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

M. v. Allen County Attorney’s Office, et al.   Father appealed Family Court’s dispositional order in a Dependency, Neglect, and Abuse (“DNA”) matter. Father did not name the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (“the Cabinet”) as a party to the appeal. Father failed to respond to the Court of Appeals’ Order requiring him to...Read More

Hoskins v. Elliott, et al.   On February 11, 2017, Mother left her nine-month-old Child with Elliott to babysit for the weekend and until Mother went to scheduled court appearances. For quite some time, Mother did not reappear, and Child became sick. Elliott did not have the legal authority to take Child to the doctor....Read More

Turner v. Hodge, et al.   Child was born in March of 2005 to Murphy and Hodge, who were unmarried. In 2015, Hodge’s paternity was established, and a child support obligation was set on the same day. Turner, until Hodge’s paternity was established, believed that her son, Jeffrey, was Child’s father, and Child lived with...Read More

Lage, et al. v. Esterle   Mother entered a maternity home to give birth, bringing along her two-year-old Twins. A Volunteer at the maternity home and her Husband agreed to care for the Twins while Mother gave birth and recovered. The parties agreed the Twins would stay with Volunteer and Husband for four months, which...Read More