The Oregon Divorce Blog

As a Portland Oregon divorce law firm, Stephens Margolin P.C. is dedicated to keeping up to date on Oregon Court of Appeals and Oregon Supreme Court opinions. As a service of The Oregon Divorce Blog, we will be providing updates as new opinions come out. On June 11, 2008, the Oregon Court of Appeals published an opinion in Himler and Katter, in which the court further explained how unmarried...

Most family law cases settle without a trial. Courts encourage settlement of family law issues, and the legislature expressly provides that it is Oregon's policy to "encourage the settlement of suits for marital annulment, dissolution or separation . . ." ORS 107.104. If parties have settled but cannot finalize a judgment prior to trial, the parties usually recite the terms of the agreement...

As family law lawyers based in Portland, Oregon, potential clients ask us about if they can move out of the family home with the children, or if they can prevent a move. We hear questions like the following: Can I move with the children out of the marital home? Can the other parent move out with the children without my consent? If we haven't followed the parenting plan in our judgment,...

Clients have a few options regarding a procedure model for their divorce case. They can go the standard litigation route through the courts, engage in mediation, or use the collaborative divorce model. There are costs and benefits to proceeding under any model. In a perfect world, the collaborative model would be the most cost-effective and most effective at resolving disputes in a manner that...

A "move away" case is where one parent, either in an initial filing or modification, seeks to move a child away from the other parent. Move away cases are hard. In Oregon, the legislature's stated policy is that good parents should have frequent and continuing contact with their children. ORS 107.101. Parenting plans that allow frequent contact between the children and both parents work well...

As a Portland, Oregon based family law firm we field a lot of questions from potential clients about how to "succeed" in a divorce case. One message that surprises many people is that there are seldom any clear winners in a divorce. That said, there are many things you can do to help ensure that you are protected during the divorce process, and to maximize your chances of a good result. We...

University of Arizona men's basketball coach Lute Olson is currently going through a divorce with his wife. He has been ordered to appear in court to explain why he took the majority of funds out of the parties' joint bank account and placed the funds in a personal account. Most of the money was earned by him from a sneaker deal with Nike. The money was taken out of the account the day after he...