In February, Arizona legislators in both houses passed SB 1393 that formalized the rights of parents to secure custody of in vitro embryos as part of divorce proceedings. The embryos would be developed to birth despite any protests by ex-spouses who do not want to have children.
The bill is now law as Gov. Doug Ducey signed it on April 4.
National Child Abuse Prevention Month is an annual April observance created to raise awareness for a serious problem that shows no sign of ending. The annual commemoration started in 1983 and remains as important now as it was 35 years ago.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015 saw 683,000 children victimized by neglect and physical abuse. Not only did that overall number grow 1.2 percent from the previous year, three key metrics involving referrals to and investigations by Child Protective Services also increased.
March's National Reading Month has ended for another year. The annual event that commemorates children taking their eyes off smart phones and tablets in favor of hard-copy books, appropriately falls on the birthday month of prolific author Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss.
Early in March, DeShon Laraye Pullen PLC encouraged prospective and existing clients to bring in new children's books in exchange for a free initial consultation at our office or over the phone.
Helicopter parenting is a well-known term for a certain style of raising children. It gained prominence in the early 2000s with baby boomers and their rearing of millennial offspring. Their style of "hovering" ranged from calling kids to wake them up every morning to taking the side of their students when the dreaded call home from teachers occurred.
That approach to parenting became so commonplace that a lack of hyper-protection became cause for alarm, if not a call to law enforcement.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can take many forms. Traumatic events for children from birth to age 17 can range from economic hardships to the deaths of their parents.
For far too many children, the ACE that created toxic levels of stress resulted from the divorce of their mothers and fathers.
Already a multi-time winner of various awards, Jessica Hurley is once again receiving much-deserved recognition. She is our February 2018 Employee of the Month.
Few members of the DeShon Laraye Pullen PLC family possess the vast knowledge of the firm and its staff that Jessica enjoys. Specifically, she recognizes the need for legal teams to focus on legal work. With that in mind, she voluntarily takes on additional work and responsibilities, including projects that directly interfere with peer employees' vital tasks.
"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." - Dr. Seuss
While March famously launches and leaves like two famous animals, the creatures created by Dr. Seuss serve an important role in an annual commemoration. The third month of the year represents the start of National Reading Month. The fact that it also falls on Theodor Seuss Geisel's birthday is anything but a coincidence.
The cost of dissolving a marriage in Arizona is about to go up to save the dissolution of a troubled state pension plan.
Last week, the House Banking and Insurance Committee voted to raise all court fees in a 7-1 vote. Fees to file for divorce will jump anywhere from $2 to $18, depending on the specific services soon-to-be ex-spouses required.
Many Arizona couples unable to have children strive to keep their dreams alive through vitro fertilization. Technology continues to evolve to help make biological parentage a reality. However, the odds are often against them, as many embryos do not develop.
In those cases, dreams are sometimes dashed. In other instances, nightmares take the form of divorce actions after embryos have been frozen.
As we enter the second month of 2018, we at DeShon Laraye Pullen PLC want to recognize Lisa Eick as our Employee of the Month for January, an award voted on by her peers at DLP PLC.
Currently, Lisa is the legal assistant for attorney Sara A. Swiren at our Scottsdale office. Staff members who nominated her provided numerous accolades that include:
DeShon Laraye Pullen PLC and founding attorney DeShon Laraye Pullen received many prestigious honors, including: Small Firm of the Year, Family Law Litigator of the Year, selection to Arizona Super Lawyers and a Superb, 10.0 Avvo rating.
