News

Case Summaries

Family Law

[05/14] Hofmann v. Sender
The district court's determination that the parties' children were habitually resident in Canada under the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA), and, therefore, were ordered returned to Canada for further legal proceedings, is affirmed, where: 1) this appeal has not been rendered moot by the fact that the children have been returned to Canada pursuant to the district court's order; and 2) for purposes of the Hague Convention, the parties' last shared intent with respect to their children's residence was that they reside in Canada.

[05/09] In re I.J.
A father's prolonged and egregious sexual abuse of his own child may provide substantial evidence to support a finding that all his children are juvenile court dependents, and here the father's abuse of his daughter supports a determination that his sons are juvenile court dependents.

[04/30] Granger v. Misercola
The Family Court's order awarding petitioner periodic four-hour visits at the prison where he resided, with his child, who was then three years old, is affirmed, where: 1) the lower courts used the appropriate legal standard, applying the rebuttable presumption in favor of visitation and considering whether respondent rebutted the presumption through showing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that visitation would be harmful to the child; and 2) there is support in the record for the finding that the travel would not be harmful to the welfare of the child, and that petitioner made efforts to establish a meaningful relationship with the child.

[04/29] McBurney v. Young
Virginia's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which grants Virginia citizens access to all public records, but grants no such right to non-Virginians, does not violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause, which protects only those privileges and immunities that are "fundamental," nor does it violate the dormant Commerce Clause.

[04/26] In re Nelson B.
Dismissal of a petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300(b) was proper, where the Juvenile Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because: 1) the minor's aunt in Maryland qualified as a person acting as a parent for purposes of the home state definition; and 2) barring a threat of mistreatment or abuse in his state of origin, a minor's unilateral decision to run away to California cannot defeat the home-state status of his origin state under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA).

[04/26] In re Marriage of Kahn
Family court's order entering discovery sanctions and default judgment against husband awarding wife $275,000 for husband's breach of fiduciary duty is reversed and remanded in part, where the award of $275,000 rendered the judgment void, because wife's petition had not indicated that she was seeking any particular amount of damages for breach of fiduciary duty.

More...