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Legal Thoughts by Thomas A Morton

caring, family law attorney in Phoenix, AZ

Friday, 26 April 2013 10:45

Avoid the Social Media Nightmare

Social media can be a gold mine of evidence for a family law attorney because many people are just not careful about what they post online. Cheating spouses get caught on Facebook, incriminating photos end up on Instagram, Twitter posts demonstrate an individual's morals and bad habits, and Foursquare and Yelp check-ins inform others of our whereabouts. Not only can the implications of our social media footprints increase the risk of unrest in a marriage, family law attorneys are turning to the trail of evidence left on social media channels in divorce and child custody cases. Most people use social media. Many family law attorneys are now advising their clients to stop using social channels in an effort curb the…
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Friday, 19 April 2013 10:38

Factors in Legal Decision Making (Custody) Beyond the Statutory Factors

One of the largest concerns for parents in a divorce is legal decision making (formerly known as child custody) and how the family court will decide it. While there are many judges in Maricopa County who seem to lean one way or the other, the gender of the parent is a non-factor in the statutes regarding legal decision making (custody). Many people also think that income or wealth is a factor, but it is not a factor. Arizona family law courts decide legal decision making based on Arizona Revised Statute § 25-403, which requires the family court to make its decision based on the best interests of the child and consider all relevant factors, including the following: 1. The past,…
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Monday, 15 April 2013 18:34

Questions to Ask When Consulting a Family Law Attorney

Selecting your family law attorney can be one of the most important decisions to make in your family law case. An attorney who gives you a complete and honest consultation will attempt to give you enough information so that you will not have many questions after discussing your case for a while. This is a list of questions that you should either ask during a consultation with a Phoenix, Arizona family law attorney, or, preferably, the attorney should answer before you ask. 1. Can you explain the issues in my case to me? This is a basic requirement. If the attorney cannot adequately and clearly identify and explain the issues in your case, look for another attorney. 2. Can you…
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Friday, 15 March 2013 17:21

Arizona Community Property

In an Arizona divorce, the court does not necessarily equally divide the property between the husband and wife. The law does not require the divorcing couple to sell every community property asset and equally divide the proceeds. Arizona’s statutes require the court to divide the community property "equitably." Arizona courts have held that "equitable" does not necessary mean "equal," but equal is usually most equitable. Still, there are many circumstances that will require an unequal division of community property. When dividing assets in an Arizona divorce, the court first identifies all sole and separate property. Sole and separate property is property acquired by a spouse before marriage, after the date of service of a divorce petition, or property acquired by…
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Friday, 08 March 2013 09:51

Credit Card Debt Plaintiffs Must Actually Prove Their Case.

In addition family law cases, I also defend credit card debt collection cases. Often, divorcing couples are left with credit card debt that they cannot pay because they have just went from having a certain amount of money to support one household to supporting two households with the same amount of money. Almost always, plaintiffs in credit card collection cases cannot prove their case, whether the plaintiff is the original creditor or an entity that has purchased the account. This is because of poor record keeping. Often, the only evidence the plaintiff can produce is a small amount of monthly statements that show little if any purchases; a card holder agreement that lists no parties, is undated, and is not…
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Friday, 01 March 2013 17:01

Family Court Judge's Words to Divorcing Parents

Judge Michael Haas retired in December, 2002 after 26 years of service as a Judge in Cass County, Minnesota. There are different stories on the origin of his now famous (at least in family law circles) words to divorcing parents. The one constant in the stories is that they all attribute the words to Judge Michael Haas of Minnesota. As an experienced family law attorney who has handled hundreds of custody and parenting time cases, I absolutely love the following words attributed to Judge Haas: “Your children have come into this world because of the two of you. Perhaps you two made lousy choices as to whom you decided to be the other parent. If so, that is YOUR problem…
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Wednesday, 27 February 2013 14:04

Arizona Grandparents Visitation Rights: Not Just for Grandparents Anymore

The recent changes in Arizona's custody (now legal decision-making) and parenting time statutes got all of the publicity, but the Arizona legislature also made some important changes to the grandparents visitation statutes. Some fo the changes are organizational. For example, the legislature combined the grandparents visitation statute with the statute on custody by a non-parent. As for the substantive changes to the grandparents visitation statute, the most important change is that the statute no longer pertains to just grandparents and great-grandparents. The old version of the statute said that the Superior Court may grant grandparents and great-grandparents reasonable visitation rights if such visitation is in the child's best interests (and certain other factors were present). Now, the statute says that…
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