Case Digests

Baker v. State

Publication Date: 2019-07-31
Practice Area: Family Law
Industry:
Court: Delaware Supreme Court
Judge: Justice Vaughn
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Nicole M. Walker, Assistant Public Defender, Wilmington, DE for appellant.
for defendant: John Williams, Deputy Attorney General, Dover, DE for appellee.
Case Number: D68646

Adjudication of delinquency for rape reversed where family court made evidentiary errors including admission of hearsay evidence and propensity evidence.

Irwin v. Shelby

Publication Date: 2019-05-22
Practice Area: Family Law
Industry:
Court: Delaware Supreme Court
Judge: Justice Vaughn
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Leslie B. Spoltore, Obermayer Maxwell Rebmann & Hippel LLP, Wilmington, DE for appellant.
for defendant: Melissa L. Dill, Liguori & Morris, Dover, DE for appellee.
Case Number: D68468

Family court did not err in awarding mother sole legal custody and primary residential placement, when neither parent requested such an arrangement, where the record supported the family court's rejection of father's expert's conclusions and reliance on father's history of domestic violence against mother to determine the custody award was in the parties' children's best interest.

Silverman v. Silverman

Publication Date: 2019-03-13
Practice Area: Family Law
Industry:
Court: Delaware Supreme Court
Judge: Justice Seitz
Attorneys: For plaintiff: David C. Gagne and Achille C. Scache, Giordano, Delcollo, Werb & Gagne, LLC, Wilmington, DE for husband.
for defendant: Shawn Dougherty, Weik, Nitsche & Dougherty, LLC, Wilmington, DE for wife.
Case Number: D68491

Husband's financial disclosure met the statutory standard for a valid premarital agreement, so the family court erred in refus-ing to enforce the agreement based on unconscionability.

Diggins v. Delaware Div. of Family Serv.

Publication Date: 2018-11-07
Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Family Law
Industry:
Court: U.S. District Court of Delaware
Judge: District Judge Connolly
Attorneys: For plaintiff:
for defendant:
Case Number: D68345

The federal district court abstained from deciding the parties' challenge to a state family court's ruling regard-ing the removal of their child.

Daskin v. Knowles

Publication Date: 2018-09-19
Practice Area: Family Law
Industry:
Court: Delaware Supreme Court
Judge: Justice Vaughn
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Gretchen S. Knight, Jill Spevack Di Sciullo and Leslie B. Spoltore for husband
for defendant: Patricks J. Boyer and Marie I. Crossley for wife.
Case Number: D68289

The family court improperly denied husband's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction due to factual issues regarding wife's domicile.

Cannon v. State

Publication Date: 2018-03-21
Practice Area: Family Law
Industry:
Court: Delaware Supreme Court
Judge: Justice Traynor
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Garrett B. Moritz, Ross Aronstam & Moritz, LLP, Wilmington, DE; John P. Deckers, The Law Offices of John P. Deckers, P.A., Wilmington, DE, attorneys for appellant;
for defendant: Carolyn S. Hake, Delaware Department of Justice, Wilmington, DE, attorney for appellee.
Case Number: D68079

Family court erred in adjudicating juvenile delinquent for criminally negligent homicide where juveniles attack upon victim did not create a foreseeable risk of death as the risks of injury and death were unrelated to the victims cause of death.

Grant v. Grant

Publication Date: 2017-11-22
Practice Area: Family Law
Industry:
Court: Delaware Superior Court
Judge: Judge Valihura
Attorneys: For plaintiff: David C. Gagne and Achille C. Scache, Giordano, Delcollo, Werb & Gagne, Wilmington, DE, attorneys for appellants
for defendant: Andrew W. Gonser, Gonser & Gonser, P.A., Wilmington, DE, attorney for appellees.
Case Number: D67942

Family court erred in granting grandparents petition for visitation where they failed to demonstrate that parents objections to visitation were unreasonable, or that visitation would not negatively impact the parent-child relationship.

Branson v. Mestre, DEFAX Case No. D67784 (D.Del. June 14, 2017), Fallon, U.S.M.J. (14 pages).

Publication Date: 2017-07-05
Practice Area: Family Law | Trusts and Estates
Industry: Real Estate
Court: U.S. District Court of Delaware
Judge:
Attorneys: For plaintiff:
for defendant:
Case Number: D67784

Removal was untimely where it was taken more than 30 days from receipt of initial pleading, and no other subsequent document established a new basis to assert federal jurisdi

King v. Howard, DEFAX Case No. D67674 (Del. Mar. 15, 2017), Seitz, J. (10 pages).

Publication Date: 2017-03-29
Practice Area: Family Law
Industry: State and Local Government
Court: Delaware Supreme Court
Judge:
Attorneys: For plaintiff:
for defendant:
Case Number: D67674

Bonus income received by wife after the parties' separation but prior to dissolution was marital property, and the entire bonus was subject to division by the court in the divorce proceeding. Rever

U.S. v. Children's Advocacy Ctr. of Delaware, DEFAX Case No. D67633 (D.Del. Feb. 2, 2017), Robinson, U.S.D.J. (7 pages).

Publication Date: 2017-03-01
Practice Area: Family Law
Industry: State and Local Government
Court: U.S. District Court of Delaware
Judge:
Attorneys: For plaintiff:
for defendant:
Case Number: D67633