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Legal Thoughts by Thomas A Morton

caring, family law attorney in Phoenix, AZ

Saturday, 16 February 2013 22:03

You Can Discharge Taxes in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

In addition to family law, I also practice bankruptcy. My primary bankruptcy area of practice is individual debtor rights. Recently, several people have asked me about the possibility of discharging their tax debt. It is simply not true that you may never discharge your taxes in bankruptcy. It is true that you may not discharge most taxes in a bankruptcy. For example, you may not discharge employer withholding taxes (“941 taxes”), and you may not discharge tax lien on the your real estate (although your personal liability on the debt may be discharged, if it meets the requirements), principally county or city real property taxes. This makes a certain amount of sense. Our state and federal governments operate on tax…
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Friday, 08 February 2013 12:31

Gather and Preserve Your Evidence

When parties are in a contested divorce or a custody dispute, the judge often hears testimony from one party, and then contradictory testimony from the other party. Who does the judge believe? That is why parties should gather and preserve evidence. Often, a divorce or custody trial comes down to which party is more credible. Presenting documentary evidence is a key way to be more credible than the opposing party. The ill-advised text message that the other parent sent a few weeks ago could go a long way toward proving that you are telling the truth when you testify that he or she refuses to be civil and co-parent with you. Emails, notes, letters, and text messages often make their…
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Friday, 01 February 2013 14:56

Give a Gift to Your Children

Many divorcing or recently divorced parents buy extravagant gifts for their children. Often, it appears that the parent is doing so out of guilt over the divorce process or is either consciously or unconsciously attempting to buy the child's love. Worse, some parents try to buy the child as an ally against the other parent. None of these gifts are really what the children need, and they rarely accomplish the goal. Children need gifts during and after their parents' divorce, but not the sort that comes in packaging. First, give them the gift of considering their needs first. Many parents get so focused on fighting the other parent or punishing the other parent (although very few of them actually think…
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Friday, 25 January 2013 11:45

Don't Wait to Modify Support Orders!

Arizona courts award spousal maintenance and child support based upon circumstances at the time the court makes the order. Often, the parents' or former spouses' circumstances change. Incomes change, day care costs change, insurance costs change. Many people think that they can go to court in a few months and modify child support or spousal maintenance effective as of the date the circumstances changed. However, Arizona courts have repeatedly held that they cannot modify child support or spousal maintenance retroactively to a date before the date that the person seeking a modification filed the petition to modify. For example, Father pays $500 per month pursuant to a child support order. In January, he loses his job, but quickly finds another…
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Monday, 07 January 2013 10:37

Child Support

Arizona courts calculate child support pursuant to the Arizona Child Support Guidelines. Courts may deviate from the guidelines, but must make findings that the deviation is in the minor children's best interest. The Arizona Supreme Court has an online calculator to help people in Phoenix and Arizona calculate the amount of child support that Arizona courts will probably calculate. You can find the Arizona child support calculator here: azcourts.gov/familylaw/2011childsupportcalculator.aspx Child support in Arizona is a calculation that includes the gross monthly income (before taxes) of both parents, with adjustments for payments made or received for spousal maintenance, children of one parent not common to the parties living with that party, and child support paid for other children not common to…
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Friday, 28 December 2012 21:12

Thomas A. Morton Quoted on Arizona's New Custody and Parenting Time Laws in the Arizona Republic

Read Full Article: New child custody law begins Jan. 1
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Friday, 28 December 2012 21:01

What Effect Will Arizona's New Custody and Parenting Time Statutes Have on Long Distance Parenting Plans?

On January 1, 2013 Arizona's new statutes on custody and parenting time will take effect. Among the coming changes will be a change in terminology from "custody" to "legal decision making." More importantly, the new statutes require a court to "maximize" the non-primary residential parent's parenting time. Of course, we will not know for sure what this means until Arizona's courts have interpreted the new statutes. However, the new statutes seem to require Arizona's courts to truly maximize a parent's time with his or her child, rather than "giving" the child to one parent and giving the other parent every other weekend from Friday evening until Sunday evening. How will this effect a non-primary parent who lives hundred or thousands…
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Thomas A. Morton, P. L. L. C.
2916 N. 7th Avenue, Suite 100
Phoenix, Arizona 85013
(602) 595-6870
info@thomasamortonlaw.com

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