Family Law Hypothetical Divorce Fact Pattern

Please use the following fact pattern for all assignments during this Fall 2011 Semester.

In the event you believe I have not provided sufficient information to complete an

assignment, please make up the information you believe to be necessary, and prepare an

MS Word document addendum stating the information you provided.

Jack and Jill were married on July 4, 2001, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Jill was born

on November 20, 1976. Her birth name is Waters. Jack Hill was born on April 1, 1973.

Both parties were born in Colorado and were raised as devout Catholics. Jack no longer

practices his religion, but Jill is very active in her local church. The children often attend

Mass with her, and this is a source of great tension between the parties, because Jack is a

child abuse victim.

Jack and Jill met in middle school and dated throughout high school. After high school

Jill remained at home and lived with her mother. She worked as a receptionist at a small

law office, and attended Pikes Peak Community College at night. She was unable to

complete her course of study because her mother became ill, and she had to help care for

her. Jill had completed five (5) of the required thirteen (13) courses at the time she

dropped out of college. David went off to the Colorado School of Mines to study

mathematics.

Jack and Jill planned to get married following Jack’s graduation from college, and they

continued to see each other during his school vacations. Even though it was against her

religious beliefs, Jill reluctantly consented to taking birth control pills during their

relationship. During Jack’s senior year, he wrote to Jill and told her he wanted to date

other women. Jill was devastated. During spring break, they saw each other, had sexual

relations, and Jill became pregnant.

As a result of the pregnancy, the parties decide to get married. At the time, Jack thought it

was what he wanted, but now in retrospect, he feels as if he was trapped and had no

choice. The wedding was held shortly after Jack’s graduation and their son, Fetch, was

born on December 25, 2001. A second son, Palin, was born on February 14, 2003, and a

daughter, Crown, was born on August 1, 2007.

Since their marriage, Jack has been employed as a math teacher at a local junior high

school. Initially, he had hoped to begin working on his master’s degree in mathematics

following graduation, while Jill continued at her receptionist job, but the parties decided

it was important for Jill to remain home with Fetch. Accordingly, to his great

disappointment, he was unable to pursue his educational plans.

Jack earns $47,000 per year from his teaching job, and the family is covered on his health

insurance plan. Jack teaches Math 107 each semester at Pikes Peak Community College

and earns an additional $3,600 per year. He also does odd jobs for people during the

summers and on weekends and earns roughly an additional $8,000 per year from this

work. He is paid under the table for the odd jobs, and the couple has never declared this

income. He is a good provider and a devoted father to his two sons; however, as

discussed below, he has had difficulty relating to his daughter.

Since the birth of Fetch, Jill has not been employed outside of the home. She maintains

the house and is the primary caretaker of the children. She also sells Amway and earns

approximately $5,500 per year from the sales. Historically, she has been a very devoted

and caring mother, but as discussed below, she has had some difficulties since the birth of

Crown.

Crown was an unplanned pregnancy. The parties had agreed not to have any more

children. At the time Jill had become pregnant with Crown, Jack had been accepted into a

master’s program in mathematics and Jill was going to return to work to help support the

family. The plan was that when Jack completed his degree, he would then support Jill

through the completion of her Paralegal Certificate and possibly college.

Jack believes that Jill got pregnant deliberately by failing to use birth control. He thinks

she was trying to sabotage his plans to return to school. Jack wanted Jill to have an

abortion, but she refused. This was a major crisis in their relationship, and during the

pregnancy, the marriage began to fall apart. Jack became increasingly angry that once

again, he would have to defer his educational plans because of “Jill’s” pregnancy.

Jack was very bitter about the birth of Crown. According to Jill, he has not bonded with

Crown and his interaction with her has been minimal. Jack acknowledges that he has

difficulties with Crown, but says that he has been working on their relationship, and says

that he has never really bonded with his sons when they were very young. It is clear,

however, that since her birth he has spent much less time at home, although he continues

to engage in weekend activities with the boys.

Since Crown’s birth, Jill has experienced several bouts of depression. The birth of her

daughter triggered memories of having been sexually abused as a child by an uncle. She

has been hospitalized twice and is seeing a therapist regularly. She gained about 50

pounds during her pregnancy and has gained another 30 pounds since giving birth. Also,

according to Jack, she has begun to drink heavily and has neglected the home and the

children. On several occasions, a neighbor has found Jill wandering around the

neighborhood.

According to Jill, Jack has become verbally abusive, and she states that he has hit her on

a few occasions. Jack denies hitting her, but acknowledges that he may have sounded

“gruff” on a few occasions.

According to Jack, Jill has completely closed herself off to any support from him. He

acknowledges feeling overwhelmed by her problems and trapped. This is particularly

painful for him because he saw his parent weighted down by the responsibilities of many

children and had vowed this would not happen to him.

Crown is developmentally delayed. No one is quite sure why, but here pediatrician

speculates that is may be related to the problems at home. A specialized play group has

been recommended but Jack and Jill have not followed through with the

recommendation. The pediatrician has struggled with whether to file an abuse and neglect

complaint with the Department of Social Services, but so far has opted against doing this.

Several months ago, Fetch was caught shoplifting from the local Wal-Mart. Jack and Jill

also learned recently that Fetch and several other boys have been gathering at a friend’s

house after school to watch pornographic movies that an older neighbor rents for them.

There is some concern that they may also have involved some younger neighborhood

children in this activity. Each parent blames the other for Fetch’s behavior.

This seemed to be the breaking point, and on May 1, 2011, Jack moved out of the house.

He has refused to go to any kind of counseling with Jill. Since moving out, Jack has seen

the boys on a regular basis and has spent a little bit of time with Crown. According to

him, the house has become a pigsty, and on several occasions when he came to pick up

the boys, the children were filthy and there was no food in the house. He also says that he

smelled alcohol on Jill’s breath.

Jill acknowledges that since Crown’s birth she has had some difficulty caring for the

home and the children on her own, but says she is not neglectful. She also says that on

one occasion when Jack cam to pick up the children, he pushed her against the wall and

threatened to choke her if she did not get her act together. Jack does not deny pushing

her, but does deny choking her. He says that he did this out of a desperate need to try to

get through to Jill.

Since his departure, Jack has been dating a co-worker. Jill suspects he began seeing her

when she became pregnant, but Jack denies this. The woman is also a teacher and has a

master’s degree in English and is working on a Ph.D. in comparative literature. She loves

children and does not have any of her own. At the end of the current semester, she and

Jack are planning to move in together.

With respect to assets, the parties have very little. They own a small condominium. They

paid $175,000 for it after their marriage with a $35,000 down payment. The condo is now

worth $195,000, even though the real estate market is depressed. They owe about

$98,000 on the mortgage. $15,000 of the money for the down payment came from

wedding presents from Jill’s family, and $20,000 came from an insurance settlement

from Jack’s slip and fall accident. They have about $2,500 in a credit union saving

account and owe about $7,500 in credit card debts. Jack has about $14,000 in his State of

Colorado teacher’s retirement account. They own basic household furnishings worth

about $8,500 and two old cars, both of which are paid for. Jack drives the Ford Pickup

truck worth about $3,000, and Jill drives the Dodge Caravan worth about $3,500.