Free family law clinic through end of month - Utah

Salt Lake Tribune - Utah

Utah Legal Services begins sponsoring a free family law clinic this month.

Staffed by University of Utah law students and attorney volunteers, the clinic will assist people who need help in the areas of divorce, protective orders and custody.

The clinics will be held between 6 and 7:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in room W19 of the Matheson Courthouse, 450 S. State St. in Salt Lake City.

A presentation to address frequently asked questions will be held at the beginning of the meeting, so attendees are asked to arrive on time at 6 p.m.

Divorce mediators educate - Utah

The Spectrum

Excerpts:

Divorce takes anywhere from several months to years to settle in court. And so the state of Utah passed House Bill 4, or Utah Code 30-3-39, earlier this year. It states that if there is a contested issue when filing for divorce, whether it's over property, custody, visitation rights or another matter, starting May 2 all parties must participate in at least one session of mediation.

Though only the first meeting is required by law, the results are beginning to prove its effectiveness in resolving sensitive issues.

"The national statistic on cases solved through mediation range from 60 to 70 percent," Elton said. "It is cheaper, quicker and the parties have total control of the outcome."

Mediators cost $50 to $200 dollars an hour on average. Divorces can be solved within the time the two parties spend during mediation, eliminating the time waiting for court appearances and hefty legal fees.

Utah Bill to Eliminate No Fault Divorce Tabled

Excerpts below, full article at the Salt Lake Tribune

Divorce proposal heads to counseling Withdrawn: A lawmaker's plan to eliminate no-fault breakups is referred to a task force for study

A Utah lawmaker who wanted to eliminate most no-fault divorces has dropped her legislation. Instead, West Jordan Republican Rep. Peggy Wallace plans to send the contentious issue to a state task force for further study.

"Sometimes, when you get into a bill, you realize there are other issues that need to be looked at," Wallace said Tuesday.

As originally written, her House Bill 56 would have blocked couples who had been married for more than 10 years or who had minor children from divorcing for "irreconcilable differences" - the most common grounds for dissolving a union. They still could have divorced, but only for explicit reasons, such as spousal abuse or adultery.

Since the legislation was unveiled at an open house of the conservative think tank Sutherland Institute in December, Wallace has fielded dozens of calls and e-mails from Utahns. Some were outraged about her idea, while others suggested their own changes to state divorce statutes. A hefty fiscal note of nearly $1 million in estimated additional court costs also weighed the bill down.

Tuesday, the lawmaker, who never has been married, introduced a substitute bill establishing a "Divorce Task Force." The group would consider expanding grounds for divorce, including "pornography in the home with minors."

Task force members also would review divorce waiting periods and the fees charged for filing divorce papers. Wallace says state courts may be "subsidizing" the cost of divorce: Utah spends $2.7 million handling divorce cases, but collects just $690,000 in fees. Divorcing couples pay about $90 in court filing fees.

Op Ed on No Fault Divorce

This opinion article is from the Salt Lake Tribune.

For the common good, repeal no-fault divorce law Utah Voices
By Paul T. Mero

My parents divorced when I was 14 years old. Their divorce came one week shy of their 25th wedding anniversary. Never did I hear them argue and only once, toward the end, did I sense that there was any trouble at home.

While I knew they loved me, the whole "divorce thing" was beyond my young boy's comprehension. I simply trusted that my parents knew what they were doing, as tough as it was to be apart as a family. Both of my parents went on to remarry, my dad twice again and my mom once. As time has rolled forward I have had a longing that my parents would one day get back together.

As a young boy when they divorced, I just knew they still loved each other. I still possess a letter written to me by my dad telling me what was about to occur and, even still, how much he loved my mother and how he expected me to love and respect her.

They divorced at a time when "no-fault" laws had swept across the country. As for my parents' situation there was no abuse, no adultery, no abandonment, no fault. My mom decided, no doubt after some long soul-searching and inherent pain with the idea, that she was no longer as happy as she wanted to be in the marriage.

It is very difficult to Monday-morning quarterback such events, let alone jump forward to Saturday-morning quarterbacking this event some 30 years later. But is it beyond the pale for a dependent child to expect that his parents stay married absent some egregious fault? Even further, should it be a matter of public policy to insist that parents stay married until the children are gone, again absent some egregious fault?

Prior to 1970 there were no such things as "irreconcilable differences." Public policy in that day required these couples to otherwise tough it out - that if marital problems existed, absent fault, they should work out their differences as long as dependent children were involved.

The "no-fault revolution" occurred for some very good personal reasons. But public policy is not about what is personal, it is about what is best for the common good, and divorce laws, like marriage laws, are not about personal relationships, they're about preserving families and protecting society from incurring unnecessary burdens.

With over 30 years of no-fault policy under our belts, social science research has made clear that our related high levels of divorce are devastating more of life than simply relationships. The financial costs to society, especially in support of fatherless homes, are dramatic.

When children are involved, why should divorce be easy? Though divorce is always messy and never pleasant, why should our laws needlessly facilitate broken homes?

Utah is a family state. We just passed a constitutional amendment defining and protecting marriage. Perhaps the time has come that we should be consistent in our defense of marriage. Having a bad, unfulfilled, or discontented day, week, month, or year is insufficient reason to tear a family apart. It is time to repeal no-fault divorce in Utah.

By the way, on Oct. 5, 2000, my parents - married 24 years, divorced and separate 28 years - were remarried in our family home. They reclaimed the love they lost to easy divorce.

Paul T. Mero is president of the Sutherland Institute, a state-based public policy group that is proposing legislation for the upcoming session of the Legislature to end no-fault divorce in Utah.

Utah's Uniform Parentage Act

This act was passed by the Utah Senate on Wed (2/11/04). It is most relative to surrogacy cases, but it does have two provisions that are related to father's rights. Although the intent of these provisions may have been for the purposes of updating surrogacy laws, they potentially could impact fathers in other family law cases.

1) Creates a registry for the biological fathers of children in adoption cases.

2) Protects the rights of men who have a father relationship with their children, only to find out they were not the biological father.

Daily Herald