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Independent Evaluations: Could Denying Your Child Junk Food Affect Child Custody?

January 21, 2014/in Family Law /by Gina Policastri

Shockingly, it could. A recent Associated Press article* highlighted the scary truth about third-party evaluations and their effect on child custody disputes. In the case of the Schorr family, Mr. Schorr had a disagreement with his 5-year-old son over where they would eat dinner. The 5-year-old wanted McDonald’s, but Mr. Schorr felt that his son was eating too much junk food. Naturally, a tantrum ensued and Mr. Schorr issued an ultimatum—no McDonald’s or no dinner—period. The stubborn child decided he would rather not eat than choose a healthier alternative, so Mr. Schorr took the child home to his mother who had physical custody of the child.

In response to this incident, the child’s mother alerted the court of the disagreement. In turn, the court hired a psychologist to evaluate the situation, and that psychologist determined that Mr. Schorr was incapable of caring for his 5-year-old son. As a result, the psychologist urged the court to curtail Mr. Schorr’s visitation with his son, the court concurred. As a father, Mr. Schorr had no idea that denying his son junk food could eliminate his visitation time with his son.

In family law, it is important to know that persons other than the judge can have a significant impact on your case. In the event of a dispute, the court can appoint psychologists and other professionals to determine what is in the child’s best interests. The court will give deference to these court-appointed experts.

It is therefore very important to make a good impression with the evaluator. If you do not obtain a favorable recommendation, you can hire your own expert to rebut the recommendations. In the case of Mr. Schorr, he ultimately filed a defamation lawsuit against the court-appointed expert and likely brought in his own psychologist to dispute the damaging determination.

The family lawyers at Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri, LLP have a wealth of experience in child custody cases and know a number of qualified evaluators that could make a difference in your case. If you have any questions about child custody, please contact our California Certified Family Law Specialists (as certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization). Our attorneys have decades of experience handling complex Family Law proceedings and are happy to offer you a free consultation.

Please remember that each individual situation is unique and results discussed in this post are not a guarantee of future results. While this post may include legal issues, it is not legal advice. Use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship.

*Jennifer Peltz, “Suit: NY dad criticized for denying son McDonald’s”, Associated Press, Nov. 8, 2013.

Could Your Email Settings Land You In Jail?

January 15, 2014/in Family Law /by Mitchell Ehrlich

In Thomas Gagnon’s case, it sure can – and did. Unbeknownst to him, Mr. Gagnon’s ex-girlfriend received an email from him inviting her to join Google+. Unfortunately, Mr. Gagnon’s ex-girlfriend had a restraining order against him at the time. When she received the email, she complained to the authorities that Mr. Gagnon had violated his restraining order. Authorities agreed and arrested Mr. Gagnon, who was jailed before being released on bail.

However, Mr. Gagnon insists he never sent the email – he never authorized the email invitation, never consented to the invitation, and quite frankly, “has no idea how the invitation got sent.”*

According to Internet expert Bradley Shear of Bethesda, Md., Mr. Gagnon could very well be telling the truth. Google+ allows users to aggregate their contacts into various groups, and moving between groups can trigger Gmail to send automatic invitations to contacts to join Google+. Although Google could face serious liability for sending invitations without a user’s permission, the consequences can be very real (and immediate, like in Mr. Gagnon’s case) for the uneducated user.

Moral of the story: Consistently check your Internet settings and learn how certain invitations can be triggered. In this day and age, you can never be too careful with your privacy settings – especially when you’re in the middle of a domestic dispute or divorce.

If you are involved in a domestic dispute or divorce, having a knowledgeable, experienced divorce attorney by your side can prove to be invaluable. If you have any questions about your divorce or related issues, please contact our California Certified Family Law Specialists (as certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization). Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri’s attorneys have decades of experience handling complex Family Law proceedings and are happy to offer you a free half-hour consultation.

*http://gma.yahoo.com/man-jailed-gmail-invite-ex-girlfriend-111716107–abc-news-topstories.html

End-of-Life Directives: Will You Consider My Religious Beliefs?

December 19, 2013/in Estate Planning /by Michael Lonich

Advance directives are not typically a favorite dinner-table conversation subject – but ultimately, preparing an end-of-life directive is in each of our best interests and it is critical to have one in place. An advance directive allows you the opportunity to give direction regarding your care, whether through a living will or a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. Both of these instruments state your intentions about your end-of-life care, either through a document (living will) or an individual of your choosing who will have the legal authority to make health care decisions should you not be able to do so yourself (Durable Power of Attorney).

Often, religious beliefs are a substantial consideration in drafting an advanced directive. Your religion may have a strong position on various circumstances. For example, how does your belief system handle artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH)? What about individuals in a permanent vegetative state (PVS)? What about resuscitation? What about life-prolonging procedures? As such, some important considerations arise when approaching end-of-life decisions, including:

Artificial Nutrition and Hydration (ANH): This procedure is commonly known as “tube-feeding,” administered through the nose, throat, esophagus, chest, stomach, or intestine. Sometimes, these procedures will require surgical insertion. At what point do you wish for these procedures to end?
Permanent Vegetative State (PVS): A diagnosis of PVS can be made when it is impossible by medical expectations that an individual’s mental condition will ever improve. In your advance directive, you should state what you wish to be done should you be in a PVS.
Resuscitation: When an individual’s circulation stops, death occurs. Unless circulation is restarted quickly, the individual will pass away. One of the decisions you should make in your advance directive is whether you want to be resuscitated if your heart stops.
Life-Prolonging Procedures: Some procedures (i.e. dialysis, chemotherapy, invasive surgery) may be judged morally extraordinary or disproportionate if they offer no true benefit to the patient. However, you may feel strongly that these procedures should be done. In your advance directive, it is important to define your intended time limit before starting a treatment.

At Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri, our clients come from a diverse set of backgrounds and we understand how their end-of-life decisions can be strongly influenced and shaped by their belief systems. Our experienced attorneys are knowledgeable about current estate planning laws and are equipped to help you create advanced directives that are consistent with your religious teachings and that will honor your true wishes when the need arises. If you have any questions regarding your current advanced directives or are interested in developing a new plan, please contact the experienced estate planning attorneys at Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri for further information. The attorneys at Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri have decades of experience handling complex estate planning matters and are more than happy to meet with you for a free, 30-minute consultation.

Fighting For Your Rights

December 9, 2013/in Family Law /by Gretchen Boger

Few non-lawyers realize that divorce proceedings can make the parties involved vulnerable to criminal punishment. Each time that a judge makes an order about child custody, spousal support, child support, or anything else, the parties are required to comply. If a party does not comply with one of the orders, the opposing party can file a motion to bring this to the court’s attention. If it is found that one party disobeyed an order, such as an order to pay child support or provide evidence, that party may receive a citation and be held in contempt of court. This is a quasi-criminal offense that could result in fines or jail time for the offender.

This is where it pays to have a great lawyer. A great lawyer will know how to protect you while your contempt proceeding is underway; he or she will ensure that you are “innocent until proven guilty.” For instance, if you send a document or make a statement that further incriminates yourself, your chance of a fair trial in the future will be jeopardized. Fortunately, if your spouse is requesting you to share information that could harm you in the contempt proceeding, your attorney can invoke your Fifth Amendment constitutional right against self-incrimination. Essentially, you have an absolute right not to make any statements or testify in a non-criminal matter while the contempt action is ongoing so that you don’t harm your chance of success beyond repair.

Importantly, however, this right is not guaranteed unless you claim the right with the court. Great attorneys will identify this opportunity and will take the necessary steps to protect you. Recently, one of our attorneys at Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri filed a motion to invoke our client’s Fifth Amendment rights in a contempt proceeding. If you are involved in a messy divorce or contempt proceeding, having a knowledgeable, experienced divorce attorney by your side can prove to be invaluable. If you have any questions about your divorce or custody issues, please contact our California Certified Family Law Specialists (as certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization). Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri’s attorneys have decades of experience handling complex Family Law proceedings and are happy to offer you a free half-hour consultation.

19 Years Later, Kidnapped Infant Found Safe

November 26, 2013/in Family Law /by Lonich Patton Ehrlich Policastri

In 1994, 10-month-old Savanna Catherine Todd from South Carolina disappeared with her mother while her parents were embroiled in a highly-publicized divorce and custody battle. Mr. Todd and Ms. Barnett married in 1991 but the marriage quickly crumbled, and Ms. Barnett filed for divorce before Savanna was born. In the ensuring chaotic custody battle, Ms. Barnett was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and during court proceedings, had such a difficult time remaining in her seat that the bailiff needed to stand directly behind her chair. In April 2004, during a supervised visit, Ms. Barnett disappeared with baby Savanna, and neither were to be seen again until this week.

During the past 19 years, Savanna’s millionaire father never gave up hope that she would be found. Though a judge had awarded Mr. Todd $50 million dollars in his civil suit, the money was not his primary concern – Mr. Todd wanted his daughter to be found. Mr. Todd utilized his associations with the media to publicize baby Savanna, appearing on popular talk shows and telling his story to newspapers and magazines. Now, nearly 20 years later, his wish has come true: Savanna was found on Monday. She is now a 20-year-old nursing student and living an otherwise normal life in Australia. Savanna, however, is standing behind her mother, who is currently in custody in Queensland. The United States plans to extradite Ms. Barnett and she could face more than 20 years in jail if convicted on charges of federal parental kidnapping.

Though Savanna’s story is certainly rare, parental kidnapping is very real and there are steps that can be taken to prevent custodial interference. If you suspect that the other parent may kidnap your child, you should make every effort to show the judge why you have that fear. To determine whether there is a risk of abduction, the judge will consider many factors. Some include*:

Whether the other parent has taken or hidden the child in violation of your custody or visitation rights before or has threatened to do so;
Whether the other parent has strong familial, emotional, or cultural ties to another state or country, including foreign citizenship;
Whether the other parent has planned activities that would make taking the child from the state easier, such as quitting their job, selling their house, closing their bank account, applying to obtain a birth certificate or medical records, applying for a passport, and so on; and
Whether the other parent has a history of poor parental cooperation or child abuse.

Custody issues can be very complex and even dangerous – having a knowledgeable, experienced divorce attorney by your side can prove to be invaluable. At Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri, our attorneys are prepared to help clients through their divorce. If you have any questions about your divorce or custody issues, please contact our California Certified Family Law Specialists (as certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization). Our attorneys have decades of experience handling complex Family Law proceedings and are happy to offer you a free consultation.

*Cal. Fam. Code § 3048(b)(1)

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LONICH PATTON EHRLICH POLICASTRI

1871 The Alameda, Suite 400, San Jose, CA 95126
Phone: (408) 553-0801 | Fax: (408) 553-0807 | Email: contact@lpeplaw.com

LONICH PATTON EHRLICH POLICASTRI

Phone: (408) 553-0801
Fax: (408) 553-0807
Email: contact@lpeplaw.com

1871 The Alameda, Suite 400
San Jose, CA 95126

Located in San Jose, Lonich Patton Ehrlich Policastri handles matters for clients in northern California, specifically San Jose and Silicon Valley. Our services are available to anyone within the following counties: Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito, and San Francisco. For a full listing of areas where we practice, please click here.

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