Case Summaries
Family Law
[09/30]
M.V. v. Superior Court of California
In a family law matter brought by mother seeking reunification with her infant after her incarceration and deportation for engaging in consensual sexual intercourse with a 15-year old boy, petition for a writ of mandate directing the trial court to vacate its order and to issue a new and different order continuing reunification services to a 12-month review is affirmed where the court erred in terminating reunification services and setting a .26 hearing by applying the 12-month review standard pursuant to section 366.21, subdivisions (f) and (g), instead of the six-month review standard pursuant to section 366.21, subdivision (e).
[09/25]
In Re: Amendments to Fla. R. Juv. P.
Recommended amendments to the Rules of Juvenile Procedure to conform the rules and forms to recent legislation are adopted with a sixty-day comment period.
[09/25]
US v. Kerley
Conviction for failure to pay a child support obligation is vacated and remanded where: 1) the district court did not err in its rulings as to the good faith defense; 2) the rule of lenity required the court to vacate the conviction on the second count of the offense; and 3) although the district court correctly applied the loss amount and obstruction of justice enhancements under the Sentencing Guidelines, the court erred in concluding that the vulnerable victim enhancement was applicable.
[09/23]
In re Shane G.
Juvenile court judgment terminating parental rights to minor son is affirmed over claims of error that: 1) evidence was insufficient to support the court's finding the beneficial parent-child relationship and beneficial sibling relationship exceptions did not apply to preclude terminating their parental rights; and 2) reversal is required because the court failed to ensure proper notice under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
[09/17]
Carmona v. Carmona
In an ERISA battle between the eight and ninth wives of a deceased pension holder, judgment in favor of defendant is affirmed in part and reversed in part because a plan participant's retirement vests Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity (QJSA) interests in the spouse at time of retirement, cutting off an alternative payee's ability to subsequently obtain a qualified domestic relations order changing the plan's beneficiary.
[09/17]
Amanda H. v. Superior Court
Mother's petition for extraordinary writ is granted where the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that it had provided reasonable reunification services.
[09/16]
Abbott v. Abbott
In a child-custody suit, denial of return of the child to Chile after the custodial parent removed him in violation of a Chilean court's ne exeat order is affirmed where ne exeat rights, even when coupled with "rights of access," do not constitute "rights of custody" within the meaning of the Hague Convention, and the convention therefore provided no remedy.
[09/15]
In re Marriage of Holtemann
In a matter regarding the legal effect of a spousal property transmutation agreement executed during marriage, order issued in favor of petitioner's former wife is affirmed where: 1) the transmutation of separate property to community property was effected, notwithstanding language in the transmutation agreement and trust that purported to qualify, limit or condition the transfer upon the death of either spouse; and 2) the agreement contained an "express declaration" sufficient to transmute petitioner's separate property into community property.
[09/12]
Estate of Kievernagel
In a suit by widow for use of her late husband's frozen sperm to attempt to conceive a child despite signed agreement by late husband to discard sperm upon his death, judgment denying distribution of sperm to widow is affirmed where determining the disposition of gamete material, to which no other party contributed and thus another party's right to procreational autonomy is not implicated, the intent of the donor must control.
[09/11]
C.C. v. Superior Court of Orange County (Orange County Social Services Agency)
In a juvenile dependency matter, petition for relief from order accepting peremptory challenge to judge on remand after his dispositional order was reversed on appeal, is granted where the matter was not remanded for a reexamination of an issue of fact or a retrial of the dispositional issues.
[09/10]
Alvarez Figueroa v. Mukasey
In an immigration case, petition to review denial of application to cancel removal is granted and the case remanded to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) where: 1) petitioners exhausted their remedies before the BIA; 2) petitioners challenged the legal standard used below, not discretionary application of facts onto the legal standard; 3) the Immigration Judge erroneously required a showing that removal would result in unconscionable harm to the petitioners' citizen children; and 4) the Immigration Judge erred by looking at petitioners' children's current conditions, rather than their future condition with parents removed.
[08/29]
In the Interest of M.N.
In a custody case, affirmation of the termination of a mother's parental rights on the basis of untimely filing of a statement of points for appeal is reversed where the trial court was permitted to grant a motion to extend the time for filing the statement of points on a showing of good cause.
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