Joan Baker is an expert in child custody after going through her own custody ordeal, researching the laws and now helping other women going through the process.

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Child Support Help

January 18, 2012 By Maricopa County Court Leave a Comment

By Munish Chopra -

Child support or child maintenance is a process where a periodic payment is made by obligatory to oblige for the financial support of children of a marriage that has been terminated legally. Spousal support and child support are two different things. When there is a divorce preceding that includes children then there is requirement of representation of the Northern Arizona Lawyers. They get involved in the proceedings where a Court order for child support is not honored. They also take cases when a change is required in an original order.

When there is a case of child support both sides need representation. The Flagstaff Lawyers are well trained and experienced to handle both the aspects. Flagstaff takes into consideration the fact that the best interest of children is given priority. Most divorce cases with children want the best for the children. Though it is seen many times each party want to make other party suffers financially even thought it hampers logical thinking and negotiation. This is where flagstaff lawyers act smart and make their client understand the legal rights. This eventually makes their client to act and decide legally.

Child support does not mean only the physical sums of money they also include various medical and insurance expenses. Under the Arizona law no preset amount is there. This is where the Flagstaff Lawyers assists their clients in getting proper documents and proof to provide financial standings of both the parties. The courts have prior guidelines regarding the amounts and these lawyers are well acquainted with those guidelines. They feel responsible not only for their client but also for the fate of their children. In most cases it is seen that the individual responsible for paying the support to the child wants to settle on an amount so that they can get their financial matters in order. But the client of Flagstaff Lawyers if is the recipient wants to know what is going to be added to their income so as to plan their financial obligations. They consider this matter priority and work sincerely on resolving this issue.

Flagstaff Lawyers advise their client wisely for the fairness of the proposed negotiation. This sometimes makes it smoother to move matters to move along. They feel it their responsibility to save their clients incidental fees and legal ones. Flagstaff lawyers always keep their goal to satisfy the client.

For assistance on child support visit flagstaff lawyers.

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Overview of Spousal Maintenance Awards in Divorce and Legal Separation

January 12, 2012 By Maricopa County Court Leave a Comment

By Scott D Stewart -

In a divorce or legal separation, spousal maintenance may be ordered by the court to provide important financial support for one party or the other. Maintenance is paid by one spouse (or former spouse) to the other spouse (or former spouse). Some states refer to such support as alimony, others as spousal support. In any case, the purpose and result is the same, as we’ll discuss in this article.

Historical Basis for Alimony — Times Have Changed

There was a time when traditional marriages were entered into with the understanding and agreement that only death could terminate the bond. A divorce was only possible when there was evidence of marital misconduct, or fault. Once fault was established, the court looked to punish the party responsible for destroying the marriage.

Need for Alimony. Alimony was a solution to a very real economic problem. A divorced woman’s chances of finding work sufficient to support herself, even marginally so, were not promising. Knowing this, the courts were unwilling to let a husband impoverish his wife if he was guilty of marital misconduct. Receiving alimony sustained the wife who had kept her marriage vows, and paying alimony punished the husband who had not.

Punishing the Wife — No Alimony. A wife who caused the marital breakdown often found herself in immediate, serious financial trouble. Alimony was not generally available to her. The court reasoned that her post-divorce financial woes were the direct consequence of her guilty acts, and the punishment was deemed appropriate.

Punishing the Husband — Pay Alimony. As the family wage-earner, when the husband caused the marital breakdown the court granted the divorce and ordered him to continue supporting his ex-wife — support in the form of alimony. The guilty husband could not escape his obligation to support his wife, even after the divorce. The support was paid weekly or monthly, and could keep the ex-wife in the standard of living to which she had become accustomed during the marriage.

If the parties were unhappily married and both were without fault, then there were no grounds for divorce. Some couples colluded to achieve their desired result — ending a marriage they both wanted out of. When both husband and wife were at fault, the court was still unwilling to dissolve the marriage as they deserved each other and, consequently, were stuck in the marriage.

Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act.

By the middle of the 20th Century, sensibilities about the traditional marriage had changed significantly. Wives increasingly became wage-earners alongside their husbands, and the stigma of divorce was fading. In a sweeping legislative reform, Arizona adopted the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (UMDA), as did Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, and Washington.

The UMDA (1970) allowed for the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage, which could occur without any fault. Today, our Arizona courts cannot consider acts of marital misconduct in deciding whether to award spousal maintenance.

Eligibility for Spousal Maintenance — How It Works Today

In general, when determining the appropriateness of a maintenance award the court must conduct a two-part analysis.

First, A.R.S. � 25-319(A):

As a threshold question, a spouse must establish eligibility for alimony. In this first step, be prepared to answer questions like the following:

What property does the spouse have? Is the spouse already self-sufficient? Does the spouse need to stay home to care for a child? Could this spouse earn enough money to be reasonably self-sufficient? Did the marriage last many years, maybe a decade? Was the couple only married for a short time, maybe a year or two? Is the spouse at an age that would make self-sufficiency through employment impossible?

Second, A.R.S. � 25-319(B):

Second, the court considers all relevant factors in the family law case. Although the court has broad discretion, the 13factors presented in the statute provide a framework for the judge’s analysis. Here are some questions that should be asked, and answered, in this second step:

1. Standard of Living…

Did the parties live well? Were they affluent? Did they maintain a high standard of living? Did they live modestly? Did they get by with limited resources?

2. Marriage Duration…

How many years were they married to each other? Did the couple invest years in their marriage?

3. Age, Employment, Earning Ability of Supported Spouse…

Did the spouse seeking support quit working outside the home to raise their children? What jobs did that spouse have in the past? How much could he or she reasonably earn? What education does that spouse have? Would training or an education improve that spouse’s employment options?

4. Supporting Spouse’s Financial Ability…

How much does the supporting spouse earn? Can the supporting spouse take care of his or her own reasonable needs, as well as provide support for the other spouse?

5. Comparative Financial Resources and Earning Ability of Both Spouses…

Will one spouse substantially out-earn the other under most circumstances? Does one spouse’s property interests greatly exceed the other’s? Is there a significant financial imbalance between the spouses?

6. Contributions from Supported Spouse…

Did one spouse maintain the household and care for the children, freeing the other spouse to concentrate his or her efforts on career employment?

7. Extent Supported Spouse’s Lost Career Opportunities…

Did one spouse set aside his or her career, education, or employment goals so the other spouse could get ahead?

8. Ability of Both Spouses to Contribute to Children’s Educational Costs…

Will each spouse have sufficient funds to help with the children’s educational costs? Will a spouse only be able to help with the children’s educational expenses if he or she receives help in the form of spousal support?

9. Financial Resources of Supported Spouse…

Does the spouse have sufficient property to take care of all his or her needs without financial help? What makes up that spouse’s community assets?

10. Time Needed for Training or Educational Program…

Is it possible for the spouse seeking maintenance to get vocational, college, or university training to improve overall employability? With an education, will that spouse be able to build a sustainable career? How much money would be required to get the necessary education or training? How long will it take to get through that training or educational program?

11. Excessive or Abnormal Expenditures and Concealment…

Did the spouse hide property and assets or commit other destructive or wasteful acts?

12. Health Care Insurance Costs…

What will be the cost of health care insurance coverage for the spouse seeking support after the divorce?

13. Damages and Judgments from Criminal Conduct…

Was there a conviction of domestic violence committed against the other spouse or their child? Were there any other convictions in which the other spouse or child was a victim?

Maricopa County Spousal Maintenance Guidelines.

In an attempt to improve predictability and consistency in awards, the Maricopa Spousal Maintenance Guidelines were developed. The guidelines provide a formula from which a monthly support amount and support duration can be calculated with greater certainty. The formula allows for predictability and uniformity from one case to the next.

Guidelines Are Discretionary. As useful as Maricopa’s guidelines are, their application is purely discretionary with the court. There is no mandate, or requirement, that a judge use any guidelines at all in his or her maintenance analysis. In the case of Ramsay v. Ramsay, 224 Ariz.467, 232 P3d 1249 (Ariz.App. 2010), the Court of Appeals stated once again that:

“There are no legally authoritative ‘guidelines’ governing spousal maintenance in MaricopaCountyor any other Arizonacounty. A.R.S. � 25-319(B) vests the trial court with broad discretion to determine the amount and duration of spousal maintenance awards after due consideration of the factors that the Legislature articulated. The statute does not direct the court to refer to any set of guidelines, and the court’s disregard of any such informal reference materials cannot give rise to a finding of abuse of discretion.”

The best approach to resolving spousal maintenance issues is by thorough preparation. Substantiating a spouse’s position on maintenance, with strong supporting evidence on each of the 13 factors, may be pivotal in achieving a favorable outcome in the case.

Scott David Stewart, a Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated attorney, is the founder and principal of the Law Offices of Scott David Stewart, pllc.

The Law Offices of Scott David Stewart, pllc, an Arizona divorce and family law firm with offices in Phoenix and Chandler, represents clients in Phoenix, Chandler, Scottsdale, Mesa, Gilbert, Glendale, Peoria, Tempe and Surprise. Areas of practice include divorce, child custody, parenting time and visitation, child support, spousal support (alimony), property and asset division. Every case accepted by the Law Offices of Scott David Stewart, pllc, receives personal attention, careful meticulous preparation, skilled negotiation, and aggressive litigation. The firm’s website is http://www.SDSFamilyLaw.com.

The firm will continue focusing on family law, including divorce, child custody, parenting time and visitation, child support, spousal support (alimony), and domestic violence.

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Filed Under: Family Court Tagged With: Divorce, Family Court, maricopa county family court, spousal maintenance

Family Court Tyranny Against Fathers Versus The Cover-Up Propaganda

January 4, 2012 By Maricopa County Court Leave a Comment

By Shane Fla it -

- which include their right to parent their children. This article contrasts this fact with the state’s divorce and domestic violence industry’s propaganda that covers up family court’s unconstitutional use of its greater good excuses – safety of women’s abuse excuse and the best interest of the child excuse.

1. Evidence of a tyranny against fathers:

Constitutional protections that the courts and their processes are obliged to follow for all citizens, as litigants and defendants, were put in place to help secure those fundamental rights – the very reason for which the U.S. was formed. In fact, the lack of such constitutional protections in court is evidence that fundamental rights are being denied.

Our founding fathers expected bad laws to occur occasionally. They instituted constitutional court process protections – including fully informed juries – which would help stem the tyranny such laws would produce.

Included in bad laws are the ‘greater good excuse’ laws that all tyrannies impose. I call them ‘greater good’ because their execution denies individual rights for some ‘professed’ greater good according to some ideology or temporary necessity. But, of course, no greater good is supposed to exceed our individual rights in a free society – as the U.S. was formed to be. So these individual rights are not ever subject to vote because they’re unalienable.

I’ve categorized two laws – safety of women’s ‘abuse law’ and the ‘best interest of the child’ law as ‘greater good excuse’ laws. That’s because their operation in family court clearly negates and denies both the unalienable rights as well as the constitutional protections that each of us is entitled to. The detailed nature of how these greater good laws are carried out in family court shows that they ignore every aspect of constitutional protections and the maxims of law that promote court fairness for litigants. Therefore these laws represent a tyranny by their nature.

But beyond that, these ‘greater good excuse’ laws and their court processes overwhelmingly deny the rights of fathers while benefiting mothers especially in divorce or paternity actions. The loss of paternal rights that fit fathers routinely face in family court is unconstitutional and akin to state kidnapping of his children from him. Then, the state’s imposes heavy payments – euphemistically called child support – on fathers that are maliciously enforced and extorted by easy imprisonment of fathers without the required constitutional due process.

Both the new ‘safety of women abuse law’ and the distortion of current family court processes with its ‘best interest of the child’ law over its original form have been pushed by feminists under women’s rights organizations and their government affiliates. Not a shred of ‘equal rights’ for fathers to their children’s care is considered or allowed by such feminists.

As a result of these unconstitutional laws and processes that deny fathers their rights, fathers, families and our freedom are being destroyed. These laws and those people in the state’s divorce and domestic violence industry that support them and benefit from them together constitute a tyranny against fathers – or often called a ‘war on fatherhood’. Here’s what fathers face under this tyranny.

2. Slavery of a father at the whim of a mother – under the feminist jurisprudence of family courts:

At the mother’s whim, the fit father is civilly murdered or civilly raped of his rights, his protections and his children.

For not doing anything wrong, his children are taken from his care, and then he’s turned into virtually a slave of the state and the mother who extort from him horrendous and impoverishing weekly payments that euphemistically are called child support for whatever the mother wants to spend them on. These payments go on until the child reaches as old as 23 years. And if the father doesn’t pay it all he goes to jail, is denied his license to drive, his license to work, and his passport.

The fit father also faces two badges of infamy against him without him doing anything wrong based on denying him his rights and constitutional protections under the feminist ‘greater good’ laws. These infamous badges are ‘deadbeat dad’ and ‘abuser’.

If the father can’t pay everything he’s ordered to pay, he’s called a deadbeat. The courts can and will send him to jail without constitutional due process under illegal contempt processes to extort money from him – not unlike mafia thugs enforcing payments of protection from innocent shopkeepers.

Receiving a restraining order (RO) against him requires no provable wrongdoing by him. Only the subjective statement of ‘fear’ by a woman is required for the court to grant it. It’s less than a misdemeanour. But the restraining order paints him as an abusive man to friends, and associates as well as his own children. And, any innocent and harmless violation of the RO will make him a criminal.

3. The propaganda to cover-up the truth:

But you’ll not hear or read anything of this sort because we’re flooded with propaganda of the state’s divorce and domestic violence industry. This industry feeds off the above court-ordered denials of fit and good fathers’ unalienable rights. From them, you’ll hear: * Women need easily obtained restraining orders to be made safe from intimate partners they say they fear

* Family court processes are necessary to determine what’s in best interest of the children; after all, it’s the children that are most important

* Fathers must ‘do the right thing’ – pay all the child support ordered by the family court

* Deadbeat dads must be punished for not supporting their children

* The laws dealing with abuse and safety of women are fair and due process is upheld.

These statements sound good but they cover up the tyranny they produce. Each one is, in fact, a lie.

You’ll, of course, never hear my term of ‘greater good’ excuse laws. Such a name would expose the fact that these laws deny fathers their unalienable rights our country was formed to secure for them. That’s an inconvenient truth which the feminist-instigated divorce and domestic violence industry wants to hide from the public. Exposing it would interfere with the power, money and agenda it produces for them.

Shane Flait gives you the capability you need to fight for your rights.
Get his FREE Downloads at http://www.FathersRightsLegalAid.com
Take his ecourse: How to Handle Your Family Court Case at http://www.fathersrightslegalaid.com/HowToHandlePromo.htm

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Filed Under: Family Court, Father's Rights Tagged With: family court tyranny, Fathers Rights

Family Law – Various Issues With Which it Deal

December 8, 2011 By Maricopa County Court Leave a Comment

By Andrew Stratton –

Family law encompasses a wide range of family related issues including prenuptial agreements, adoption, child custody and visitation and divorce to just name a few. In our modern society one doesn’t have to look further than the media to see the complications of modern life are not necessarily keeping up with the abilities of the court to regulate and offer relief. Issues such as property division when a couple has lived as man and wife without the legal recognition marriage can offer an eye opening experience as judges can not treat the property obtained during the relationship as marital assets and a whole new set of rules, which may seem less accurate and less fair, but none the less apply. When children are involved it can become more complex as the need to establish paternity can slow down the process to arrange child visitation, custody and support. Taking all of the deviations of life into consideration it is easy to understand why this law becomes important in protecting the rights of families.

Although technically divorces are handled by the Supreme Court, most other similarly related matters are handled by family court. This court can ultimately end up micro managing the lives of families with concerns such as paternity, child support, and spousal support. Paternity is usually not a problem with children born in wedlock but it may have to be established for children born out of wedlock. If paternity has already been proven the court can move forward towards setting kid’s support. This law can also work with custodial guardians to enforce child support orders and garnish the wages of parents who refuse to pay support. Other issues that family court deals with include spousal support. A non working spouse in the process of being divorced can be entitled to spousal support in order to avoid going on welfare. In addition to the types of law already discussed, this can extend to criminal matters such as restraining orders related to domestic violence. The same will also address the issue of youth who are beyond parental control and juveniles who have been charged with criminal offenses.

Clearly this law is capable of providing a wide range of services not only for families who need court intervention to move forward with their lives but also for families who occasionally find a need for family court to enforce established orders such as child or spousal support.

In nassau county family law is practiced by lawyers who devote their career to providing you with effective, personalized service and representation. They are personable, compassionate, and sensitive to your emotional and financial situation. To know more visit, http://www.brubek.com

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Filed Under: Family Court

Father’s Rights

November 15, 2011 By Maricopa County Court Leave a Comment

By Holcy Thompson III -

Top Tips on Father’s Rights

The term father’s rights can take on a few different meaning. In the broadest sense, it relates to a movement which pushes for more recognition of the rights of fathers in what is often perceived to be a judicial system which favors mothers in cases of divorce. In a more specific sense, it means the individual rights of a father in a divorce or separation situation. We’ll cover both of these issues in this article – the broader movement as well as the actual rights you have as a father if your marriage is splitting up.

The Bias of Family Courts

One of the core ideas of father’s rights activists is that fathers are discriminated against by the family court system. Divorce law in many states tends to give custody to whichever parent is deemed to be closest to the children and seen as most instrumental to carrying on their lives unaffected. This notion grows out of the idea that the divorce should affect children as little as possible, so custody should also reflect the “status quo” of life before the divorce as much as possible for the children. Because in many traditional families the father is the main breadwinner and the mother stays at home to look after the children, the mother wins custody almost by default in many of these situations.

Fathers’ advocates argue that this is unfair because it restricts fathers in their right to be a parent. Advocates of father’s rights also tend to point out that children should be raised by both parents (except in cases where a parent has been abusive). In this argument, the best interests of the children (on which child custody laws are built) are to have both parents involved in their lives. So the best interests of children are not very well represented by the current legal model which tends to be lopsided towards giving sole custody to mothers.

The movement has also strongly criticized the current models of child support used because they usually end in fathers paying money to mothers, even in shared custody scenarios. In such a scenario the father is left with less money to support the children when he has custody of them.

Individual Rights of Fathers

First of all, you have a right to have a relationship with your children unless you have actually taken action which would lead to you forfeiting that right, such as being physically violent towards your wife or the children themselves. If you’re not at fault, you have every right to have a relationship with your children and you should fight for that right. The law is intended to reach a conclusion which serves the best interests of the children. You need to demonstrate that having a good relationship with you is in their best interests.

Be aware that your wife may produce trumped-up charges in order to make a case against you for sole custody – such as accusing you of abuse when you’re guilty of no such crime. You know the character of your ex-wife so you’ll know whether this situation might apply to you or not. If this happens, you need to get the best lawyer you can and gather all the evidence possible to prove that you’re innocent of such crimes. Unfortunately this often comes down to a “your word against hers” situation, in which case the way your character and your wife’s character is represented in court becomes of ultimate importance. In other words you win such a case by demonstrating that you’re not the type of person who would abuse his family, and she is the type of person capable of lying about that.

Even without going to such extremes, your ex may attempt to block you from seeing your kids. It’s important to remind her not to let her own selfish interests get in the way of what’s best for the kids and that by blocking them from having a father, she’s actually hurting them the most. You can often do a lot more by addressing your wife directly than battling through the courts – court should be a last resort when your wife simply won’t give in and listen to reason.

More information on fathers rights.

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Filed Under: Father's Rights Tagged With: arizona child custody, Child Custody, Family Court, Fathers Rights