“In my opinion, public policy does not require parties live in separate residences in order to bring a separate maintenance and support suit. Instead, I would allow such a suit where the parties no longer have a ‘romantic’ relationship.”
Theisen vs. Theisen (Justice Pleicones, dissenting)
Opinion No. 27041 Heard April 5, 2011 – Filed September 19, 2011
The quote above is from the dissenting opinion from Justice Pleicones in an opinion that was just released today. Full text here. All respect to the Justice, but sometimes you need a "bright-line" rule for things. This is one of those times. I sympathize with his argument that some people cannot move out, but how is a trial judge supposed to figure out if the parties have enough romance or not? Luckily, this is not the law; it would have really made a hash of things.
Again, Pleicones has probably forgotten more about the law than I'll ever know, but I have to respectfully disagree with his dissent.
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