The players and the stages

• Author: Nicholas L. Bourdeau
• Pages: 275-290

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Chapter 18

The Players and the Stages

TABLE OF CONTENTS

§18:00 THE COURT SYSTEM

§18:10 JUDGES

§18:10.1 Battle Lines

§18:20 ATTORNEYS

§18:20.1 Battle Lines

§18:30 CPAS

§18:30.1 Battle Lines

§18:40 BOOKKEEPERS

§18:40.1 Battle Lines

§18:40.2 Battle Lines

§18:50 INVESTIGATORS

§18:50.1 Battle Lines

§18:60 CLIENTS

§18:60.1 Battle Lines

§18:70 CHILDREN

§18:80 MEDIATION

§18:00 THE COURT SYSTEM

The modern day court system has its roots

back at least as far as ancient Rome. The system

was originally designed to protect society from

those in it who would cause its members harm.

Thus, the system was developed to protect us

from criminals by punishing them, including

removing them from the population by incarcer-

ation or execution. The system also evolved to

handle economic relationships between individu-

als. Family law evolved along with the criminal

and business law, but it has always been the ugly

duckling of the system. Some lawyers go so far

as to question whether the practice of family law

is actually practicing law.

To understand why, it is necessary to contrast

family law to criminal law. In the practice of

criminal law, someone is guilty or not guilty. For

example, a murderer is guilty or not guilty; he did

it or he didn’t. The prosecution and defense each

put on the best case that they can. They do their best

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§18:10 The Determination of Income for Child Support 18-2§18:10 The Determination of Income for Child Support 18-2

to discredit the other side (show that they are liars

or incompetent). They attack each other without

mercy in providing a vigorous defense for their

client or the position of the state. After this has

been done, the case is handed to a judge or a jury.

However, in the practice of family law, everybody

is right and everybody is wrong, usually all at the

same time. The people involved are rarely crimi-

nals. They are people who are changing their lives

and need help in doing so. However, the system

is set up to handle criminals. The system creates

winners and losers. Someone has to be wrong,

and someone has to be right. Many family law

attorneys (the best) recognize that the individuals

in family law are not criminals and should not be

treated as such. They recognize that family law is

different from criminal law and act accordingly.

Consequently, a disparity exists between family

law and all other types of law.

This disparity is a symptom of an evolving

society. In the middle ages, divorce was not typi-

cal. Couples stayed together because their lives

and the lives of their children depended upon it.

Women and children were actually property and

treated accordingly. Therefore, the need for a sys-

tem to handle family law did not exist. However,

our society has changed. Women and children are

not property. They are human beings with rights

and obligations. The court systems in the United

States are evolving to recognize the new status of

women and children. Some states have taken the

exceptionally astute step of creating courts that

are restricted to family law. The officers of those

courts are specially trained and have experience in

family law. They recognize, without question, that

family law is not criminal law.

Investigators should understand that the origi-

nal intent and evolution of the court system was

to handle criminals. They should also understand

that the courts and the officers of the court are

changing to deal with the relatively new rights

of women and children. Change creates conflict.

Understanding the conflict helps people (such as

child support investigators) work effectively in

the arena.

§18:10 JUDGES

The role of the judge in family law proceed-

ings is often misunderstood by the parties involved.

The parties often believe that the role of the court

is to mete out justice. That is, they believe, once

the court hears all of the awful, despicable, horrid

things his or her spouse has done, the court will

decide everything in his or her favor. They also

can believe that the judge will punish misdeeds

that occurred during the marriage or the divorce.

Actually, in this age of no-fault divorces, this is

rarely the case.

The role of the court in a family law case is to

end the dispute between the parties. The ideal situ-

ation arises when equity and justice are realized

in ending a dispute. However, the main goal and

design of the court is to simply end the hostilities.

This usually means granting a divorce to the cou-

ple. Therefore, the judge only wants to hear those

items that are necessary for him or her to grant the

divorce. The judge is not going to care who did

what to whom. As long as it wasn’t a criminal act,

it probably is not relevant. The court (the judge) is

also normally under severe time and resource con-

straints. Arguing about who gets the living room

lamps, for example, will normally be considered a

casual use of the courts resources.

For child support, investigators should recog-

nize the goal and the normally restricted resources

of the court. The court needs the information nec-

essary to establish child support, so the court can

grant the divorce. The court does not need to know

how your investigation proceeded. Nor does the

court need to know every detail of every adjust-

ment that was made. Examples of adjustments will

normally be sufficient.

Finally, the investigator needs to understand

that every judge is different and is driven by

his or her prejudices, strengths and weaknesses.

Knowing the judge you will be appearing before

is invaluable. For example, if you know that a

particular judge is weak in mathematical skills

then remedial steps can be taken. Calculations that

an investigator would normally assume everyone

can understand are explained in detail. That is, the

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