Hall v. Smith   Hall petitioned for a protective order on behalf of herself and Hall and Smith’s two minor children, alleging that Hall was once married to Smith; that they have two children in common; that Smith is controlling and manipulative; that Smith has been stalking Hall; that there was physical abuse at the...Read More

When discussing arbitration with your legal counsel, you will want to talk through the potential advantages and disadvantages. Advantages of divorce law arbitration include: The ability of participants to decide who will be their judge. Parties can select an arbitrator with particular expertise, such as business valuation, retirement plans, tax, nonmarital tracing issues, mental health,...Read More

Santise v. Santise   Mother and Father were divorced in 2011, incorporating a marital settlement agreement into their decree whereby the parties had joint custody of the minor children, Father was designated as the primary residential custodian, Mother received reasonable parenting time, and Father was allowed to relocate with the children. Afterward, Father relocated with...Read More

J. v. Cabinet for Health and Family Services, et al.   The Department of Community Based Services was notified that Mother’s children were discovered unattended in a hotel room. Mother had entrusted her children with a friend who left them unattended since 10 p.m. the night before. Mother was in Missouri and stated she did...Read More

Nienaber v. Kentucky, ex rel. Mercer The Commonwealth filed a motion for show cause order, alleging Mother had failed to pay her child support obligation. Mother admitted she had not made a payment since September 2017. She had quit her job and was unable to find other employment, was incarcerated from around the time she...Read More

Alternative Dispute Resolutions (“ADR”) include divorce mediation, arbitration, and collaborative family law. Kentucky Courts regularly order family law cases to mediation, but arbitration is used much less frequently. What is arbitration? The American Bar Association describes arbitration as “a private process where disputing parties agree that one or several individuals can make a decision about...Read More

Childress v. Hart   Mother relocated to Jefferson County from Hardin County, enrolling Child in a new school and various extracurricular activities. Due to the relocation, Father filed a motion requesting (1) Child be enrolled in an elementary school in Hardin County; (2) Child reside in Hardin County; (3) to enforce the previous parenting schedule;...Read More

Kentucky v. K., et al.   Pupil Personnel Director, Finke, filed a DNA petition in Family Court alleging five-year-old Child had missed 21.5 days of school, 16 of which were unexcused. Child was enrolled in kindergarten as a five-year-old and the absences occurred before she turned six. Family Court summarily dismissed the petition, finding it...Read More

Blackaby v. Barnes   Child was born to Mother and Father. Maternal Grandmother petitioned Family Court for adoption of Child, to which Mother consented. Father contested the adoption, but he died before completion of Child’s adoption proceedings. On October 23, 2017, Family Court entered a judgment of adoption. Paternal Grandfather petitioned Family Court for grandparent...Read More

Petrie v. Brackett, et al.   After a physical altercation between Father and Son, wherein Father restrained Son so that Son could not continue hitting him, Mother filed a petition for a protective order for Son. At the hearing, the testimony revealed that Son pushed Father several times and then hit him in the chest....Read More