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divorcelawyergunnisonutah · 2 years ago

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Family Law Attorney West Valley City Utah

Family attorney is a person who deals with all the matters of families. No matter if it is a matter of marriage, divorce, child custody, property, ownership, etc. The Family-law attorney in West Valley City deals with all such matters. A Family attorney is out of the zone of the criminal justice system and works only under civil law. Whenever a person gets a problem in family matters, no matter how severe the condition is, a Family-law attorney is hired, not a criminal lawyer. A Family-law attorney has the massive responsibility of getting justice for his clients. Family lawyers can act as mediators when family disagreements develop. They can also represent litigants in family conflicts that end up courts. Below are some of the things that family lawyers can do. Parents with minor children who are facing divorce are usually primarily concerned with child custody matters. Getting enough family time with children after a divorce is vitally important to the health and happiness of any children and for the family as a whole.

Each state has different laws regarding child custody matters, although most follow similar guidelines. Physical custody is the type of custody granted to the parent who lives with the child. Legal custody is the type of custody in which the parent has the right to participate in important life decisions for the child, such as schooling or religious affiliation. Both parents can have both types of custody. Sole custody occurs when only one parent is awarded custody for either physical or legal custody, or both. In joint custody, both parents share custody.

In West Valley City, Utah, joint physical custody means each parent lives with the child for at least 111 days in a year.

How a Court Decides Custody

In West Valley City, Utah, a court presumes that joint legal custody is in the best interests of the child, absent a valid reason to the contrary. Such reasons could include domestic violence, having a child or parent with special needs or if there is a large distance between the living spaces of the parents. A court does not presume that it is in a child’s best interest to live with the mother or father based on the biological sex of the parent, but decides custody on the best interests for a particular child based on several factors involving the child and parents. When establishing what is in the best interests of the child, West Valley City, Utah family courts rely on several factors defined by state law. However, that list is not exhaustive, meaning that a court can take any information that it deems relevant when deciding child custody. In West Valley City, Utah, the legislature specifically noted that a court should consider the following when reaching a decision on custody: • Previous parental conduct and the “demonstrated moral standards of each of the parties” • Which parent will act in the best interest of the child, including allowing the noncustodial parent frequent and continuing access to the child. • The depth, quality, and nature of the relationship between a parent and child

Modifying a Child Custody Order

West valley City, Utah state law recognizes that life changes occur after a divorce is finalized. While one custody arrangement may be appropriate soon after the divorce is final, changes in jobs, relocation and other matters may make a current child custody arrangement obsolete. A parent must petition to the court in order to modify a child custody arrangement. If the parents cannot agree on a change, the court will look to two factors when deciding whether to change the child support order: • First, the court must find that “a material and substantial change in circumstances” has occurred since the last order was entered • Second, the court must determine that changing custody would be in the best interests of the child Parents with questions regarding custody matters should consult with an experienced family law attorney to discuss their situation.

West Valley City, Utah Divorce Laws

When a couple gets married, it’s generally a happy time in their lives and they don’t think about divorce. Despite this hope, sometimes divorce is necessary for the health and sanity of both parties. The old axiom of about 50% of marriages ending in divorce has been found to be inaccurate, but a good number of marriages still don’t last forever. If you have children, child custody and child support are important parts of the case that will keep you and your former spouse in family court until the children are adult that aren’t eligible for child support, which in Utah can be ordered until they’re 21 years old. No matter what your individual circumstances are, a couple seeking a divorce must comply with the following divorce laws before they are able to divorce in Utah.

Residency Requirements: One party must be a bona fide resident of Utah for at least three months before commencing action. Members of the military who have been stationed in Utah for at least three months can also file for divorce there.

Waiting Period: A divorce matter won’t be heard by the family court until at least 90 days from filing the complaint asking for a divorce. In extraordinary circumstances, this waiting period can be waived.

A divorce decree becomes absolute on the day its signed by court and entered by the clerk, however, not that the judge can extend the date in which it becomes absolute for up to six months for good cause either by application of either party or at his or her own decision.

“No Fault” Grounds for Divorce: Utah has two no fault grounds for divorce, first irreconcilable differences which is a loose cover-all for just no longer getting along and wanting to break up. The second no fault grounds is being legally separated and not cohabitating for at least three years.

Fault Based Grounds for Divorce; Utah still maintains fault based grounds for divorce, these can affect the amount that’s distributed to each spouse under the state marital property laws. These fault-based grounds are: • Adultery committed by the respondent (person who is served with divorce papers) while married to petitioner (person who brings the divorce action) • Cruelty or domestic violence to extent that bodily injury or great mental distress is caused of the petitioner • Desertion of the petitioner for at least 1 year • Alcohol addiction of respondent • Impotency of respondent at the time of marriage • Nonsupport or willful neglect to provide the petitioner with necessaries of life • Incurable insanity • Conviction of a felony by respondent

Temporary Separation Order

A person can ask the court for a temporary separation order that is valid for one year or until the divorce is filed or the case is dismissed.

West Valley City, Utah Child Custody Laws

When a couple with children breaks up, the responsibility to care for the children must be shared by both parents. An important aspect is child custody or with whom the child will live with and what visitation with the other parent will be like. Another part of this responsibility is financial support, in the form of child support. West Valley City, Utah family courts, like those in most states, determine child custody matters using the “best interests of the child.” The factors considered by the judge include: • Past conduct and demonstrated moral standards of the parties • Parent most likely to act in the best interest of the child, including allowing child frequent contact with non-custodial parent • Bonding between each parent and the child • If a parent has intentionally exposed the child to pornography or other harmful sexual-related materials • Physical, psychological, and emotional needs of the child • Both parent’s ability to reach shared decisions for the child and prioritize the child’s welfare • If both parents participated in raising the child before the divorce • The geographic proximity of the parents’ homes\ • The child’s preferences • Parents ability to protect child from their conflict • Past and present ability to cooperate with each other in parenting and making decisions • Any history of child abuse, domestic violence, or kidnapping • Any other relevant factors When parents can’t develop their own parenting schedule, the court can establish an appropriate schedule more or less than the statutory minimum parent-time based on the following best interest of the child factors: • How parent-time would negative impact child’s physical health and emotional development • Distance between child’s home and the non-custodial parent’s home • Allegations of child abuse • Lack of demonstrated parenting skills when there’s no safeguards to ensure child’s safety • Financial inability of non-custodial parent to provide food and shelter during parent-time • Child’s preference, if sufficiently mature • Parent’s incarceration • Shared interests of the child and non-custodial parent • Non-custodial parent’s involvement in the child’s school, community, religious, or other related activities • Non-custodial parent’s availability to care for the child when the custodial parent is working or has other obligations • Chronic pattern of missing, canceling or denying regularly scheduled parenting time • Parent-time schedule of siblings • Lack of reasonable alternatives for nursing child • Any other criteria the court feels is relevant to the best interests of the child

Utah Marital Property Laws

During marriage, couples acquire the rights to some of the property and assets, as well as debts, acquired by one or both of them. Marital property doesn’t include things that are considered separate property owned by either spouse, for example, property owned before marriage, inheritance, gifts, property specifically excluded by valid prenuptial agreements, and property gained after legally separating. In addition, keep in mind that you are also on the hook still for your separate debts from before marriage.

Equitable Distribution vs. Community Property

Wes Valley City, Utah is an equitable distribution or common law state, which is the majority marital property legal system. However, large numbers of people, live in community property states. This means marital property in West Valley City Utah isn’t automatically assumed to be owned by both spouses and therefore should be divided equally in a divorce.

In West valley city, Utah, marital property is divided “equitably” or fairly, which may not be an even 50-50. Usually for longer marriages, it is about 50% to each party. For short-term marriages, the court generally puts people back to their position before the marriage, such as giving people what they had before the marriage and typically what they made during the marriage. Parties can agree on how they want to divide the property outside of court, but a judge will review it to ensure it’s fair.

West valley City, Utah Child Abuse Laws

Criminal statutes are in place to keep people safe. Utah’s child abuse laws are designed to protect children from harm by prohibiting the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children. These child abuse statutes assist in prosecuting child abusers and mandate certain third parties and professionals with access to children to report knowledge or suspicion of child abuse to the authorities. Utah’s Department of Child and Family Services also provides resources statewide to protect the welfare of children.

West Valley City Utah Child Support Guidelines

Family law courts in Utah determine how much child support a non-custodial parent (a parent who doesn’t live with their minor child) is required to pay by using the state’s child support guidelines. These guidelines take into consideration both parents’ gross incomes and the number of children that they have together. The court will follow the child support guidelines unless there is substantial evidence to rebut the guidelines. In order to determine whether or not to deviate from the guidelines the court will consider: • The standard of living of the parents • The relative wealth and income of the parents\ • The ability of the non-custodial parent to earn • The ability of the custodial parent to earn • The ability of an incapacitated adult child to earn, or other benefits received by an adult child • The needs of the custodial parent, the non-custodial parent, and the child • The ages of the parties, and • The responsibilities of the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent for the support of others

Reasons to Hire a Family Law Attorney

• Handling Divorce Issues: Undergoing a divorce is probably one of the most draining experiences that a family can face. Emotions may set in and make it impossible for a couple to settle it calmly. In such a case, a family law attorney can act as a mediator, and assist them to approach the issue rationally and within the law. In other words, a competent family law attorney can assist couples in the process of divorcing to settle the matter fairly without necessarily going to court. • Handling Estates and Wills: A will is a legal document through which people state how they would wish their property to be managed when they die. Family law attorneys are responsible for assisting people in drafting these documents. They also have what it takes to ensure that an estate is administered as stated by a deceased via the will. • Handling Child Custody Agreements: When a couple separates, one of the most difficult issues to handle has to be what happens to the children. Couples need to agree on how to take care of the children they have had together in the new arrangement. Child custody is defined by an agreement in which both parents have to live with the terms therein. A competent family lawyer can help parents that are parting ways to draft such an agreement. A family law attorney can also help parents in amending child custody agreements if need be. • Handling Prenuptial Agreements: A prenuptial agreement is a contract signed by a couple prior to a marriage or a civil union. Although the content of such a contract may vary from one case to another, its main aim is to spell out the provisions of spousal support and division of the property in the event of a breakup or a divorce. A family lawyer can assist a couple in drafting a prenuptial agreement and handling any matters that may arise from the contract according to the law. • Represent Litigants in Court: Although family attorneys can help people to settle family disputes outside court, some of these matters still end up in the courts. In such a case, family lawyers are best suited to help litigants get justice. These attorneys handle such cases almost every other day, and therefore, they have the necessary legal knowledge and practical experience to help litigants to navigate the complex jungles of the family law and ensure that justice is served accordingly.

Free Initial Consultation with Lawyer

It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Legal problems come to everyone. Whether it’s your son who gets in a car wreck, your uncle who loses his job and needs to file for bankruptcy, your sister’s brother who’s getting divorced, or a grandparent that passes away without a will -all of us have legal issues and questions that arise. So when you have a law question, call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you!

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About West Valley City Utah

West Valley City, Utah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

West Valley City, Utah

City

City of West Valley City

The Maverik Center in West Valley City, home of the Utah Grizzlies ice hockey team.

Seal

Motto:

“Progress as promised.”[1]

Location within Salt Lake County

West Valley City

Location within Utah

Show map of UtahShow map of the United StatesShow all

Coordinates: 40°41′21″N 111°59′38″WCoordinates: 40°41′21″N 111°59′38″W Country United States State Utah County Salt Lake Settled 1847 Incorporated 1980 Government

• Mayor Karen Lang [2] Area

[3]

• Total 35.88 sq mi (92.92 km2) • Land 35.83 sq mi (92.79 km2) • Water 0.05 sq mi (0.14 km2) Elevation

4,304 ft (1,312 m) Population

(2020)[4]

• Total 140,230 • Density 3,913.76/sq mi (1,511.11/km2) Time zone UTC−7 (Mountain (MST)) • Summer (DST) UTC−6 (MDT) Area code(s) 385, 801 FIPS code 49-83470[5] GNIS feature ID 1437843[6] Website www.wvc-ut.gov

West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 census,[4] making it the second-largest city in Utah. The city incorporated in 1980 from a large, quickly growing unincorporated area, combining the four communities of Granger, Hunter, Chesterfield, and Redwood. It is home to the Maverik Center and USANA Amphitheatre.

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

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The 'fool' that fentanyl made into a millionaire

https://apnews.com/ce51cf7c958643629bce76764f71058d

This is a fascinating read 📖 looking at who stoked and helped create the Fentanyl Crisis that has taken so many lives. �� 😭 😭 😭

The 'Fool ' That Fentanyl Made Into A Millionaire

By CLAIRE GALOFARO and LINDSAY WHITEHURST | Published September 14, 2019 10:20 AM ET | AP | Posted September 14, 2019 10:40 AM ET |

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The photo that flashed onto the courtroom screen showed a young man dead on his bedroom floor, bare feet poking from the cuffs of his rolled up jeans. Lurking on a trash can at the edge of the picture was what prosecutors said delivered this death: an ordinary, U.S. Postal Service envelope.

It had arrived with 10 round, blue pills inside, the markings of pharmaceutical-grade oxycodone stamped onto the surface. The young man took out two, crushed and snorted them. But the pills were poison, prosecutors said: counterfeits containing fatal grains of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid that has written a deadly new chapter in the American opioid epidemic.

The envelope was postmarked from the suburbs of Salt Lake City.

That's where a clean-cut, 29-year-old college dropout and Eagle Scout named Aaron Shamo made himself a millionaire by building a fentanyl trafficking empire with not much more than his computer and the help of a few friends.

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This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

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For three weeks this summer, those suburban millennials climbed onto the witness stand at his federal trial and offered an unprecedented window into how fentanyl bought and sold online has transformed the global drug trade. There was no testimony of underground tunnels or gangland murders or anything that a wall at the southern border might stop. Shamo called himself a "white-collar drug dealer," drew in co-workers from his time at eBay and peppered his messages to them with smiley-face emojis. His attorney called him a fool; his primary defense was that he isn't smart enough to be a kingpin.

How he and his friends managed to flood the country with a half-million fake oxycodone pills reveals the ease with which fentanyl now moves around the world, threatening to expand the epidemic beyond America's borders. It is so potent, so easy to transport, experts say, large-scale traffickers no longer require sophisticated networks to send it to any corner of the globe. All they need is a mailbox, internet access and people with an appetite for opioids. And consumption rates are rising from Asia to Europe to Latin America as pharmaceutical companies promote painkillers abroad.

The case against Shamo detailed how white powder up to 100 times stronger than morphine was bought online from a laboratory in China and arrived in Utah via international mail; it was shaped into perfect-looking replicas of oxycodone tablets in the press that thumped in Shamo's basement and resold on the internet's black markets. Then it was routed back into the postal system in thousands of packages addressed to homes across this country awash with prescription painkiller addiction.

When Shamo took the stand to try to spare himself a lifetime in prison, he began with a nervous chuckle. He careened from one topic to the next in a monologue prosecutors would later describe as masterful manipulation to convince the jury he thought his drug-dealing was helping people. Customers wrote thank you notes because their doctors refused to prescribe more painkillers, he said. It felt like "a win-win situation" — he got rich and his customers got drugs.

One of them was a struggling 21-year-old named Ruslan Klyuev who died in his bedroom in Daly City, California, the envelope from Utah at his feet. Shamo was charged in connection to that overdose alone, but when investigators scoured the list of customers they said they counted dozens more dead.

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The question before this jury is being debated all across America: Two decades into the opioid epidemic, is there such a thing as justice for 400,000 lost lives?

The largest civil litigation in history is testing how the pharmaceutical industry should be held accountable for inundating the country with billions of addictive pain pills. Purdue Pharma, seen by many as the primary villain for deceptively pushing the blockbuster drug OxyContin, reached a tentative $12 billion settlement this week with about half the states and roughly 2,000 local governments. Attorneys general who didn't sign on say the figure is far too low. A trial of other pharmaceutical companies is scheduled for next month, in which communities will contend that their mass marketing of prescription painkillers sparked an epidemic.

This crisis began in the 1990s and has since has spiraled into waves, each worse than the one before: Prescription opioids spread addiction, then a crackdown on prescribing paved the road to heroin, which led to fentanyl — a synthetic opioid made entirely in a laboratory. Traffickers added it to heroin to boost its potency and profitability. That transition happened slowly at first, then with extraordinary ferocity.

By 2017, deaths from synthetic opioids had increased more than 800 percent, to 28,466, dragging the United States' overall life expectancy down for a third consecutive year for the first time in a century. Fentanyl deaths have been reported abroad, in Canada, Sweden, Estonia, the United Kingdom. Countries with surging prescription opioid addiction, like Australia, fear they are on the brink.

"Fentanyl will be the bubonic plague," said Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, warning that any country with a burgeoning prescription opioid problem could soon find itself following American footsteps. "It's just a matter of time."

No one can say exactly how or why fentanyl, first synthesized in 1959 as a powerful painkiller, entered the modern illicit drug market, said Bryce Pardo, a researcher at the Rand Corporation. In 2013, people began overdosing on heroin laced with fentanyl in New England and Ohio, and it spread from there. Shabbir Safdar, the Partnership for Safe Medicines' executive director, said the first known death from a fentanyl-laced pill was in San Francisco in October 2015.

It was a frightening development: The DEA estimates 3.4 million Americans misuse prescription painkillers, compared to 475,000 heroin users — meaning the pool potentially exposed is 10 times bigger.

There are two sources of supply. Mexican cartels and packages shipped direct from China, where it is produced in a huge and under-regulated chemical sector. A Senate investigation last year found massive quantities of fentanyl pouring in from China through the Postal Service. The report largely blamed dated technology that left customs inspectors sifting through packages manually looking for "the proverbial needle in a haystack." The Postal Service wrote in a statement to The Associated Press that it is working hard with its international counterparts to close those loopholes, and is improving its technology to intercept fentanyl shipments.

By the time a seized package heading from China to Utah led investigators to Shamo, he had already turned fentanyl into at least 458,946 potentially poisonous pills, the government said. There are many more like him, officials say, upstart traffickers pressing pure Chinese-made fentanyl into pills in their basements and kitchens with unsophisticated equipment. In a single batch, one pill might have no fentanyl and another enough to kill a person instantly. One agent at Shamo's trial compared it to making chocolate-chip cookies, only if too many chips ended up in a "cookie," whoever ate it dropped dead.

For traffickers, the profit margins are irresistible: The DEA estimates a kilogram of fentanyl synthesized for a few thousand dollars could make a dealer more than $1 million.

"Any moron can basically become a major drug kingpin by dealing in fentanyl," said Vigil. "You can have somebody with an IQ minus 100 who becomes an overnight multimillionaire."

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Aaron Shamo dreamed of entrepreneurial riches. He idolized Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, and studied self-improvement books like "Think and Grow Rich."

He and a longtime friend, Drew Crandall, worked at eBay after failed stints in college. But Crandall was fired and Shamo decided it was "unfair" that he still had to work, so he quit. They wanted easy money.

Shamo grew up in Phoenix with three older sisters. As a teenager, he started smoking pot and refusing to attend services with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His parents sent him to boarding school in Utah, where he earned his Eagle Scout badge. He later met Crandall through their shared love of longboarding and they moved in together. Crandall was awkward and shy; Shamo was charismatic, and prided himself on helping his friend talk to girls.

The pair concocted a plan to sell their Adderall, prescribed for attention deficit disorder, on the dark web — a wild, unregulated layer of the internet reached through a special browser. There are underground marketplaces there that mimic Amazon or eBay, where guns and drugs and pirated software are traded. Money is exchanged anonymously through cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

They learned what they needed on the web, searching with queries like "how to ship drugs." It was so easy. They expanded, ordering drugs in bulk, breaking them down and selling at a mark-up, all while barely having to leave the house.

They used the postal system like a drug mule, peddling the club drug MDMA, magic mushrooms, date rape drugs — they once bought a kilogram of cocaine from Peru. They recruited friends, offering them $100 to have parcels mailed to their homes, no questions asked.

But the profit margins were slim and their ambitions were greater: They bought a pill press, ordered the sedative alprazolam online from India and watched YouTube videos to figure out how to turn it into fake Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication. Crandall, math minded, created the recipe. They mixed it up by shaking it in mason jars.

Then Crandall fell in love.

His new girlfriend grew suspicious when he would sneak away to package drugs. When she confronted him at a party, he tearfully confessed. She forgave him, if he promised to leave the business. They bought one-way tickets to New Zealand.

Then a local drug dealer made a suggestion to Shamo that would change the course of his life: There was a fortune to be made in producing fake oxycodone.

Shamo enlisted his gym buddy, Jonathan Luke Paz, to help him. Shamo ordered fentanyl online from China, set up the pill press in the basement and bought dyes and stamps to match popular pharmaceuticals. Then they handed them over to the local dealer, who tested them on his own customers. The first batches were weak or speckled in color, he told them, or didn't react like real oxycodone when users heated it on tinfoil to smoke it.

But they were getting better.

"Close to being money in the bank," the dealer messaged Shamo. "You did it, bro."

On the first day of 2016, Shamo he wrote out his goals for the upcoming year: He would be rich. All the girls would want him.

"I will overachieve," he wrote. "I will overcome."

He went online with his products a month later. Some were specified as fentanyl, but some weren't, purporting instead to contain 30 milligrams of oxycodone. Shamo named this new store Pharma-Master.

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As winter turned to summer, sales skyrocketed. Pharma-Master started selling thousands of pills a week, charging around $10 each.

On June 6, a relatively small order came in: 10 pills, to be shipped to an apartment house in Daly City, a working-class suburb of San Francisco.

Like every order, it was sent in an encrypted email to two former eBay co-workers in charge of distribution. Alexandrya Tonge and Katherine Bustin counted out the pills in their suburban condo, packaged the shipments and dropped them in the mail.

The envelope arrived at the doorstep at 3 p.m. on June 11.

Under different circumstances, Shamo might have been friends with the 21-year-old man who lived there. Ruslan Klyuev, a Russian immigrant, was also an aspiring tech entrepreneur interested in the dark web. He had a baby face: rosy cheeks and curly hair. Klyuev loved to cook and would make extravagant meals for the house.

But his relationship ended, his web design business sputtered and he became estranged from his family, said Barry, a roommate who spoke on the condition that his last name not be published. His emotions toggled between sorrow and elation, and he struggled with substance abuse.

After drinking vodka, Klyuev crushed two of the pills with a battery and snorted the powder with a rolled-up sticky note, according to testimony. He started drifting in and out of sleep. He couldn't stand up.

He was found dead the next day, with fentanyl, alcohol and a substance associated with cocaine in his system.

His was the only death with which Shamo would be charged. His defense attorney, Greg Skordas, argued that neither his death nor any others can be definitely linked with Shamo's operation.

But in documents, prosecutors connected Shamo to a veritable slaughter:

A 24-year-old man in Seattle overdosed three weeks after he bought pills from Pharma-Master in March 2016.

Later that spring, 40 pills were shipped to a 21-year-old in Washington, D.C. He died in his dorm room 11 days later.

In Utah, a 29-year-old software analyst named Devin Meldrum had been searching since he was a teenager for a cure for cluster headaches that felt like knives stabbing his skull, said his father, Rod.

Doctors had prescribed opioids but limited the dosage, so he bought a backup supply from Pharma-Master. On Aug. 13, 2016, he ran out of pills days before his refill. As he got ready for bed, he texted his fiance and took a pill from his reserve for the first time, his father said.

He was dead before she arrived to say goodnight, blue on his bathroom floor.

His father isn't sure Shamo even now understands the magnitude of what happened: "Does he even comprehend how many families have had their hearts torn out?"

___

Online, Pharma-Master was getting rave reviews.

"These will make u a millionaire in under a year, guarantee," wrote one shopper who called himself "Trustworthy Money."

He was a dealer in Portland named Jared Gillespie. He bought 80,000 pills from Pharma-Master, according to documents filed against Gillespie in Oregon. He knew he was buying fentanyl pills, the Oregon prosecutors alleged, but the people buying from him had no way to know that. They are unknown and uncounted.

Shamo offered steep discounts for bulk buyers. Tonge, one of his distributors, testified that she began to question Shamo's claim that he was helping patients who couldn't get medication: Why would one person need 5,000 pills?

Her vacuum cleaner would become a critical piece of evidence. Its dust bin was filled with pills. The operation had grown so frantic, pumping out tens of thousands of tablets a month, that when they spilled onto the floor, they weren't worth saving.

Tonge and her partner complained that the orders were coming too quickly, so Shamo hired a "runner" named Sean Gygi to pick up the packages and drop them in the mail, dozens of them a day.

Drug manufacturing became routine: Shamo once wrote himself a to-do list, and included a reminder to "make blues," the street name for oxycodone, along with getting a haircut, washing his sheets, cleaning the kitchen. And Shamo planned to expand. He bought another press so big agents would later need a tow truck to drag it out of his garage.

The money was pouring in, and out.

Shamo hired a personal assistant; she did his shopping, had his car detailed. He stuffed a duffel bag with $429,000 cash and asked his parents to hold it. He bragged to friends about VIP bottle service at clubs and gambling in Las Vegas. He shopped for real estate in Puerto Rico; took photos sipping champagne on a cruise ship; bought designer jeans, an 88-inch television, a boat and BMW.

Crandall and his girlfriend posted photos on Instagram of trips to Laos, Thailand, Singapore, kayaking and partying. But he was running out of money and agreed to become a remote customer service representative. The list of people accepting packages from China ballooned to more than a dozen. Everyone was making easy money and getting text messages from Shamo dotted with "lol" and "awesome!"

Shamo penned another note: "I am Shamo. I am awesome. My friends love me. I created an empire."

But even as he cheered himself on, there were signs of danger.

One customer reported an overdose death. Shamo scanned obituaries, then declared it was a faked, Crandall said. Then a message said pills were making people sick.

Crandall forwarded it to Shamo with a dismissive question: Should he tell them to "suck it up?" Or send more pills to pacify them?

___

They didn't know it, but a suspicious customs agent at the Los Angeles International Airport had flagged a box from Shanghai, China, pulled it off the belt and looked inside. The agent found 98.7 grams of fentanyl powder — enough to make almost 100,000 pills. The box was destined for Utah.

Agents looked for more packages making their way from China to Utah, and eventually one arrived, said an agent with Homeland Security Investigations who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect ongoing investigations. On Nov. 8, 2016, postal inspectors seized a box en route from a port city in China known to law enforcement as a fentanyl-trafficking hub. It was addressed to Sean Gygi, Shamo's "runner," so agents arrived at his house with a search warrant.

Gygi said he thought the hundreds of envelopes he'd put in the mail contained the party drugs he sometimes took himself. Told it was fentanyl, the agent recalled, Gygi drooped.

He agreed to wear a wire while he picked up the packages, like he did every day. But instead of dropping them in the mail, he delivered them to police.

This single day's shipment contained 34,828 fentanyl pills destined for homes in 26 states.

Four days later, on Nov. 22, 2016, agents stood on Shamo's stoop, shouted through a bullhorn, then broke the door down with a battering ram. They were dressed in neon-orange hazmat suits with clear bowls around their faces that made them look like astronauts.

Shamo came up the stairs in a T-shirt and shorts, a mask and gloves in his pocket. A pill press downstairs was running, in a room with powder caked on the walls and the furniture.

Others were raiding the stash at Bustin and Tonge's condo. Veteran vice officers would say they had never seen so many pills, even in international operations. In total, they packed up over 74,000 fentanyl pills awaiting distribution.

In Shamo's sock drawer, agents found stack after stack of cash. There was more money in a safe in the closet. Agents totaled up more than $1.2 million, not including the money he had tied up in Bitcoin or bags he'd stashed with his family. Investigators eventually caught up with Paz, who Shamo paid around a dollar per pill, and he surrendered $800,000 more.

Crandall was in Laos, still traveling with his girlfriend, when he heard the news. He stored his drug-related data on a flash drive, threw it down a storm drain and sent an email to the dark web marketplace: "This account has been compromised." After a few months, he figured he was in the clear. He and his girlfriend planned their wedding and invited guests to meet them in Hawaii for the big day: May 12, 2017. They bought rings, and a dress.

Agents were waiting when they stepped onto American soil in Honolulu.

___

When Crandall sat on the witness stand, he was slump-shouldered and shackled, clumsily trying to maneuver his handcuffs to pull a tissue out of the box to wipe his eyes. In the two years since his arrest, he has been imprisoned in a county jail and watched his fellow inmates suffer the brutal fallout of an opioid epidemic. They stole from their parents, cycled in and out of jail and shivered, sweated, sobbed through withdrawal.

He'd helped feed this, he realized. For money.

He and Shamo's other ex-partners and packagers pleaded guilty, agreed to testify against their friend and hoped for mercy.

The story they told convinced the jury to convict Shamo of 12 counts, including continuing criminal enterprise, the so-called "kingpin charge" that is typically reserved for drug lords like El Chapo and carries a mandatory life sentence. The jury deadlocked, though on the 13th count: the death of Klyuev.

The bust was one of the largest operations in the country in 2016. But the fentanyl trade has only grown more sophisticated since. By comparison, Shamo now looks "small-time," said Safdar, with the Partnership for Safe Medicines. The most notorious Mexican drug cartels have transitioned to fentanyl, even as homegrown upstarts like Shamo's proliferate.

Seizure data in the United Nation's World Drug Report shows trafficking quickly expanding worldwide. In 2013, four countries reported fentanyl seizures. By 2016: 12 countries. In 2017, 16 countries reported seizing fentanyl.

And there is no reason to believe it will not spread further. In Africa and the Middle East, the synthetic opioid tramadol is widely abused, much of it illicitly manufactured in Asia. If that market transitions to fentanyl it would be catastrophic, said Scott Stewart, a former agent with the State Department. In Australia, prescription opioid consumption has quadrupled. Marianne Jauncey, medical director of a Sydney harm-reduction center, can't think of any reason fentanyl won't soon arrive — all they can do is prepare for the day that it does.

As Shamo was convicted, a single dark web marketplace still had 32,000 listings for drugs, thousands of them claiming to be oxycodone. There was no way to tell whether they originated in a pharmacy or somebody's basement.

One vendor even borrowed a version of Shamo's name. Pharmamaster peddles oxys online, sold in bulk at a discount. It has, it boasts, an "unlimited" supply.

"Pharma-grade A++," the listings promise. "24-hour shipping!"

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quoggy · 6 years ago

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Representation when a Client Dies

What do you do when your client dies? As with all legal questions, the answer is: it depends. In this case, on whether or not litigation was pending.

If litigation was pending, then you will need to act quickly to see if there are plans to open an estate. If so, you will need to obtain the consent of the family to continue representation. Strictly speaking, since the attorney-client relationship is an agency relationship, the death of a client terminates the attorney-client agency relationship, and the attorney’s authority to act ends automatically. See: Restatement (Second) of Agency, § 120 (1958). The lawyer-client relationship is not excepted from this rule. See: Switkes v. John McShain, 202 Md. 340 (1953).

If the family of the deceased has opened an estate, however, once a personal representative is appointed, the lawyer needs to substitute the estate as the party. Otherwise, the lawyer must file a motion to withdraw. If there aren’t any plans to open an estate, or the lawyer cannot locate any family members, then the lawyer would need to just file a motion to withdraw.

If there is no pending litigation, and no plans to open an estate, then that’s the end of it. A lawyer cannot make decisions on behalf of a deceased client, since the attorney-client relationship has been terminated. The lawyer’s representation simply ends.

Even though the attorney no longer represents the deceased client, they are still prohibited from violating the attorney-client privilege. Absent informed consent – which obviously can’t be granted from a dead person – a lawyer is prohibited from revealing information relating to the representation of that client. This is particularly important in family law matters, when an attorney would be aware that his client would not consent to opening this information to family members. For example, if a client was exploring a divorce, then all attorney-client work product should not be disclosed to the surviving spouse.

There are exceptions. In Maryland, the Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed a testamentary exception to the attorney-client privilege in Zook v. Pesce, 438 Md. 232 (2014).

The so-called testamentary exception was initially explored in Benziger v. Hemler, 134 Md. 81 (1919), wherein an attorney who drafted the will of a decedent was obligated to testify to the “transactions, circumstances, and instructions” given regarding the preparation of the will, including any communications between the client and attorney. In the context of a contested estate, such disclosure helps the court carry out the decedent’s estate plan. As the Court explained in Benzinger:

The rule, we think, is well stated in the note In re Young['s Estate], 17 L.R.A. (N.S.) 108 [33 Utah 382, 94 P. 731] in which it is said: "It may be laid down as a general rule of law, gathered from all the authorities, that, unless provided otherwise by statute, communications by a client to the attorney who drafted his will, in respect to that document, and all transactions occurring between them leading up to its execution, are not, after the client's death, within the protection of the rule as to privileged communications, in a suit between the testator's devisees and heirs at law, or other parties who all claim under him.

Maryland has recognized this exception to the attorney-client privilege ever since, even if it was never formally named as such. The testamentary exception was given its name, and was formally recognized as such, in Zook v. Pesce.

In Zook, almost one century later, this issue was revisited. In this particular case, a beneficiary of an estate argued that she was entitled to certain documents to make an argument that the principal of the estate, her father, was not competent in drafting his will. The trial court disagreed, as the documents sought were not in force when the decedent died, and thus they were considered attorney work product, and thus they were considered privileged by attorney-client confidentiality. The case was appealed, and the Court of Appeals explained the importance of upholding privilege even after the death of a client:

Knowing that communications will remain confidential even after death encourages the client to communicate fully and frankly with counsel. While the fear of disclosure, and the consequent withholding of information from counsel, may be reduced if disclosure is limited to posthumous disclosure in a criminal context, it seems unreasonable to assume that it vanishes altogether. Clients may be concerned about reputation, civil liability, or possible harm to friends or family. Posthumous disclosure of such communications may be as feared as disclosure during the client's lifetime.

The Court of Appeals, however, found that the trust agreements sought by Ms. Zook were subject to the testamentary exception, and she was therefore entitled to documents that would have otherwise been privileged materials. Unfortunately for her, the Court of Appeals also decided that admission of these documents wouldn’t have altered the trial court’s ultimate ruling as a matter of law. So she still lost.

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ericfruits · 4 years ago

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Malpractice Arbitration Upheld In Wyming

The Wyoming Supreme Court has held that

We conclude the district court: erred when it failed to stay the malpractice action as required by the Wyoming and Utah Uniform Arbitration Acts; properly limited its review to whether the arbitration provision was enforceable; and correctly ruled on the enforceability of the arbitration provision. We therefore affirm the district court’s order compelling arbitration, but reverse its dismissal of the action and remand with instructions to stay the proceedings pending arbitration.

The attorney had represented three beneficiaries to a trust

Grimmer represented Ms. Inman, Patterson, and Daisha over the next three years, including in a probate action and a civil action in Wyoming against Daralee, challenging her depletion of trust assets. Grimmer also grew involved in Ms. Inman’s life, helping her find employment, arranging educational tutors, and assisting her with travel arrangements, health care, and buying a car. After she turned 18 in 2015, Ms. Inman signed a new engagement agreement at Grimmer’s request. The new agreement contained an arbitration provision. Grimmer also continued to represent Patterson and Daisha.

Ms. Inman’s and Patterson’s interests soon diverged. By 2017, Ms. Inman wished to end the litigation against Daralee but Patterson did not. In 2016 and 2017, Grimmer helped Patterson attempt to buy real property from the WPI Trust. During this time, Grimmer also drew up and had Ms. Inman sign documents regarding the real property and the trust litigation that benefitted Patterson. Ms. Inman claims Grimmer told her these documents would help end the litigation against Daralee, and did not explain how they might adversely effect her interests. Ms. Inman fired Grimmer in September 2017. Grimmer continued to represent Patterson in matters involving Ms. Inman.

The court found the arbitration provision enforceable

The provision clearly covered malpractice claims, and plainly listed the rights Ms. Inman relinquished when she signed the agreement. In the end, the law and rules of professional conduct permit attorneys to include arbitration provisions that encompass malpractice claims in their engagement agreements; Ms. Inman does not claim the arbitration provision is harmful to the public as whole; Grimmer had no duty under Utah law or rules of professional conduct to verbally explain the provision to her; and the provision as written was adequate to inform her of its scope and effect. Under these circumstances, Ms. Inman has not convinced us that Utah courts would invalidate the arbitration provision on public policy grounds.

(Mike Frisch)

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dailynewswebsite · 4 years ago

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A century ago, James Weldon Johnson became the first Black person to head the NAACP

These NAACP leaders met at a 1916 convention. Library of Congress

On this second of nationwide racial reckoning, many Individuals are taking time to find out about chapters in U.S. historical past disregarded of their faculty texbooks. The early years of the Nationwide Affiliation for the Development of Coloured Folks, a civil rights group that originally coalesced round a dedication to finish the brutal observe of lynching in the USA, is value remembering now.

An interracial group of ladies and men based the group that might quickly turn into often called the NAACP in 1909. A coalition of white journalists, attorneys and progressive reformers led the trouble. It might take one other 11 years till, in 1920, James Weldon Johnson grew to become the primary Black individual to formally function its high official.

As I clarify in my forthcoming ebook “Nonviolence Earlier than King: The Politics of Being and the Black Freedom Wrestle,” interracial organizing was extraordinarily uncommon within the early 20th century. However the place it did happen – like in most of the summer time of 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests – it was as a result of some white Individuals united with Black Individuals over their shared concern about wanton violence directed in opposition to Black individuals.

W.E.B. Du Bois and Mary White Ovington had been among the many NAACP’s founders. David/Flickr, CC BY-SA

Lynching in America

Between 1877 and 1945, greater than 4,400 Black Individuals had been lynched. Many of those lynchings had been public occasions that attracted 1000’s of spectators in a carnival-like ambiance.

A violent assault by white individuals on the Black neighborhood in Abraham Lincoln’s longtime hometown impressed the NAACP’s founding. In August 1908, two African American males in Springfield, Illinois had been accused with out clear proof of homicide and assault and brought into custody.

When a white mob that had organized to lynch the 2 males, Joe James and George Richardson, didn’t find them, it lynched two different Black males as a substitute: Scott Burton and William Donnegan. White mobs raged for days afterwards, burning black properties and companies to the bottom.

Solely after Illinois Gov. Charles Deneen referred to as in 1000’s of the state’s Nationwide Guardsmen was the white mob violence quelled.

‘The decision’ for racial justice

Two of the NAACP’s most distinguished African American founders had been W.E.B. Du Bois, a sociologist, historian, activist and creator, and the journalist and activist Ida B. Wells, who had been publicly difficult lynching because the early 1890s.

They had been joined by a variety of white individuals, together with New York Put up writer Oswald Garrison Villard and social employee Florence Kelley in issuing “the decision” for racial justice on the centenary of Abraham Lincoln’s beginning: Feb. 12, 1909.

Ida B. Wells was among the many NAACP’s founders. Library of Congress

The group organized a precursor to the NAACP often called the Nationwide Negro Committee in 1909, which constructed on earlier efforts often called the Niagara Motion. This free affiliation of Black and white individuals referred to as on “all believers in democracy to hitch in a nationwide convention for the dialogue of current evils, the voicing of protests, and the renewal of the battle for civil and political liberty.” Du Bois chaired a Could 1910 convention that led to the NAACP’s official formation.

Because the historian Patricia Sullivan writes the NAACP emerged as a “militant” group targeted on making certain equal safety of below the regulation for Black Individuals.

The NAACP’s founders, of their phrases, envisioned an ethical battle for the “mind and soul of America.” They noticed lynching because the preeminent menace not solely to Black life in America however to democracy itself, and so they started to prepare chapters throughout the nation to wage authorized challenges to violence and segregation.

The group additionally targeted its early efforts on difficult portrayals of Black males as violent brutes, beginning its personal publication in 1910, The Disaster. Du Bois was tapped to edit the publication, and Wells was excluded from this early work regardless of her experience and prominence as a author – an exclusion she later blamed on Du Bois.

Though the group’s early work was an interracial effort, in response to historian Patricia Sullivan, all members of its preliminary government committee had been white.

The NAACP produced this anti-lynching poster in 1922. Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition

James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson joined the group as a discipline secretary in 1916 and rapidly expanded the NAACP’s work into the U.S. South. Johnson was already an achieved determine, having served as U.S. consul to Venezuela and Nicaragua below the Taft and Roosevelt administrations.

Johnson additionally wrote a novel referred to as “The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man” – a strong literary work a couple of Black man born with pores and skin mild sufficient to move for white. And he wrote, together with his brother J. Rosamond Johnson, the music “Elevate Each Voice and Sing,” which to today serves because the unofficial Black nationwide anthem.

As discipline secretary, Johnson oversaw circulation of The Disaster all through the South. The NAACP’s membership grew from 8,765 in 1916 to 90,000 in 1920 because the variety of its native chapters exploded from 70 to 395. Johnson additionally organized greater than 10,000 marchers within the NAACP’s Silent Protest Parade of 1917 – the primary main avenue protest staged in opposition to lynching within the U.S.

James Weldon Johnson grew to become the primary Black American to go the NAACP in 1920. Library of Congress

These clear successes led the board to call Johnson to be the primary individual – and the primary Black American – to function the NAACP’s government secretary in November 1920, cementing Black management over the group. He united the tons of of newly organized native branches in nationwide authorized challenges to white violence and anti-Black discrimination, and made the NAACP essentially the most influential group within the struggle for Black equality earlier than World Warfare II.

Johnson united native chapters in advocating for the introduction of an anti-lynching invoice in Congress in 1921. Regardless of efforts in 2020 to lastly accomplish this objective, the U.S. nonetheless lacks a regulation on the books outlawing racist lynching.

Johnson did, nonetheless, preside over the NAACP when the group notched its first of many main Supreme Courtroom wins. In 1927, the court docket dominated in Nixon v. Herndon {that a} Texas regulation barring Black individuals from taking part in Democratic Social gathering primaries violated the structure.

Johnson’s tenure on the NAACP’s helm led to 1930, however his means to unite native chapters in nationwide litigation laid a lot of the groundwork for quite a few Supreme Courtroom wins within the years forward, together with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Schooling Supreme Courtroom resolution which marked the start of the tip for legalized segregation in the USA.

In later years, Johnson grew to become the primary Black professor to show at New York College.

Alicia Keyes performing ‘Elevate Each Voice and Sing.’

The work continues

Amongst Johnson’s contributions to the NAACP was hiring Walter White, an African American chief who succeeded Johnson as government secretary. White presided over the group between 1930 and 1955, a interval that included many profitable authorized actions.

The battle launched by Du Bois, Wells and Johnson and their white allies a century in the past continues in the present day. The killing of Black Individuals that led to the NAACP’s founding stays a harrowing continuity from the Jim Crow period.

[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]

In 2020, 155 years after the Civil Warfare ended, the individuals of Mississippi voted to take away the Accomplice battle flag from their state flag, confirming an act Mississippi lawmakers undertook a number of months earlier. Utah and Nebraska stripped archaic slavery provisions from their state constitutions. Alabama nixed language mandating faculty segregation from its state structure.

These adjustments had been the results of hundreds of thousands of Individuals becoming a member of collectively to take motion in opposition to racism, an indication that an interracial motion for justice in America has by no means been stronger.

Anthony Siracusa doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or group that might profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their educational appointment.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/a-century-ago-james-weldon-johnson-became-the-first-black-person-to-head-the-naacp/ via https://growthnews.in

#Growth News

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melissawalker01 · 4 years ago

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Divorce St. George

Divorce happens after a married couple does not want to be legally married and/or living together anymore; it is legally dissolving a marriage.

How Much Does A Divorce Cost In St. George, Utah?

There is a lot that goes into the divorce process. Filing for divorce costs alot in Utah, however, there is a lot more to a divorce than just a small fee.

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• Mutually agreed divorce: When a couple can agree on the terms prior to them filing for divorce, the cost can be significantly lower than if they are not on agreeing terms. The average cost of a divorce when both parties already agree on all terms for the divorce can be as low as $100-$400. When they are not on agreeing terms, it can involve divorce attorneys. Most divorces are far more expensive than just a few hundred dollars. • Having Minor Children: Filing for divorce while they are minors involved can make it more lengthy and costly. What this really means is that attorneys need to be involved in order to complete the divorce process. The average cost of a divorce according to Utah divorce law is in Utah is $13,200, including around $10,000 in attorney fees. The average hourly rate for divorce attorneys in Utah is $250, it takes on average 53 hours total work time to start and complete a divorce. • Disputing over Alimony: Alimony is the financial legal obligation for a spouse in the event of a marriage separation or divorce. In the event of a divorce, sometimes there are disagreements over how much support one spouse is willing to provide. • Property Division problems: When a couple files for divorce, one major component of the divorce according to Utah divorce law is the division of property. Property can be one of the most disputed issues in any divorce. • Do-It-Yourself: Utah divorce law says that if both spouses are in full agreement to all of the terms of the divorce, then a Do-It-Yourself or DIY divorce can be an option that is much cheaper. In Utah, there are clinics that offer their DIY divorce for a price much lower than that of one that involves a divorce attorney. If a couple file for divorce and they do not have minor children, the total DIY divorce is somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000, and remember – there is the $350 +/- Utah divorce court filing fee. If a couple file for divorce with minor children, the DIY divorce can cost even more than that. Keep in minds that many who choose to undergo a divorce without professional legal help end up dealing with long-term unfortunate consequences down the road.

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How Long Does A Divorce Take In St. George, Utah?

Utah divorce law says that a divorce has a minimum 90 day mandatory waiting period; this is a time where the spouses should ‘cool off’ and helps many people make rational decisions because emotions won’t be so high. Once the 90 day waiting period is over, the divorce may be completed – it will take at least 90 days to complete

What Is An Uncontested Divorce?

An uncontested divorce means that all of the aspects of your divorce have been agreed upon between you and your spouse. If you and your spouse can discuss and reach an agreement as to all the terms that you would like incorporated in your Decree of Divorce (and Parenting Plan if there are minor children), you can save your family thousands of dollars, and spare your family months if not years of litigation.

How Do I Obtain An Uncontested Divorce?

After meeting with you and collecting the necessary information, Lawyer prepares a Stipulation, that will contain all the necessary provisions that you and your spouse have agreed to, as well as all the provisions required by Utah law. After the Stipulation is signed by both parties, Lawyer will prepare all the additional documents necessary to obtain your Decree of

Divorce from the court.

Why Do I Need An Attorney If My Spouse And I Have Reached An Agreement On Our Own?

Even if you and your spouse have reached your own agreement, and/or utilized the court’s online assistance program, you should meet with an attorney to ensure that you have included all the necessary provisions in your divorce decree. Unlike most civil cases, divorce proceedings never really close. A decree of divorce can be modified if there is a substantial change of circumstances, or reopened if the parties neglect to include a necessary provision. Modifications can be extremely costly and time consuming. You want to get it right the first time. Additionally, if you have minor children you may need to include a Parenting Plan which you will have to live with, and abide by, until your youngest child reaches the age of majority. You owe it to yourself and your family to meet with an attorney to make sure you has addressed not only the issues you and your spouse are currently facing, but also the issues and contingencies that you may be faced with in the future.

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What If My Divorce Becomes Contested?

Unfortunately, many couples cannot reach an agreement or stipulation on their own. If you and your spouse cannot reach an agreement, A Lawyer can represent you at our hourly rates. The majority of contested divorces eventually resolve through settlement, and very few end in trial. Utah Law dictates that before a court will hold a trial in a divorce proceeding, the parties must attempt to resolve the matter through mediation. Do-It-Yourself Divorce (DIY Divorce) Doing your own divorce through Utah Legal Clinic is easy and economical. The process will save you substantial money and allows you to end a marriage with minimum involvement by lawyers and the legal system. To qualify for a Do-It-Yourself Divorce, your divorce must be completely uncontested. This means you and your spouse must be in full agreement as to all terms. Many times, Utah Legal Clinic can determine quickly over the phone if you qualify for the Do-It-Yourself Divorce service. In most cases, no court hearing is required for uncontested divorces.

The Difference Between a Divorce and an Annulment

There are two options for legally leaving a marriage: divorce and annulment, and there are several similarities and differences between the two. Legally, some of the biggest differences include the type of evidence that is required to obtain an annulment vs. a divorce and the obligations to and from the former spouse with each ruling. Many religions define divorce and annulment as well, and the legal ruling does not necessarily have to align with the religious designation. The biggest difference between a divorce and an annulment is that a divorce ends a legally valid marriage, while an annulment formally declares a marriage to have been legally invalid.

Divorce: A legal dissolving, termination, and ending of a legally valid marriage. A divorce ends a legal marriage and declares the spouses to be single again. No-fault divorces, in which neither party is required to prove fault on the part of their spouse, is legal in every state, though some require that the couple live apart for a period of time before either can file. “Irreconcilable differences” is often cited as grounds for a no-fault divorce. Common grounds cited for fault divorces can include things like adultery, imprisonment, or abandonment. Regardless of type, the divorcing couples may still have disputes about property, finances, child custody, and more that must be settled through court orders. Fault divorces can lead to larger settlements for the party without fault.

Annulment: A legal ruling that erases a marriage by declaring the marriage null and void and that the union was never legally valid. However, even if the marriage is erased, the marriage records remain on file. Note that a religious annulment is not a legal dissolution of a civil marriage. There are different reasons for pursuing a divorce versus an annulment. At the core, ending a marriage is generally because one or both spouses want to leave the union. A divorce, which is much more common, is sought when the parties acknowledge that the marriage existed. An annulment is sought when one or both of the spouses believe that there was something legally invalid about the marriage in the first place. An annulment ends a marriage that at least one of the parties believes should never have taken place. If the marriage took place despite unknown facts, such as a secret child, or even a secret illness, it may be voidable. An annulment can also end a marriage if the marriage was not legal to begin with. This might occur if issues such as bigamy or incest made the marriage illegal. The legal grounds for obtaining an annulment vary between states, but typically include reasons like the following: • One or both spouses were forced or tricked into the marriage. • One or both spouses were not able to make a decision to marry due to a mental disability, drugs, or alcohol. • One or both spouses were already married at the time of the marriage (bigamy). • One or both spouses were not of legal age to marry. • The marriage was incestuous. • Concealment of major issues such as drug abuse or a criminal history

Length of the Marriage

Often, people assume that a very brief marriage can be ended with an annulment due to the short duration. However, legal experts disagree. While many states will not grant an annulment after a certain length of time, there is not an automatic annulment granted to end a marriage because the couple wants to end it after a short period of time. The marriage still has to meet one or more of the conditions above in order for it to be annulled.

Legal Assistance

Both types of marriage dissolution can be fairly complicated from a legal standpoint, requiring costly and lengthy legal proceedings. And both start the same way, with one or both of the spouses formally asking the court for either a divorce or an annulment. Either a divorce or an annulment can also be simple and low-cost if both parties agree to end the union without too many disputes or disagreements about how to do so.

After a Divorce or Annulment

Among the differences between the two types of marriage dissolution: After an annulment, the marriage is considered to have never legally happened. It is as if the clock is turned back to before the marriage. After a divorce, the former spouses may still have obligations to each other, such as spousal support, joint childrearing, and division of shared property.

Finances After Divorce vs. Annulment

After a divorce, spouses are often entitled to a certain number of years of spousal support, alimony, or a portion of each others’ profits or property gained during the marriage. With an annulment, in contrast, the parties are not really considered to have been valid spouses and are not entitled to these same rights. Instead, they will revert to the financial state they were in prior to the marriage.

Religious Rules

Many religions have guidelines regarding divorce and annulment. Often, permission is granted by religious clergy or by written guidelines. Obtaining permission to have an annulment or a divorce from your religious leaders is usually a completely separate process from the legal process. The rules regarding divorce and annulment in your religion often determine whether one, both or neither of the partners has permission to marry again within the religion or in a religious ceremony or to participate in religious rituals. A court of law may consider your religious marital status but does not have to recognize the religious determinations when making rulings about spousal support, property disputes, or any other legal issues.

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Determining the Division of Property During a Divorce

Utah domestic courts focus on providing equality to both parties. When going through a divorce, certain assets will need to be split between both parties. Division of property in Utah can be complicated as each case is unique. Utah recognizes two types of property in a divorce case: separate property and marital property.

Separate Property

Separate property is defined as property belonging to one spouse. The property owned by the spouse is normally acquired before the marriage, or property left to that person through a will of a deceased loved one or acquaintance.

Marital Property

Marital property is deemed as property acquired during the marriage. Both parties may or may not be on the deed to the property together, however the property is normally paid for during the marriage. The courts will consider several factors when determining how to divide property including: • The amount and type of property to be divided • Source of the property • Health of both parties • Standard of living for both parties • Financial conditions of both parties • Needs of both parties • The earning capacities of both parties • Duration of the marriage • What both parties gave up in the marriage The division of property is related to the amount of alimony awarded. The court will consider all these factors as they make the ruling on which spouses get to keep different property. If there is a large discrepancy in the incomes of the two spouses, the court often sides with the lesser-earning party by awarding them with more marital assets.

Debt and Divorce

Marital debt is split during the divorce. Something that is not discussed is the role of the debtor in the new arrangement. Even if the debt is joined and your spouse agrees to pay for it, your credit can still be hurt if they fail to make payments. If your spouse incurred debt you were unaware of, you can be legally responsible for this debt as it is deemed joint debt. To protect you financially, Lawyer focus on full disclosure during settlement negotiations by requiring both parties to list all debtors, account numbers, and current amount of debt.

St. George Utah Divorce Lawyer

When you need a divorce in St. George Utah, please call Ascent Law LLC for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.

Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506

Ascent Law LLC

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