FAMILY LAW CASES

• In re Justin S.
• Marriage of Ettefagh
• In re Paul W.
• In re Mary G.

California Appellate Districts, May 21, 2007
In re Justin S., No. H030732
Order reinstating of termination of defendant's parental rights over two children is conditionally reversed as defendant should have had notice of, and representation by counsel for, a limited remand hearing, and the noticed Indian tribes were not given sufficient time to respond. Read more...

California Appellate Districts, May 22, 2007
Marriage of Ettefagh, No. A109531
Judgment of dissolution is affirmed where the trial court correctly held that the rebuttable presumption in Family Code section 760 that property acquired by either spouse during marriage is community property, could be overcome if former husband established by a preponderance of the evidence that the contested property was a gift to him. Read more...

California Appellate Districts, May 23, 2007
In re Paul W., No. H029866
In latest in a series of appellate challenges to juvenile court orders made in this dependency proceeding, mother's challenge to lack of party status in the habeas corpus proceeding below, which was ordered to examine the father's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel at the jurisdiction and disposition phases of the underlying dependency proceeding, is dismissed where the mother lacks standing to prosecute the appeal. Read more...

California Appellate Districts, May 24, 2007
In re Mary G., No. D049027
Order terminating defendants' parental rights and choosing adoption as the permanent plan is reversed where: 1) the court violated father's constitutional rights to equal protection and full faith and credit principles by not recognizing him as a presumed father entitled to reunification services as a matter of right based on a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, merely because it was made in Michigan and not California; and 2) the agency violated notice requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. Read more...