Recently in Other Family Law Issues Category

Though we see it most often in Hollywood, stepparents can play an important role in raising a child. In many states including Texas, it is possible for stepparents to get visitation rights after divorcing the child's birth parent.

But getting stepparent visitation rights is no easy matter. In most cases, the court will show a strong preference to the natural parents' wishes.

Still, the court will consider a variety of factors to make a decision about granting visitation orders.

Child abuse is terrible ordeal. The state of Texas has avenues in place for reporting child abuse, but many people often ignore the signs.

Under Texas law, there is an obligation to report child abuse or elder abuse. That means that if you believe someone is being abused, you have to report it to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Failure to report child abuse could result in a misdemeanor charge, or even a felony.

How do you know that someone is a victim of child abuse?

Octomom Nadya Suleman is on welfare, according to US Magazine .

This is just five months after getting off welfare. She is reportedly receiving $1,800 a month for food. $1,000 for emergency cash and money for health and medical help.

She was able to take a temporary hiatus from welfare after earning some money through stripping and making pornographic videos.

Child abuse is normally the task of Texas Child Protective Services to investigate. But who investigates CPS when they drop the ball?

Texas' Child Protective Services is under investigation, reports The New American. Accusations are flying that agency officials dropped the ball and withheld vital information in a child fatality case.

As a result, police are all over the CPS now, conducting searches and seizing files to assess what happened.

You've heard of parents who leave their children unattended in parked cars.

But here's a Houston woman who left her thirteen-month old in a parking lot.

Yeah, a parking lot. Not a parked car.

The poor munchkin was found lying on the road with multiple abrasions on her arms, back and legs, reports The Houston Chronicle.

Last week, we talked about the sad case of Elizabeth Escalona, who was facing a sentencing hearing after being convicted on counts of child abuse in Dallas.

She has now been sentenced to 99 years in prison for the attack on her two-year old daughter.

Escalona pleaded guilty in July to the charges of child abuse. The details of her case are grim and not for the faint of heart. In September 2011, she beat her two year old daughter, Jocelyn Cedillo, to the brink of death. The child was kicked in the stomach and hit with a milk jug, writes The Dallas News.

This week, Dallas courts are hearing testimony in the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty to a horrific case of child abuse against her two year old child, reports The Associated Press.

Elizabeth Escalona pleaded guilty in July to child abuse. She was accused of beating her daughter and gluing her hands to the wall, after the toddler was having trouble potty training.

Just when you thought you'd heard enough about domestic violence and celebrities, there's something new hitting the airwaves.

This time, it's Los Angeles Lakers forward Jordan Hill who has pleaded no contest to attacking his now ex-girlfriend Darlene Luna, according to the Los Angeles Times. Hill had been playing for the Rockets until March 2012 when he was traded to L.A. However, he was back in Houston to enter his plea of no contest to a misdemeanor assault on a family member, which is a break from his original charge of felony assault on a family member.

The plea to a misdemeanor allows Hill to continue playing basketball, but he must still attend domestic violence counseling, pay a $500 fine and donate $100 to the Harris County domestic violence fund, according to the Times. He'll also face one year of probation.

When you think of fights that end up in a shooting, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Infidelity? Drug dealers? Gangs?

How about a dispute over a harmless family cat? That's what allegedly happened between a married couple in northwest Harris County. Perhaps the man didn't know enough about his wife when he grabbed the cat and allegedly threatened to hurt it. His wife immediately grabbed a pistol and allegedly shot her husband in the abdomen, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Will the fact that the woman shot her husband affect her potential sentence?

Perhaps the age of helicopter parenting has reached such a fever pitch that even neighbors feel that parents need to be on top of their kids' every movement. Or maybe reporting your neighbor for child abuse is a new way to settle a beef.

Whatever the real motive was, Shelley Fuller of La Porte called police claiming that her neighbor Tammy Cooper had abandoned her children. The reason for Fuller's claim: Cooper had let her 6- and 9-year-old children ride scooters in their suburban cul-de-sac, according to Courthouse News Service. Cooper told the officer that she'd been watching her children from inside her house; Fuller allegedly claimed she'd hit one of the kids with her car. The officer arrested Cooper in front of her kids.

Cooper's charges were later dismissed. Now Cooper has filed suit against the police officer and Fuller for false arrest, claiming that Fuller lied to police, according to Courthouse News.

Can letting your kids play outside really equate to child abandonment?