Monthly Archives February 2016

DC CHILD SUPPORT LAWS — HIGHLIGHTS

This blog highlights some of the basic DC Child Support Guidelines and the related child support calculation and obligation. Along with divorce, separation, and filing of child custody papers, invariably and eventually the child support aspect of separation has to be addressed. If the matter is court involved, that is – parties have not reached a global agreement addressing divorce, alimony, custody and support – then the court will most likely apply the Child Support Guidelines (hereafter “guidelines”) to determine each parent’s portion of support. The guidelines enumerate and provide an equitable formula to calculate support for each parent principally
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RECENT COURT OF APPEALS DECISION: REVERSAL OF BURGLARY CHARGE

The Court of Appeals in SYDNOR v. UNITED STATES decided on January 14, 2016, reversed the lower court’s burglary conviction and issued an order for the trial court to enter a judgment for unlawful entry instead. The evidence revealed that the appellant had entered a fenced construction site and had removed steal pipes from the yard. The burglary statute in part states: “whoever shall, either in the night or in the daytime, break and enter, or enter without breaking, . . . any yard where any lumber, coal, or other goods or chattels are deposited and kept for the purpose
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DC CHILD CUSTODY LITIGATION: WHAT IS THE BEST INTEREST CRITERIA

This blog highlights specifically the legal definition of the “best interest of the child” as relates to DC child custody litigation: All cases involving and relating to the children in family matters; termination of parental rights/adoption, guardianship and child custody and neglect – all invariably use the “best interest of the child” criteria as a paramount factor in the reaching the final order and the legal analysis substantiating that order. The court looks at different but similar legal elements in each family matter to define the “best interest of the child” criteria. In balancing relevant factors in a DC child
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