BY: PHILLIP E. MILLER

(Please understand that the answers to these questions are general in nature and may not cover every individual situation.)

         There are two ways to have a child returned to the proper jurisdiction.  The first of which is through a Hague Petition that was covered in the last news article.  The second way is by filing a registration of the foreign order with the court where the child was removed to.  This is only possible if there is a foreign order that is still in place, and the foreign court has continuing jurisdiction.  If there is a foreign custody order,  registering that order with the jurisdiction that the child was removed is most likely a better option than a Hague Petition.

As mentioned in the last article the Hague Petition has several exceptions.  Read more…

BY: THOMAS J. SCRIBNER

(Please understand that the answers to these questions are general in nature and may not cover every individual situation.)

         Having worked in real estate for 30 years, I have learned a few suggestions to help a new lawyer or mentee from getting their deeds returned from the county due to errors.  These suggestions are only some of the basic, common mistakes made, and should be reviewed as such.  One thing is for sure:  deeds look deceptively easy to draft, but are full of specific details that must be met to be valid.

General problems: Read more…

BY: THOMAS J. SCRIBNER

(Please understand that the answers to these questions are general in nature and may not cover every individual situation.)

         The issues surrounding guardianship are simple in concept but can be very complex in creating a guardian suitable for society and the court.  In theory we need a guardian when the person is “incapacitated” and  “the appointment is necessary or desirable as a means of providing care and supervision….”  UCA 75-5-304(1).  Sounds simple enough.  We file to be a guardian over a parent and the court gives us full guardianship to make all of their decisions, and it is over, right? Not even close. Read more…

BY: PHILLIP E. MILLER

(Please understand that the answers to these questions are general in nature and may not cover every individual situation.)

      Custody issues are complicated.  However, they get even more complicated when more than one jurisdiction is involved.  That is the case when parents live in different states and even more so when they live in different countries.  When the parents live in different countries international treaties come into play, the most important of which is the Hague Convention.  Not only is the Hague Convention important but state custody laws as well as jurisdictional requirements are very important. Read more…

BY: PHILLIP E. MILLER

(Please understand that the answers to these questions are general in nature and may not cover every individual situation.)

       Much like the last articles I have written about Wills and Trusts, another area of law that I practice, water rights, is not very well understood.  My clients will come to me with a water rights issue [updating title (report of conveyance) or doing a change application] and they will have a host of preconceived misnomers.  Often times I have to explain what their water rights are and are not and where they are derived.  Water law in Utah is fairly complex at first and prior experience is required. The first issue is title, then quantity, place of use, point of diversion and source, priority, and drainage. Read more…

BY: THOMAS J. SCRIBNER

(Please understand that the answers to these questions are general in nature and may not cover every individual situation.)

       Some of the areas I practice in, estate planning out of the courts and probate in the courts, I get to see what works and what doesn’t.  As our population is aging, I am seeing more and more problems around what happens when our loved ones begin failing physically or mentally and what can be done to help make things easier. Read more…

BY: THOMAS J. SCRIBNER

(Please understand that the answers to these questions are general in nature and may not cover every individual situation.)

We live in troubled times.  Though I have lived in Utah since 1973, I was born and raised until then in San Bernardino, California.  The recent tragedy there was personal.  I have two close family members who are police officers in that county and many relatives who still live there.  I am grateful to live in a country with an established set of laws and procedures to deal with these kind of problems.  They certainly aren’t perfect, but without them we would dissolve into anarchy.  It wasn’t that long ago in Great Britain where safety was in how strong your master’s castle was and if he had better knights than the other guy. Read more…

BY: PHILLIP E. MILLER

(Please understand that the answers to these questions are general in nature and may not cover every individual situation.)

Last quarter my news article was a primer on the difference between wills and trusts.  Hopefully you are now prepared to go to your attorney and say, “I want a…”. What I did not do is go into much depth on how your trust will work.  How does it skip the probate process?  Do you lose control of your property?  In this article you will get the rest of the story. Read more…

BY: PHILLIP E. MILLER

(Please understand that the answers to these questions are general in nature and may not cover every individual situation.)

As an associate attorney, I have had many friends and family taking an interest in the wills, trusts, and estates portion of my practice.  When they realize that I do indeed do wills and trusts they realize that, like everyone, they too will die someday and they will need a will and/or a trust.[1]  After they realize that they need a plan they realize they have no idea what that plan should look like. So their next question is always, “do I need a will or a trust?”  It is a very complex question but there are a few basics that make the decision easier.  Read more…

BY: THOMAS J. SCRIBNER

(Please understand that the answers to these questions are general in nature and may not cover every individual situation.)

As I was finishing up law school in an Advanced Estate Planning class, I received some counsel I have never forgotten.  The professor, Stan Neeleman, explained that when working up an estate plan, we should place all of the options and ideas on the board and then find the simplest way to meet the goals, as the more complex the plan the harder it is to manage.  A case in point:  over the past few weeks I have met with two different clients regarding the mechanisms of what’s known as an A/B trust, a widely used trust to help minimize gift and estate taxes.  From 1983 to the early 2000’s a person’s estate could go to $600,000 before it was taxed. However, clever lawyers figured out a way to double that amount when a couple is involved. The mechanics work like this: Read more…