Foreman & Rugile

Many people going through the dissolution process struggle with defining their "date of separation." For some, it is very black and white: s/he moved out of the marital home and perhaps changed her/his bank accounts and therefore can pinpoint the exact date of separation. However, for most people, it is much more complicated. For various reasons, spouses may need to remain in the marital home for some time, there may not be an extra bedroom to sleep in, they may need to keep... their finances connected for specific reasons. Attorneys also struggle with putting concrete terms to define a party's date of separation. We can give some guidance and examples, but the rules are not clear. Fortunately, the California Supreme Court will provide some clear guidelines (hopefully) in a few months when it decides In Re Marriage of Davis. http://www.sfgate.com//State-Supreme-Court-to-decide-defin

We see cases involving parental alienation and gatekeeping all the time, unfortunately. However many parents do not understand how their behaviors towards the other parent directly affects the children in the relationship. Nor do the parents usually understand that such behaviors weigh heavily in the decision to change custody from one parent to the other. My advice to all parents, especially those going through high conflict custody and visitation litigation: figure it out.... Get along for your children. You do not have to like your ex-spouse, but that person is still your children's mother or father. Pass along important information regarding your children, because that is the right thing to do. Stop setting him or her up for failure, because that is ultimately hurting your children. In fact, there's an app for that too! TalkingParents.com is a free tool to help with co-parenting communication. This is a nice article about parental gatekeeping: http://www.huffingtonpost.com//are-specific-child-custody-

"Law Suits" for All Clothing Drive: During the month of July you can donate gently worn suits and business attire to the Men's Wearhouse and receive 50% off your next purchase. Best yet, all donations benefit at-risk men transitioning into the workforce. You can go to menswearhouse.com to find a donation location. #giveasuit ... http://www.menswearhouse.com//servl/ContentAttachmentView

There is lots of media coverage on the recent arrest of Mallory Loyola, Tennessee's first charge under its new law criminalizing drug use during pregnancy. Here is an interesting perspective... "There’s this notion increasingly for women that by carrying a fertilized egg, she can be subject to unique and certain penalties, punishment and control." http://abcnews.go.com//doctors-object-tennessee-law/story

The 8 Best Lines From Ginsburg's Dissent on the Hobby Lobby Contraception Decision: http://m.motherjones.com///best-lines-hobby-lobby-decision

A little legal humor to start the day... http://www.npr.org//batman-v-superman-a-legal-thriller-we-

W&R Featured in SCU Law Magazine http://law.scu.edu/sclaw/spring-2014-solo-practice-seminar/

http://www.slate.com//female_lawyers_still_must_dress_cons

In an interesting case out of New Jersey last month, Plotnick v. DeLuccia, a Superior Court Judge ruled that a woman can bar the biological father whom she is not married to, from being in the delivery room while she gives birth. Citing constitutional law regarding reproductive privacy and abortion rights, the court states that "any interest a father has before the child's birth is subordinate to the mother's interests." The court goes on to hold (among several holding not m...entioned in this blog) that a woman has a special pre-birth interested protected by the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, that a father's interest is not equal to that of the mother, that it is an undue burden to notify the father when the mother goes into labor, and that "ordering the father’s name be entered onto the birth certificate on the day that the child is born does not rise to the level of an immediate irreparable harm." Read the full opinion: http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/tr/Plotnick-v-DeLuccia.pdf

Why you should never avoid support payments

"The Father Factor" is an important consideration for custody and visitation http://www.npr.org//285744/the-father-factor-in-kids-lives