by Oyster Shell | Apr 11, 2018 | Alabama, Children, Divorce, Family, Family Law, Legal Advice, Mobile, Significant Decisions, Uncategorized
What is Collaborative Law?
Collaborative Law is a method of alternative dispute resolution wherein the parties commit to resolve their dispute out of court. Because parties to a divorce often need to have a continuing relationship due to co-parenting of children, Collaborative Law is ideally suited to divorce and other family law matters.
How is Collaborative Law Different?
A key difference between Collaborative Law and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, is the parties sign a participation agreement that sets out the parameters, including voluntary disclosure of financial information, mutual respect, insulating children from the dispute, sharing of experts such as mental health and financial professionals, and no litigation. Each party is represented by their own lawyer.
What are the Benefits of Collaborative Law?
The benefit of Collaborative Law is that you and your spouse or partner control the process and make final decisions; whereas, in litigation, the Judge controls the process and makes decisions for you. You also control the timetable which is most definitely not the case when you are involved in litigation. Collaborative Law is also private and litigation is not.
Collaborative Law is just now starting as a process in the Mobile area but has been taking place around the country and in Birmingham, Alabama, for several years. You can check out collaborativepractice.com for more information.
If Collaborative Law sounds like it may be right for your family, please contact us for a consultation. You can reach us by phone at 251-432-7909.
by Oyster Shell | May 6, 2016 | Alabama, Family Law, Legal Advice, Mobile, Uncategorized
The Alabama Legislature has just passed house bill 332, which abolishes common law marriage in Alabama. The law will not effect any current common law marriages but will become effective January 1, 2017. This bill is was signed by Gov. Robert Bentley on May 3.
Read more about the bill via this link.
by Oyster Shell | Oct 4, 2013 | Alabama, Child Support, Children, Custody, Divorce, Family, Family Law, Legal Advice, Mobile, Uncategorized
Today, the Alabama Supreme Court has issued an opinion in the case of Ex Parte Christopher, which overturns the landmark case of Ex Parte Bayliss. Bayliss is the case which gave Alabama Courts the authority to order parents to pay post-minority support and contribute to college expenses for their children after they reach the age of majority. Under Alabama law, the age of majority is nineteen (19).
If you are already under a court-ordered obligation to pay post-minority support for the benefit of your child, this decision will not effect you as the Court has stated its opinion overruling Bayliss is only applicable in future cases. If no final order has been entered in your case or it is on appeal, then the decision does apply to you. Parents are still free, of course, to voluntarily agree to pay such expenses.
by Oyster Shell | Jul 19, 2013 | Alabama, Mobile, Uncategorized
Mobile Arts Council is pleased to announce the recipients of the Tenth Annual Greater Mobile Arts Awards. The awards acknowledge the important contributions that individuals, groups and businesses make to the cultural life of our community.
The awards will be presented in a ceremony to be held Thursday, August 29, at 7:00 p.m. in the 1927 Room at the Saenger Theatre with a reception honoring the recipients immediately following. This event is free and open to the public.
This year’s recipients include:
Artist: Mike McKee
Business: Crescent Theater
Educator: Lori Bilbry Vaghefi
Patron: Dr. Thomas Rosandich
Organization: Mobile Symphony
Volunteer: Dan Silver
Additional Awards for 10th Anniversary:
To celebrate ten years of the Arts Awards program, the Awards Committee, chaired by local artist/educator Katherine D. Seawell, has created two additional awards:
Emerging Artist Riley Brenes
This award acknowledges the exceptional contributions of an early-career artist to the local creative community.
Lifetime Achievement Carmen Brown
This award acknowledges individuals who display an extraordinarycommitment to the overall health and vitality of the Metropolitan Mobile Area through creative means during the course of their lifetime.
Each year a different local artist is commissioned to create the awards. This year, the awards have been created by glass artist and previous Arts Awards recipient Rachel Wright.
The Mobile Arts Council is a private nonprofit organization that serves as an umbrella organization for arts and cultural organization in the Greater Mobile Metropolitan Area, receiving financial support from the City of Mobile, Mobile County Commission, Alabama State Council on the Arts (a State agency), the National Endowment for the Arts, and from local corporations, businesses and individuals.
For more information, contact Bob Burnett, Executive Director, Mobile Arts Council, 251-432-9796 or bburnett@mobilearts.org.
