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Enforcement of Child Support

When a court enters an order of child support, it orders one party to pay a certain sum of money to another for the support of a child. The person who is ordered to pay is called the obligor. The person who received the payment is the obligee. The amount of child support that is payable is usually based on state law that takes into consideration the number of children for which an obligor is responsible and the amount of income the obligor earns from all sources.

International Adoption - Advance Processing

The United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recommends that all prospective parents file an application for "Advance Processing" before they identify a foreign child to adopt. Advance Processing is a procedure whereby the USCIS pre-approves the prospective parents' application to adopt a child.

Marital vs Separate Property

There are two distinctions with respect to property and property division in divorce proceedings. The distinction involves which type of property the property constitutes for purposes of division.

Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act

The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (UMDA) is an extensive uniform law which provides standards governing marriage, divorce, property distribution, alimony, child support, and custody. Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana and Washington have adopted it. The major provisions eliminate fault divorces, eliminate traditional defenses to divorce, provide for equitable distribution of property in non-community property states, provides for distributing community property, provide for alimony only in specific circumstances, and base child support and custody on certain factors.

Interspousal Tort Immunity Doctrine

Interspousal tort immunity is a doctrine that precludes tort actions between married individuals. The doctrine has common-law roots. The doctrine is based on the theory that a married couple is a single entity. In the early 1900s wives were considered the property of their husbands, therefore they were not permitted to sue their husbands. Obviously now this is no longer the case.