From Charlie Abut at New Jersey Family Law: The wife was not eligible for the benefits of “Innocent Spouse” treatment under Internal Revenue Code Section 6015. Thus, the tax penalties, interest and liabilities in question were not solely attributable to the husband. The wife was deemed to have had actual knowledge of the understatements of...Read More

The title of the post says it all.Read More

Andrea Schneider at Marquette University Law School has a forthcoming article with disconcerting but not surprising conclusions, What Family Lawyers are Really Doing When They Negotiate. From the abstract: After discussing what skills are needed for effective negotiation behavior, the Article then looks more closely at how family lawyers in particular are negotiating.Read More

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children announces: The International Missing Children’s Division of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is very pleased to announce the creation of a practitioner’s guide to litigating Hague Convention cases. The manual, “Litigating International Child Abduction Cases Under the Hague Convention,” was prepared by the law...Read More

Lohman v. Carnahan, online, decided September 19, 2007 by the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal. held where the husband and wife have decided to raise the child of their marriage and to accept all the rights and responsibilities of parenthood, a man who may have contributed his DNA to the child has no statutory...Read More

None of the Court of Appeals “to be published” opinions released today are family law related.Read More

Save the dates of April 17-18, 2008 for the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Kentucky Chapter 11th Annual Family Law Seminar. We already have Melvin Frumke from Florida to talk about income tax ramifications in divorce cases. Also, Lynne Z. Gold Bicken and Dr. Jonathan Gould are confirmed to present a substantial piece on child...Read More

The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued formal opinion 07-447 on August 9, 2007. It views collaborative practice as akin to a limited engagement with the client. The opinion reminds us that the attorneys’ professional obligations of due diligence remain. Practice tip: Don’t use your standard employment contract for a...Read More

Check out the Metropolitan Corporate Counsel magazine interview with Lynne Z. Golk-Bikin, What Price Does The Company Pay In An Executive’s Divorce Or Custody Battle? It is available online.Read More

The IRS revised its Request for Innocent Spouse Relief Form 8857 this year, online here. Charlie Abut at New Jersey Family Law offers the good suggestion that the detailed form be used as a basis for a client interview when tax problems rear their ugly head in divorce.Read More