The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission offers the following tips on costumes, treats and decorations to help your children trick-or-treat safely this year:

Many clients feel that their attorney is not handling their case properly. The best thing to do is schedule an appointment with the attorney and let your thoughts be known. The attorney can’t fix what he doesn’t know is broken.

Still having problems? Or has your case been completed and you think your attorney has acted negligently or improperly? You may need to take your concerns to the group that oversees attorney ethics. In Arkansas it is called the Committee on Professional Conduct. Here’s a link to the Committee’s website….http://courts.arkansas.gov/professional_conduct/

***Note: Formal complaints against attorneys are a serious matter. I would ask that you talk with your attorney about your concerns first to see if there is any type of suitable resolution before you file a formal complaint.

The link below will send you to the list of Court of Appeals cases for October 1, 2008. The fourth case down is Hicks v. Cook which was an appeal of a custody determination in favor of a father. Mother appealed citing that the trial court judge ruled against her because of her professed religion preference (Wicca). She said this violated her constitutional freedom of religion rights.

The appellate opinion goes to great lengths to explain that the trial court’s decision was based on ALL of the factors in the case - despite the fact that the trial judge made clear his concerns over the Wicca faith (One comment from the trial court judge went like this - “One final concern is her testimony regarding the WICCA religion, movement, cult or whatever that may be.”)

What is perhaps most interesting is that there were 3 concurring opinions and 1 dissenting opinion provided in addition to the majority opinion. Obviously the judges felt motivated to write about this case.

Here’s the link…
http://courts.arkansas.gov/court_opinions/coa/2008b/20081001/20081001.htm
(remember to choose the 4th case down, Hicks v. Cook)

Divorcing parents decide that they want to put the following clause in their agreed divorce decree:

“Based upon the express agreement of the parties that the minor children be raised in
the Protestant faith, the Court orders that each party hereto is enjoined from
promoting another religious belief system/faith to the minor children unless both
parties should consent.”

Subsequent to the divorce, father decided he wanted to raise the children according to the LDS (Latter Day Saints) religion. Mother filed a motion for contempt citing that father was violating the divorce decree because he was promoting a religious belief system that is not protestant. The trial court found that the LDS religion is not a protestant faith and found father in contempt. Father appealed.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision. The parties had freely agreed to add this clause to their divorce decree, which in essence created a contract between them. The trial court was simply enforcing an agreement (and a religion preference clause) that the parties themselves had chosen to place in their divorce decree. A violation of that clause was therefore contempt.

Here’s the link…
http://courts.arkansas.gov/court_opinions/coa/2008b/20081008/published/ca08-193.pdf

Nebraska’s “safe haven” law, intended to allow parents to anonymously hand over an infant to a hospital without being prosecuted, isn’t working out as planned. Of the 17 children relinquished since the law took effect in July, only four are younger than 10 — and all four are among the nine siblings abandoned by a man September 24 at an Omaha hospital.

On Tuesday, a 14-year-old girl from Council Bluffs, Iowa, was abandoned at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, just across the Missouri River from Council Bluffs. The case marks the first time a parent has crossed state lines to abandon a teenager in Nebraska, authorities said.

All 50 states have safe haven laws, but only Nebraska’s lacks an age limit.

Read on to see how Nebraska intends to deal with the problem. Here’s the link to the CNN article…
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/08/nebraska.safe.haven/

(Note: Kevin Hickey represented the appellant mother in this case at trial and on appeal.)

In this case, the parties divorced while a medical malpractice lawsuit was pending with husband as the plaintiff. Mother received custody of the two children. Subsequent to the divorce, ex-husband settled the lawsuit. Ex-wife then petitioned the court to receive a lump sum payment of child support based on the settlement money received by ex-husband. The trial court held that the lump sum net amount received by the ex-husband was technically “income” under the Arkansas child support guidelines. A one-time lump sum child support amount of $52,500.00 was assessed. Ex-husband appealed and the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision.

Here’s the decision…
http://courts.arkansas.gov/court_opinions/coa/2008b/20080917/published/ca08-117.pdf

Great site for kids dealing with their parents’ divorce.

http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/home_family/divorce.html