Tag Archives: divorce

Utah Lawmakers Clarify Fault in Divorce Alimony

imagesIn Utah divorce cases fault is not taken into account when determining whether a couple can divorce . But, under a new Utah law, fault may play an critical role in setting alimony awards. An Ogden Divorce Attorney explains that in Utah marriages, if one of the partners makes significantly more when the marriage ends in divorce, this partner may be required to pay spousal support, otherwise known as alimony, so that the other partner can maintain a standard of living more similar to that enjoyed during the marriage.

Courts in Utah may consider many factors in deciding whether to award spousal support, such as the recipient’s earning capacity and current financial situation, the individual paying alimony’s ability to provide spousal support, the length of the marriage, and whether the recipient helped increase the individual paying alimony’s earning capacity during the marriage by supporting him or her through higher education.

Interestingly, while Utah is a no-fault divorce state (meaning that neither party has to show wrongdoing to dissolve the marriage), Utah courts can consider fault when setting alimony. However, courts had long struggled with how to properly define fault in making a spousal support award.

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Utah Man to Face Death Penalty in Tazewell Boy’s case

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a man accused of beating to death his 4-year-old stepson, using a hammer to disfigure his face and burying the body in the northern Utah mountains. Nathanael Sloop, 33,  is accused of beating Ethan Stacy for days before his death in May 2010.

The boy’s mother, Stephanie Sloop,  filed for a marriage annulment and hired an Ogden Divorce Attorney in June 2010. She later withdrew the petition to keep details of her marriage from The Salt Lake Tribune, which won the right to inspect the court files.

A change in Utah law sealed all divorce and annulment pleadings in April, but court dockets show no renewed filings by Stephanie Sloop. Court clerks confirmed Friday the couple is still legally married.

Stephanie Sloop will face a separate trial and is accused of contributing to the boy’s death or failing to stop it.

The Sloops were newlyweds when they were charged with aggravated murder, second-degree felony child abuse, second-degree felony obstruction of justice and desecration of a body. A motive hasn’t been revealed.

The boy’s biological father, Joe G. Stacy of Tazewell, Va., has said he was forced to give up Ethan during summers as part of a divorce and custody battle. The boy died 10 days after his arrival to Utah. Authorities say he was beaten and malnourished and left behind one day as Nathaniel and Stephanie Sloop went off to exchange wedding vows.

Prosecutors have long said they were inclined to seek the death penalty if Sloop is convicted at trial. However, they have consistently refused to state their intentions for the boy’s biological mother.

Click here to read more regarding the Tazewell case.

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Utah courts close-off filings in family law cases

Days after Kristy Ragsdale’s husband shot her down in a Lehi church parking lot, divorce filings provided a clearer picture of her killer and the couple’s deteriorating marriage. Public court records also later detailed her mother’s custody battle for Ragsdale’s two young sons.

Now Utah state courts have closed off thousands of filings in family law cases from public view, with court officials citing privacy concerns as the state moves to exclusively electronic filing. But the change has some questioning whether the rule insulates judges from scrutiny and hurts the public at large. The rule, approved by the Utah Judicial Council, went into effect April 1 but is retroactive and means most filings in divorces, protective orders and other domestic cases will now be available only to the parties involved. Judgments, orders and decrees will remain public, as will the case histories and hearings.

“In family pleadings, you have very private information about peoples’ lives,” said Douglas Adair, vice chair of the Utah Bar’s family law section, which asked the Utah Judicial Council for the rule change. “This protects privacy.” Adair said the idea was borne out of a consensus concern among family law attorneys.

“I can’t honestly say we were hearing about a lot of cases of things happening to people, but I think it was just a common sense thing,” he said. In the past, such filings have been open but the involved parties were able to ask judges to make their cases private.

Find a Ogden Divorce Attorney – Lawyer for divorce and child custody matters in Ogden.

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