The Intersection of Bankruptcy and Divorce

Increasingly when couples come to me today seeking to mediate their New Mexico divorce, it quickly becomes apparent that they need to consider bankruptcy.  Although an attorney, I do not do bankruptcies, so I generally insist that they take a time out from the process (a few days or weeks) to confer with or consider conferring with a bankruptcy attorney.  In New Mexico, the State Bar generally conducts a Consumer Debt/Bankruptcy Workshop every 4th Wednesday of each month, at 6:00 p.m., at the State Bar offices at  5121 Masthead NE, Albuquerque. (To sign up, call 505.797.6094.)  

Here's is a very brief and superficial overview of bankruptcy, and bankruptcy issues arising in divorce.

Life Sentence for Serious Youtfhuful Offender - Authorized but Not Mandated

As a guardian ad litem (GAL) and domestic relations mediator in New Mexico, I take special interest in unusual court cases involving children.  In State v. Oden, 2011-NMSC-024, the New Mexico Supreme Court has held that a life sentence for a 16 year-old child is authorized but not mandated under NMSA Sec. 31-18-15.3(D).

Kinship Guardianship Narrowly Applied

As a guardian ad litem (GAL) and domestic relations mediator in New Mexico, I take special interest in unusual court cases involving children.  In a recent, and rather convoluted case, Freedom C. v. Julie Ann D., 2011-NMCA-040, cert. gran., the New Mexico Court of Appeals rejected use of the Kinship Guardianship Act, NMSA 40-10B-1 et seq., by grandparents living with a parent to divest the other parent of his or her rights.

School Disciplinary Hearings -- Is a Lawyer Necessary?

Being involved in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and child protection issues in New Mexico, I was struck by the recent question of whether parents need lawyers for school disciplinary hearings.  See Anna Stolley Persky, July 2011 issue of the ABA Journal.  The article begins with a "painful case," concerning "good kid" Nick Stuban, a Boy Scout and foot ball player in Virginia, who was transferred from school under the school's "zero tolerance policy" regarding drugs and weapons, for having brought to school a capsule of the then-legal synthetic marijuana.  Six days after starting at his new school, Nick committed suicide.

At the time of the incident, Nick's parents were discouraged by school administrators from bringing a lawyer to the disciplinary hearing, arguing it "would make the proceeding 

How a Mediator Can Help in Foreclosure - More Thoughts*

I've written in a previous blog about the role and utility of mediation in foreclosure matters.  Here are a couple of additional tips and pointers raised in a recent teleconference devoted to foreclosure mediation, including encouraging the parties to discuss how numbers were crunched,  locating the Pooling Service Agreement, and identifying the agent responsible for maintaining the file in the future.

Mediating Neighborhood Disputes*

As a "community mediator" in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I deal with a lot of disputes between neighbors.  Today, these neighbors are increasingly part of a well-regulated association, and their disputes that are particularly amenable to mediation due to the sensitive or "hot button" nature of issues concerning home.