Law Office of Kevin Jensen - August 2018

Law Office of Kevin Jensen - August 2018

Hello, August!

August 2018 480.632.7373 jensenlawaz.com

Lessons From Grandpa Harvey One of My Most Important Mentors

O n the long and winding path to the person I am today, there were a ton of people who steered me right. Whether these mentors were providing me with sage advice or simply living by example, they’ve left an indelible impact on my life that I’ll never forget. I’ve written here before about the outsized impact my mother has had on my life, but aside from her, there’s another figure who stands tall in my memory: My grandpa, Harvey Hutchinson. My grandpa was born and raised near rural Evanston, Wyoming, and aside from his tour in World War II, I’m pretty sure he never left. Decades before, his own grandpa had homesteaded the area, and when he died, the ranch was divided between his five sons. Grandpa had an abiding love of ranching that kept him there for many long years, working harder than perhaps anybody I’ve ever known.

old. When he and his brother turned 17, they lied their way into the Navy, and caught the tail end of WWII. I’ve met few people as patriotic as my grandpa; there’s a reason they call them “The Greatest Generation.” And no matter what he was doing, he never shied away from giving it his all. That was the true lesson I inherited from my grandpa: the value of hard work. His favorite thing to say, as I helped him work with the cows or some other chore, was “A job worth doing is a job worth doing well.” I would try to wriggle out of that by saying the job wasn’t worth doing, but he didn’t buy it. Second in line among his sayings was the “Couldn’t have done it without ya” he’d give me after I helped him out, with a big arm around my shoulder. He grew up in the midst of the Depression, and while he didn’t have a lot for his family, he survived on the merits of his dedication to his work and the people who depended on him.

When we moved back to Wyoming when I was 7 and built a house on my grandpa’s property, me and my mom’s youngest brother — who’s the same age as me — were raised as brothers by my grandpa. He was like a second dad to me. I was raised on that ranch up until I left after high school. Though my grandpa never had a bunch of money or a set of lofty goals, he was happy. His priorities were to spend time with his family, provide shelter and food for them, and be there for them at every turn. Though he passed away 13 years ago, I still think of him often. We were close, and

it’s impossible to quantify the value of all the incredible things he taught me just by virtue of being himself.

-Kevin Jensen

He’d had a hard life, losing his mother to cancer when he and his twin brother were only 14 years

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Meet Shadow: The Amazing Hang-Gliding Service Dog

For his entire life, Utah resident Dan McManus has suffered from several mental health issues, including generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, night terrors, and severe panic attacks. Over the years, he’s utilized numerous coping mechanisms to stave off the symptoms, but there are two things that calm him more than anything else: hang gliding across the Utah skies and the companionship of his service animal, an Australian cattle dog named Shadow. Over the course of 37 years, McManus went from being a hang-gliding hobbyist to an expert instructor in Salt Lake City, going out gliding as often as possible. But it seemed that his passion gave his pup a bit of anxiety of his own. Whenever McManus would take off, Shadow

always wanted to chase him. “So I would be out here flying, and he would chase me and jump up at me and sometimes get my foot and hang on a little bit … It felt like he wanted to keep me safe,” he says. And when he left the dog at home, he’d often come home to a scratched-up floor and doors. It seemed that Shadow couldn’t bear to be away from his owner. So, about 12 years ago, McManus had a special harness made for Shadow, enabling the pup to join him while he took to the skies. They’ve been side- by-side on nearly every flight since. Some pet owners might balk at the idea of taking a dog on a hang glider, but it’s clear that, in this case, Shadow definitely wants to fly. Whenever they go out, Shadow wraps his As a divorce lawyer, one of the most frustrating issues that often arises is a dispute between divorced parents over decisions they need to make for their children. Where should our children go to school? What pediatrician should we use? Both parents have their own ideas of what they feel is in the best interests of their children, and, in many cases, both parents are inflexible and unwilling to see the other parent’s point of view. For years, Arizona family court judges had three options when entering a legal decision-making order: 1). sole legal decision-making, where one parent makes all the decisions for the minor child; 2). joint legal decision-making, where the parents are required to put aside their differences and make decisions for their children together; and 3). “final say” authority, where the parties are expected to make their best effort to reach an agreement, and if unable to do so, one parent is given the “final say” in the matter — basically a trump card.

paws around McManus’ arm, remaining stoic as they survey the landscape together from high above. While we all struggle with our own obstacles in life, it’s nice to know that our canine pals will always be there to offer their furry support. As McManus and Shadow demonstrate, it’s a bond that remains strong even hundreds of feet above the ground.

Compromising for the Kids

A recent case from the Arizona Court of Appeals has done away with the “final say” option. If you currently have an order that designates one parent as having “final say” authority, the Court of Appeals has stated that those orders should now essentially be treated as sole decision-making cases. So, when it comes time to pick a doctor or pick a school for your child, the parent with final say now gets to make that decision on their own. The recent decision may also mean that in future cases, if parents show an inability to make joint decisions for their children, family court judges may be forced to award one party sole legal decision-making. This means one parent gets cut out of the important decisions that need to be made for their child. The moral of the story is to be flexible and willing to compromise with your ex-spouse. It may not be easy, and it doesn’t mean you always have to give in. But the alternative may be that a judge thinks you are too stubborn or unwilling to compromise, and you end up on the sidelines.

What the End of “Final Say” Authority Means for Your Case

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3 More Bizarre Divorce Stories

Peas, Cats, and Horrible Husbands

Crammed to the Whiskers With Cats It’s common for couples to argue about their pets. It’s even fairly common for a spouse to surprise their loved ones with an unexpected furry companion. But when there are 550 cats swarming your house at all times, it gets a little ridiculous.

In last month’s edition of this newsletter, we recounted three stories of couples who got divorced for some pretty weird reasons. Here are three more tales of divorce that go beyond “They just weren’t right for me.” The Princess and the Peas In 2014, a Kuwaiti woman and her husband were sitting at the table enjoying dinner together, when the husband suddenly did something objectionable — at least to the wife: He scooped up a few peas with a piece of bread. The wife bemoaned her new husband’s refusal to use a fork to pick up the peas, calling it a “shocking sight.” Apparently, his manners were so abhorrent that she filed for divorce shortly thereafter.

kitchen with so many cats adorning every surface of the house. Putting It All On the Table In the midst of a heated poker game, Andrei Karpov ran out of chips and decided to up the ante. If his opponent, Sergey Brodov, won the hand, he could have his wife. Gross, right? Well, days later, Sergey showed up to claim his “prize” and Andrei’s wife discovered she’d been wagered away in a card game. “It was humiliating, and I was utterly ashamed. But as soon as my ex-husband did that, I knew I had to leave him,” she told the papers. So she split from her husband and, in a bizarre twist, ran off with Sergey!

That’s what happened to one man in Israel, who divorced his wife after she chose their 550 cats over him. He told the rabbinical court he couldn’t sleep because the bed was completely covered with felines, couldn’t get into the bathroom for the hordes of cats, and could barely prepare meals in the

Green Bean & Sesame Salad

LAUGH BREAK

If you need an easy, healthy side dish with plenty of flavor, this green bean salad will be the perfect addition to your summer menu.

ingredients

• 1 small red onion, finely chopped • Small bunch of fresh mint • Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley • Salt and pepper, to taste

• 3 cups green beans, ends trimmed • 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

instructions 1. Bring a large saucepan of water to boil; cook green beans for 4–5 minutes; drain well. 2. In a blender, mix finely chopped mint and parsley with olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Blend until combined. 3. Add dressing, onion, and sesame seeds to beans. Toss together. Cool dish, then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Inspired by Delicious magazine

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Kevin Jensen’s Amazing Grandfather

Shadow: The Hang-Gliding Service Dog

Making Decisions for the Kids After Divorce

3 More Bizarre Divorce Stories

Game Night Goes (Really) Retro The Oldest Games You Can Play Today

Go

People love to play games. When you play Angry Birds while waiting in line at the grocery store, you are actually participating in a long history of gaming that dates back to the earliest civilizations. Through the discovery of ancient game boards, archaeologists learned that the ancient Egyptians played a game called Senet in 3500 B.C. The rules were lost to time, but fortunately, there are plenty of other ancient games we still have the rules for! Sometime during the 2nd century A.D., people in India started playing a board game associated with aspects of traditional Hindu philosophy — namely, the contrast between karma (destiny) and kama (desire). A dice was rolled to navigate a game board where good virtues, represented by ladders, allowed players to move up on the board, and evil Snakes and Ladders

vices, represented by snakes, would drag pieces back down. The phrase “Back to square one” is believed to have originated from this game. Snakes and Ladders made its way to England before being brought over to the United States, where it was introduced as “Chutes and Ladders” by none other than Milton Bradley in 1943. A blend of luck and strategy, backgammon originated in the Middle East around 5,000 years ago. Possibly an evolution of the ancient Mesopotamian game, the Royal Game of Ur, backgammon has players take turns rolling the dice to move their pieces off the board while trying to outsmart their opponent. Backgammon grew in popularity, spreading from the Middle East to the rest of the ancient world, and is still played by many today. Backgammon

Originating in China around the 5th century B.C., Go — or “weiqi,” as it’s called in China — focuses on the virtues of balance, discipline, and focus. Two players go head- to-head, placing their pieces on the board to claim as much territory as possible while simultaneously capturing their opponent’s pieces. Go is likely the oldest board game still being played today, with an estimated 40 million players worldwide. Though the rules are simple, the strategies take a lifetime to master. These are a just a few games that people have been playing around the world for centuries. If you’re ready to add something new to family game night, try something old instead!

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