By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney Whenever I meet somebody for the first time, whether on a plane, at a family gathering, or just in some social event, inevitably I am asked what I do for a living. When I explain that I am an estate planning attorney…
By Joseph G. Ballstaedt Adoption became a recognized legal practice in the United States back in 1851, when Massachusetts passed the Adoption of Children Act, which recognized adoption as a legal means to improve child welfare. Recent studies estimate that about 135,000 children are adopted in America every year, with…
By Patrick N. George I frequently get asked what happens when the community contributes money or labor to a spouse’s separate property asset. This is a murky area and frequently depends on the facts of the case. However, there are some guidelines. In the Hiatt v. Hiatt case, the husband…
By Patrick N. George It is no secret that divorce is often one of the most complex and emotional experiences of a person’s life. In fact, divorce has often been referred to as a two step process. The first step is the actual legal steps to get the divorce while…
By Heidi Buck Morrison One of the assets that must be dealt with in divorce is the parties’ retirement accounts such as pensions, 401Ks and IRAs. Upon divorce, retirement benefits must be valued and divided. With respect to valuing a retirement account, there are two valuation methods used by courts.…
By Nathan R. Palmer A divorcing party generally seeks to protect her/his separate property from the opposing party. While property characterized as community property is generally divided equally, separate property will be left with the owner of the property. So what is separate property? Separate property in Idaho is all…
By Nathan R. Palmer Parties beginning the divorce process often wonder how their property will be divided. The general rule for dividing property in divorce in Idaho is that each party will be awarded their separate property while all community property will be divided substantially equally. The crux of many…
By Heidi Buck Morrison While most custody cases involve disputes between the child’s biological parents, there can be circumstances when other parties can involve themselves in custody disputes. For example, grandparents and step-parents may become involved in a custody dispute. In a recent case, Shepherd v. Shepherd, the Idaho Supreme…
By Tippi Jarman Civil litigation can expose a losing party to paying the other party’s attorney’s fees. This is well known. However, the Idaho Supreme Court recently announced a new rule of law regarding attorney’s fees which will take effect on March 1, 2017. In the case of Hoffer v.…
By Heidi Buck Morrison Child custody orders are not necessarily permanent. However, they cannot be changed at the drop of a hat either. In Idaho, in order to justify a change in a custody order, the moving party must demonstrate a material, substantial change in circumstances occurred since entry of…