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Family Law

UtahAttorney FeesCivil ProcedureFamily Law
Court of Appeals of Utah
Uncategorized

Paulson v. Paulson — Expert Exclusion Was Harmless and Premarital Agreement Could Not Bar Statutory Attorney Fees in High-Asset Divorce

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The Utah Court of Appeals reversed an expert exclusion and attorney fees denial in a high-asset divorce arising from a California-law premarital agreement, holding that a technically deficient expert disclosure was harmless where the disclosing party promptly provided a full report and offered deposition access, and that a premarital agreement’s separate-property clause cannot waive a spouse’s right to attorney fees under Utah Code § 81-1-203(1).

UtahAppellate ProcedureCivil ProcedureFamily Law
Court of Appeals of Utah
Uncategorized

Christensen v. Christensen — District Court Must Hold Hearing and Apply Independent Review to Commissioner’s Child Support Recommendation

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The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed a post-decree minivan enforcement order because ordering payment of lost equity fell within the four corners of the divorce decree, but reversed a child support arrearage ruling because the district court refused to hold an evidentiary hearing mandated by Utah R. Civ. P. 108(d)(2) and applied abuse-of-discretion review instead of the independent assessment required by rule 108(f).

UtahContract InterpretationFamily Law
Court of Appeals of Utah
Uncategorized

Schmidt v. Schmidt — Three Plausible Interpretations of a Divorce Mortgage-Payment Provision Compel Remand for an Evidentiary Hearing

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The Utah Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s order enforcing a post-divorce mortgage-payment obligation, holding that Provision 2 of the parties’ Modification supports at least three reasonable interpretations—property-specific, region-limited, and location-neutral—and is therefore ambiguous as a matter of law, requiring remand for an evidentiary hearing on the parties’ intent before the provision can be enforced against Stephen Schmidt.

UtahAppellate ProcedureFamily LawOrders of Protection
Court of Appeals of Utah
Uncategorized

Canteros-Alvarez v. Green — Conditional Text Threat Does Not Establish Imminent Physical Harm Under Utah’s Cohabitant Abuse Act

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The Utah Court of Appeals vacated a protective order against a sister whose angry text—expressing a conditional desire to fight—did not place the petitioner in reasonable fear of imminent physical harm under the Cohabitant Abuse Act, because the threatened violence was contingent on a future event, the parties were physically distant, and there was no history of violence between them.

UtahFamily LawIneffective Assistance of CounselJuvenile Law
Court of Appeals of Utah
Uncategorized

In re A.H. — Utah Court of Appeals Again Vacates TPR Order After Finding All Three of Father’s Trial Attorneys Rendered Ineffective Assistance

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For the third time, the Utah Court of Appeals vacated an order terminating Father’s parental rights as to two young children, holding that all three of his trial attorneys — retained counsel and two appointed counsel — rendered ineffective assistance by failing to file pretrial disclosures and seek a continuance, depriving Father of the ability to call sibling witnesses whose testimony bore directly on the best-interest determination; the court also held that Utah’s IAC right extends to retained attorneys who never formally enter an appearance.

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