California Divorce Blawg

Laches Defense Unavailable in Child Support Actions

California Family Code section 4502(c) applies retroactively and bars a parent from relying on laches to defend an action to enforce a child support order.   The California Supreme Court holds that the terms of the Family Code itself dictate retroactive application. Moreover, an exception to retroactive application of laws that create new duties does not apply to the laches defense as "Assertion of a laches defense seeks an equitable act of grace to relieve the burden of an existing obligation. Elimination of the defense does not create a new duty."  Click here for more.

Michigan Family Law Blog

Traverse City, Michigan lawyer Jeanne M. Hannah provides updates on Michigan family law.  Click here to visit her site.

Fight over same-sex unions hits court in S.F. Several lawsuits, pro and con, will be argued in marathon session

The legal war over same-sex marriage in California reaches a new milestone Monday when lawyers for gay and lesbian couples, religious conservatives, the city of San Francisco and the state will appear before an appellate court for a marathon hearing.

It will be the first time since state lawmakers defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman in 1977 that the constitutionality of the law has been debated in a state Court of Appeal, which under California law has the power to set statewide legal precedents. Although the case is almost certainly headed for the state Supreme Court next year, participants say the appellate ruling, due by October, will affect the debate. Click here for more.