Kansas Supreme Court Rules Against Sperm Donor in Parental Rights Case

The Kansas City Star reported yesterday that the Kansas Supreme Court has ruled against a sperm donor who had challenged that state’s law prohibiting sperm donors from exercising parental rights in the absence of a written agreement between the donor and the birth mother. This case, about which I have posted previously, has been widely watched by scholars and family law practitioners across the country, and is likely to find application beyond Kansas. It is not clear, however, whether the case is likely to have even persuasive value here in Pennsylvania. As I reported previously, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has held that a sperm donor who holds himself out as a parent of the child by, for example, being present at the child’s birth and taking an active role in the child’s life, is responsible for child support. It is not too far fetched to imagine that, on this basis, a Pennsylvania court might find that such a donor had legally cognizable parental rights. would it be much of a stretch to conclude that a donor who was willing to go to court to seek parental rights was in fact holding himself out as a parent? Needless to say, this case answers some questions, and raises many others. Once I am able to obtain a copy of the Kansas Supreme Court’s opinion I will post it here.

Mom May Have to Choose Between Nursing and Custody

I have previously posted here and here on the issue of breastfeeding as it relates to matters of child custody and visitation. Now word comes of a Minnesota case in which a court-appointed guardian-ad-litem is urging the judge to order a mother to stop breastfeeding her baby due to the prescription medication the mother takes. The mother maintains that she researched the potential effects of the medications on a child through breast milk, and states that she would stop breastfeeding immediately if she believed that her child was being harmed. The judge is scheduled to rule on the matter next month.

Is this an appropriate concern on behalf of the guardian-ad-litem or another example of the state’s intrusion into the domain of child-rearing? Feel free to leave a comment.

For more information, read this newspaper article.

Source: StarTribune.com.

Source for post: Oklahoma Family Law Blog

Court Appointed Counsel for Canine

Ron Callan Jr. left an estate worth about $2 million, but the most hotly contested item in the late businessman’s Tennessee probate court case is his 13-year-old golden retriever, Alex. The four-way fight over custody of Alex was so intense that a judge appointed an attorney to represent the dog’s interests. A judge on Monday approved a consent order to split custody of the dog based on the recommendations of the guardian ad litem, The Commercial Appeal reported. “Obviously, this is a very unusual set of circumstances,” attorney Paul Royal wrote of his four-legged client. “At first glance, the petition seems almost frivolous, but after speaking with all parties, it is evident that this is a highly emotional issue for all involved.”

Callan, whose New Year’s Day shooting death was ruled a suicide, left no will, leaving the court to decide what to do with the dog and the rest of the estate. Callan, 35, was a partner with his father in Callan Salvage & Appraisal Co. His father, Ronald Callan Sr., who was named administrator of his son’s estate, has had an ongoing dispute with former wife Esther Snow Gnall over ownership, care and custody of their son’s dog. Ronald Callan even claims his ex-wife tried to pay one of his employees to kidnap Alex, an allegation she denies. Also interested in who got the dog was Kim Guill, the fiancee of Ron Callan Jr., who was present when he died. Gnall said that if she gets custody or visitation with Alex, she would allow Guill to spend considerable time with the dog. Royal, the dog’s attorney, said in his report to the court that he believes all four people love Alex and would take good care of him. But he said the parties are using the fight for the dog as a means of punishing each other for past transgressions. The elder Callan currently has custody of Alex and brings him to work, where he stays in his office. Callan Sr., who has cats at home, has Alex spend his nights with Chris Griffith, his son’s former girlfriend who has known him since he was a puppy.

In the consent order, the father and mother will trade custody every two weeks. Both parties agreed to take the dog to the veterinarian twice a week for his arthritis treatments and any other needed procedures. “This case is similar to a bitter custody battle involving children where each party loves the children, but the kids are stuck between two people who cannot coexist,” the attorney said in his report.

Source: Associated Press, via Law.com.

Source for post: Iowa Family Law

Another View on Alec Baldwin

Most commentators have been very harshly critical of actor Alec Baldwin’s behavior in his recent dustup with his ex-wife and daughter over an angry voicemail that Baldwin left for the daughter (see my earlier post on this here and here). I am not a fan of Baldwin (although I have enjoyed some of his films). I do not like his politics or his public persona, and was, like most, appalled by his outburst at his daughter. That said – there are always many sides to the story. Stephen Baskerville provides some interesting commentary on what likely led to Baldin’s outburst, reasoning that the callous treatment that most father’s receive at the hands of the “family law” system was likely a contributing factor to Baldin’s feeling that he had been alienated from his daughter, and fueling his outburst. I, for one, find Baskerville’s analysis more than plausible, and I look forward to reading Mr. Baskerville’s book on the ongoing assault on fatherhood and marriage.

Keeping the Noncustodial Parent Involved in Your Child’s Life

Studies have shown that maintaining a significant role for a noncustodial parent in a child’s life has important benefits for the child, his or her relationship with the noncustodial parent, and even for the custodial parent. Divorce Magazine has published a lengthy article on this subject. read the article in its entirety below the fold:

Britney Spears Back in Rehab – Again

I usually try to refrain from commenting on celebrity gossip type items on this blog. I don’t think that such “news” is especially meaningful to what I am trying to do here. But the Britney Spears story has finally reached a point where I thought a few words were in order. I do not especially care much about Ms. Spears private life, or that of her soon to be ex-husband, for that matter. But I might suggest that the way she has comported herself of late is not coinsistent with what I would suggest is appropriate behavior for a mom in the midst of a divorce and custody dispute. I am not casting aspersions, or commenting on the circumstances that led Ms. Spears to conclude that a rehab program was in order. But if your state is such that you need rehab, check yourself in and finish the program. Don’t treat the facilities as if they were the revolving door at Macy’s, or the Burger King drive through. Take it seriosuly and see it through. and for crying out loud, don’t shave all your hair off in public on a whim, and stay out partying all night with the Hollywood crowd. This is hardly the portrait of a woman capable of providing a stable home life for two young children. I hope that Ms. Spears listens to the professionals – legal, mental health and others who can help her – and that she gets her life in order. For the sake of her children if for no other reason. This train wreck has gone on long enough.

New York Court Upholds Grandparent Visitation

The New York Court of Appeals, that state’s highest court, has upheld the state’s grandparent visitation statute. The law permits grandparent visitation rights where it is shown that one parent is deceased, or equity would otherwise warrant such visitations. As I noted in a previous post on this issue, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a recent case, likewise found that orders requiring grandparent visitation do not violate the custodial parent’s 14th amendment right to raise his or her children as he or she sees fit. A petition for certiorari, seeking review in the United States Supreme Court, has been filed in the Pennsylvania case. Whether in the context pf the Pennsylvania case or otherwise, there can be little doubt that the Supreme Court will ultimately have to weigh in on this issue again.

What to Do If Your Ex Wants to Move to Another State With The Kids

For any non-custodial parent, one of the hardest things to have to confront comes when the ex-spouse wants to relocate to another state with the children. The prospect of being hours away from the children, connected primarily by telephone contact and occasional visits, can be frustrating and scary. Pieter Droppert, who formerly published the New Jersey Family Law Blog, offered some sound practical advice for the non-custodial parent facing this situation (reposted on Grant Griffiths’ Kansas Family and Divorce Lawyer). Check out the full post below the fold:

Kansas court hears landmark sperm donor case

Via Grant Griffiths Kansas Family and Divorce Lawyer Blog, news comes of a potentially landmark case that was heard recently by the Kansas Supreme Court in which a sprem donor is challenging a provision of Kansas law that provides that donors do not have parentla rights unless that understanding has been reduced to writing. This is a development that all practitioners should watch with interest. With Grant’s blessing, I have reduced his post on this topic in its entirety below the fold.

Tips on cooperative parenting

Through a link from a link at Grant Griffiths’ Kansas Family Law Blog I stumbled across another really informative site, Lisa Scott’s “Real Family Law” website. Lisa had a nice piece on cooperative parenting that ought to be required reading for any parent who is going through, or has recently gone through, a divorce. Take a read below the fold.