Recently in Family Law Category

The House abortion bill, which passed 228 to 196 on Tuesday, seeks to prohibit abortions 20 weeks after fertilization. But it's unlikely the bill will become law anytime soon.

Republicans control the House of Representatives, but Democrats control the Senate, which is unlikely to consider the bill. The White House is threatening to veto it if it gets that far, Reuters reports.

But House Republicans' passage of the bill, while largely symbolic, may still have political consequences.

When you lose your job, your child support order doesn't just go away. You still owe the unpaid amount in arrears, which can't be discharged in bankruptcy and usually can't be reduced retroactively.

But the court can modify your support obligation when you experience a change in your financial situation.

If you are unable to pay the current child support amount due to job loss, you may be able to secure a child support modification, which is a particular type of court order.

The reigning king of deadbeat dads, a Tennessee man who's fathered 22 children is being sued for child support -- a lot of it.

Orlando Shaw, 33, admits to having 22 kids by 14 different women. Like an informal class action lawsuit, the 14 women have taken Shaw to court for tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid child support over the years, but to no avail.

Shaw's reaction to the ordeal suggests he subscribes to the "Don't hate the player, hate the game" worldview.

Being a new dad isn't easy, but keeping a few legal tips in mind can help make life easier for you, your little one, and your growing family.

With Father's Day just around the corner, and summer being the peak time for births, there will definitely be many an occasion to celebrate all the new dads out there, and their beautiful babies, of course.

So while new dads may be overwhelmed trying to figure out the whole diaper situation, they should also be aware of some potential legal pitfalls of fatherhood that can get beyond messy, if they aren't too careful. Here are our Top 5 legal tips for new dads:

Adopting your partner's children is often a big step in your relationship with your new partner, and it can be a big legal step too.

Stepdads can adopt in every state, but the laws for adoption in each state are slightly different.

Here are the basics on how stepfathers can adopt stepchildren, with particular areas to focus on in your home state:

Questions about child support get even more complicated when a parent dies. Do child support payments continue even after a parent's death? What is the protocol supposed to be?

While child custody laws vary by state, the general answer is that child support does continue after a parent's death. There is a very strong public policy reason for the child to continue being cared for in the manner agreed upon. This, of course, will require a modification to the child support order after the death of a parent.

Where does child support come from after a parent dies? Courts generally look to a few sources.

Looking to challenge a paternity test? While that's not a very romantic question, it's still a reality (and with Father's Day right around the corner, pretty relevant, too). Because even though love and marriage are in the air these days, that doesn't mean that, well, fleeting love isn't.

Determining paternity can be crucial. It helps determine who else is going to be involved in the upbringing of the child and who else is going to help pay for child support.

Of course, then, it's also natural to want to challenge alleged paternity if you're pretty sure the baby-daddy accusation is completely false. Here are three potential ways to challenge a paternity test:

With summer rapidly approaching, child custody is something that many divorced parents will need to discuss. However they choose to handle their child or children's schedule for those three warm and carefree (for them, at least) months, it needs to be addressed.

Because while child custody agreements are typically decided and settled on following a divorce, they can still look a little different in the summer. Here are some dos and don'ts that parents may want to consider:

A lesbian couple can't cohabitate, a Texas judge has ruled, citing a clause in a divorce contract that prevents one of the women from having unmarried romantic partners stay overnight.

The divorce contract between Carolyn Compton and her ex-husband contained a "morality provision" that bars overnight stays by unmarried love interests when Compton's kids are at her home, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Since gay marriage is still not an option in Texas, Compton claims this order effectively makes her choose between her children and her new partner.

Parents often threaten to kick their children out of their homes, and sometimes they even follow through. But is it legal to do so?

While there might be some disagreement over parenting styles and child rearing, state and federal laws take a very dim view when it comes to endangering or abandoning children -- unless the minors are emancipated.

What does this mean for parents?