Recent News
Heather R. Fann, a cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, became an associate at the law firm at Boyd, Fernambucq, & Dunn, P.C., of Birmingham on June 2, 2008. The firm practices primarily in the area of complex matrimonial matters, including settlement, litigation, and mediation. A native of Piedmont, Alabama, Miss Fann received awards from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the Family Law Section of the Alabama State Bar during law school, and began her family law and divorce practice upon admission to the Alabama State Bar in 2006.
Rick Fernambucq, a founding partner of the law firm of Boyd, Fernambucq, & Dunn, P.C., was named in the 2008 edition of Super Lawyers and among 2008’s Best Lawyers in America. Only five percent of the lawyers in the state are chosen as Super Lawyers. The Best Lawyers in America, a national publication, is a referral guide compiled using lawyers’ confidential evaluations of their peers.
The Family Law Section of the Alabama State Bar honored one of its founding members on June 6, 2008, naming J. Ronald Boyd Lawyer of the Year at a ceremony concluding the Section’s annual summer seminar in Sandestin, Florida. Boyd, a founding member of the law firm of Boyd, Fernambucq, & Dunn, P.C., of Birmingham, Alabama, has devoted the majority of his over thirty years of legal practice to complex matrimonial and divorce cases, including child custody and support cases, real and personal property matters, alimony, and retirement. Boyd has been a leader among his fellow matrimonial and family lawyers, serving in not only the Family Law Section but also in local and national positions with the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Boyd has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America in his field of practice for thirteen consecutive years.
Charles Dunn has two upcoming speaking engagements at continuing legal education seminars where he will speak to fellow lawyers on matrimonial topics. Dunn will present “Recent Developments in Domestic Relations” on December 11, 2008, at the Alabama Bar Institute for Continuing Legal Education seminar entitled 2008 Fundamentals of Domestic Practice. On March 23, 2009, Dunn will present two presentations at the National Business Institute’s seminar entitled A Roadmap Through Divorce Proceedings.
Effective January 1, 2009, Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration (the Child Support Guidelines) has been amended. All new actions filed or proceedings instituted on or after January 1, 2009, shall be governed by Rule 32, as amended. Any actions or proceedings instituted before January 1, 2009, will be governed by Rule 32 as it reads before that date. Consult with your attorney as to how these changes to Rule 32 will affect the amount of child support you will pay or receive.
Publications
Aftermath of Troxel: What's Next?
At common law, no rights to grandparent visitation existed. The right has been purely statutory in nature. Today, all fifty states have some form of third-party visitation rights. Some states, such as Alabama specifically included “grandparents” in their statutory language. Many states even recognized that people today are living longer and included great grandparents in their statutes. Still others, such as Washington State as we saw in Troxel were written so broadly that they allowed any third-party to petition for visitation rights if it was in the “best interests” of the child. More...
Alabama Parent-Child Relationship Protection Act – New Law? By G. R. Fernambucq and Charles H. Dunn
At first glance, the new APCRPA appears to be legislation which substantially changes several areas of existing law in Alabama. After reading it eight or ten times, as well as keeping in mind that the passing of the Act does not overrule prior Appellate Court decisions, the actual “changes” are very few. More...
Common Law Marriages By Charles H. Dunn and G. R. Fernambucq
Marriage is a civil contract between a man and a woman that is regulated by state law, including the licensing, registration and dissolution of that contract. Typically, this contract is deemed complete upon the parties obtaining a marriage license and the solemnization by an appropriate person authorized to administer oaths. In some circumstances, though, this civil contract called marriage can be entered into and established by common law. More...
Dividing Retirement in Divorce 2008 By G.R. Fernambucq
Prior to 1993, retirement accounts or benefits were not divisible in Alabama as part of a property settlement in divorce. With the case of Ex Parte Vaughn, 634 So.2d 533 (Ala. 1993) this began to change. In January 1996, statutory provisions became effective by amendments to §30-2-51, Code of Alabama (1975) by adding subparagraphs (b) and (c) which addressed retirement benefits in a divorce. More...
Legal Separation Agreements By Rick Fernambucq & Charles H. Dunn
In the practice of matrimonial law a “divorce a mensa et thoro” or a “divorce from bed and board” is more commonly known as a legal separation. The statutory authority for the granting of a legal separation is located at § 30-2-40, Code of Alabama (1975). A legal separation differs from an absolute divorce in that the martial status between the parties is not terminated or dissolved. More...
Post Minority Support, New Developements By G. R. Fernambucq
Prior to the decision in Ex Parte Bayliss in 1989, the Alabama courts had consistently denied requests that a parent be compelled to contribute to an adult child’s post-secondary education. This landmark decision instructed the courts to consider a number of factors, including: More...
Post Minority Support, Standards Established for Disabled Child By G. R. Fernambucq
In Alabama, the general rule is that a trial court has no jurisdiction to require a parent to pay support for a child who has reached the age of majority. Two exceptions to this general rule have been established in Alabama by case law. More...
Revisiting the Relocation of Children Issue By Charles Dunn
As soon as the provisions of the Act became applicable to all Orders determining custody of or visitation with a child entered before or after September 1, 2003, the number of inquiries from clients concerning this issue exploded. More...
Service Members Civil Relief Act Soldiers and Sailers Civil Relief Act of 1940 Replaced By G. R. Fernambucq
On December 19, 2003, President Bush signed into law the “Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.” The Act took effect upon the President’s signature for any case which has not reached Final Judgment. This new law is a complete revision of the statute known as “The Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act”. This statute was enacted in 1940, updated somewhat after the Gulf War in 1991, and was basically unchanged as of 2003. More...
Setting Aside Default Judgments By G. R. Fernambucq Charles H. Dunn
As we all know, if a default judgment is entered by the court it is certainly subject to being set aside in the future. Although the trial court has broad discretion on whether to set aside a default judgment, its discretion is not boundless. In practice, the court’s discretion to set aside a default judgment is often liberally exercised as there is a strong public policy and bias toward allowing defendants to have their day in court. More...
Temporary Relief, Rule 65, ARCP & Temporary Restraining Order
Temporary relief is often requested in a domestic matter. As those of us who regularly practice in this area know, the list of “relief” requested is virtually endless. Typical requests concern support, custody, use of a home or automobile, and the like. In Jefferson County, Birmingham Division, the usual set of circumstances requires a motion to be filed, a setting date obtained, and notice given to the opposing party. More...
To Stay, or not to Stay? By G. R. Fernambucq Charles H. Dunn
We sometimes represent clients who become the subject of a criminal investigation or prosecution during the course of their civil action for divorce. Similar to other civil litigators, we then can encounter a very real procedural dilemma: how do we (if we can at all) continue to litigate our client’s civil proceeding without jeopardizing our client’s privilege against selfincrimination? More...
Dividing Retirement in Divorce 2009
Prior to 1993, retirement accounts or benefits were not divisible in Alabama as part of a property settlement in divorce. With the case of Ex Parte Vaughn, 634 So.2d 533 (Ala. 1993) this began to change. In January 1996, statutory provisions became effective by amendments to §30-2-51, Code of Alabama (1975) by adding subparagraphs (b) and (c) which addressed retirement benefits in a divorce. More...
Appellate Case Clarifies Relocation Issues By Heather Fann
In a recent, unpublished opinion (Lackey v. Lackey, 2070603, released January 9, 2009), the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals clarified for the state’s family courts that the plain language of the Alabama Parent-Child Relationship Protection Act (“the Act”), Ala. Code 1975, § 30-3-160 et seq., indicates that the presumption and accompanying burden of § 30-3-169.4 of the Act do not apply to initial custody determinations. More...
Child Support Guidelines Amended 2009 By G. R. Fernambucq
On November 19, 2008, the Supreme Court of Alabama entered an Order amending Rule 32, Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration. The amendments became effective January 1, 2009. The amended version applies to all new actions filed after January 1, 2009. Any actions instituted before January 1, 2009, shall be governed by the old version. More...
Rule 32, More “Changes” By G. R. Fernambucq and Charles H. Dunn
As we all know, case law constantly either defines or refines various aspects of domestic relations law, but the divorce practitioner could always count on Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration to remain tried and true. Last quarter, the “new and improved” Child Support Guidelines were the topic of this article. The new version went into effect for any proceeding filed after January 1, 2009. The schedule for Rule 32 was revised, as well as some of the forms. These were the first changes to Rule 32 as written in quite some time. More...
“Sharks and Shrinks” By G. R. Fernambucq and Charles H. Dunn
Family law cases sometimes involve treatment and/or contact with psychologists, psychiatrists, or therapists. The question often arises as to whether these dealings are, or are not privileged. The general rule as to a “privilege” is that no privilege exists unless created by statute (Horne v. Patton, 287 So.2d 824 (1974)). More...
Termination of Parental Rights and Effect on Child Support By G. R. Fernambucq and Charles H. Dunn
An interesting case concerning the effect of a judicial determination terminating an individual’s parental rights and the effect on that individual’s obligation to pay support was decided by the Alabama Supreme Court on September 30, 2009. The case is Ex Parte M.D.C., 2009 ALA. LEXIS 238 (Ala. 2009). More...
