The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, commonly referred to UIFSA, is a uniform statute enacted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in order to provide consistency and certainty when more than one state is involved in child support proceedings. At the instructions from Congress, the Act was created in order to avoid multiple conflicting child support orders…
A First Appearance is a court proceeding held in every divorce action filed in New Hampshire with minor children as well as any initial filings for parental rights and responsibilities and/or child support. These proceedings are meant to educate the parties as to the court system and the benefit of mediation. Because the First Appearance is typically the first involvement…
In order to receive a domestic violence restraining order under NH RSA 173: B, the person seeking the restraining order must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he/she was abused. In Hurley v. Hurley, an ex-wife sought a restraining order against her ex-husband, predicated on the ex-husband’s text message. In the text message, the ex-husband stated “wish you…
In a decision issued on November 19, 2015 in the case of German v. Lopez, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued an order requiring two minor children to be returned immediately to the Dominican Republic. The facts show that a divorced mother relocated her two minor children form the Dominican Republic to Massachusetts without the…
In today’s mobile society, parents who are the subjection of a child support order frequently move away from the state that originally adjudicated the child support case. In order to avoid conflicting child support orders, New Hampshire and many other states have adopted a variation of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, otherwise known as UIFSA. UIFSA sets forth a…
In 1988, Congress ratified the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (“Hague Convention”). The treaty addresses the issue of children who have been wrongfully taken or retained in a foreign country. Simultaneous with the ratification of the Hague Convention, Congress enacted the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (42 U.S.C. §11601 (1988)), which implements the treaty and…
In the case of Rokowski and Rokowski, (decided July 23, 2015) the New Hampshire Supreme Court cautioned that a Court cannot conduct its own research in ascertaining the value of marital property. In the Rokowski case, one of the issues was the value of the marital home. Neither party at trial offered an appraisal which would show the fair market…
In a recent New Hampshire Supreme Court decision, a trial court’s award of alimony to a jailed spouse was upheld. In The Matter of Robert Kempton and Peggy Kempton, the wife was imprisoned after she embezzled over 1 million dollars from her employer. At the time of trial she had at least one year remaining on her sentence. The husband,…
I. UNDERSTANDING OUR ROLE IN YOUR DIVORCE This legal guide is intended to answer some of your general questions pertaining to the divorce process in New Hampshire. It is not meant to be a complete legal guide. Every case is unique, and your situation may vary from this information. PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS at any time. You or your spouse may…
Frequently, when a victim of domestic violence files a petition under RSA 173-B there is a chance that the local police, if they are alerted to the event, will bring criminal charges against the respondent. If such a situation occurs, there is a strong likelihood that the domestic violence trial will take place before the criminal trial. Respondents faced with…