Hiring a lawyer can be one of the best financial decisions you make—or an unexpectedly expensive one. Legal work costs money because lawyers are paid for their time, knowledge, judgment, and responsibility. However, in some cases, clients accidentally increase their legal bills simply because they don’t know how lawyers charge or what information their lawyer actually needs.

As AI becomes increasingly mainstream, there is the unavoidable question of whether is it appropriate for your lawyer to use AI to draft your legal documents?

Over the years SMP Law has managed to create a collection of blogs covering topics related to family law, such as parental alienation, child support, parenting time, parenting plans, spousal support, and our notable cases each year, to name a few. We wanted to share some of our blogs over the years. Enjoy!

Shawn Philbert, lawyer at SMP Law attended the recent international conference in September 2025, hosted by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) on Advanced Issues in Child Custody. It was a 4-day conference with excellent speakers from all over the world.

Family law in polyamorous relationship can get become a bit complicated, particularly in parenting issues. The law is historically rooted in the assumption of two-parent families, so family matters pertaining to parenting time, child support, spousal support, and equalization can become areas of unknown territory for polyamorous relationships. If you are in a polyamorous relationship involving children that you all parent, it is wise to ensure you have a well-planned agreement in place that is signed by all parties that helps deal with the issues mentioned above, in the event of a separation.