Family Law Newsletters

Financial Power of Attorney

A power of attorney is a document in which one individual gives another individual, the agent, the power to make decisions on their behalf in the event that they become incapacitated or if they are directed to perform. A financial power of attorney gives power over an individual’s financial affairs.

International Adoption — Orphan Petition

Persons who wish to adopt a child from a foreign country must file an “Orphan Petition” with the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The full name of the petition is “Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative.”

Misuse of Adoption Affecting Economic Rights

Courts generally prohibit parties from using the adoption process to achieve purposes that would have a detrimental economic effect on the children involved. An attempt by a birth parent to adopt his or her own children for the purpose of terminating the other birth parent’s relationship with the children is a misuse of adoption. Also, an agreement to release birth parents from support obligations in exchange for their consent to an adoption is a misuse of adoption.

Paternity Fraud

Paternity fraud occurs when a mother or alleged father acts in a deceitful manner to either establish paternity or to show that paternity does not exist. For example, the mother may place an alleged father’s name on a birth certificate who is not the biological father. The mother or alleged father may also tamper with the paternity test results.

Taxation of Alimony or Separate Maintenance Payments

Alimony or separate maintenance payments that are made by an obligor spouse to an obligee spouse or to a third party on behalf of the obligee are deductible from the obligor’s income provided the payments are made pursuant to a written agreement that was executed after 1984 and subject to certain conditions.