Margaret McCarthy

The estate trustee for the deceased respondent brought a motion seeking to represent the estate in her personal capacity without legal counsel.

The court held that an estate trustee acts in a representative capacity and is therefore required by Rule 15.01(1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure to be represented by a lawyer.

The motion was dismissed, and the estate trustee was ordered to retain counsel.

The mother applied for sole custody of the parties' two children, retroactive child support, and retroactive spousal support.

The father also sought sole custody, arguing the mother relied too heavily on his parents for childcare.

The court found the mother had been the primary caregiver and had adequate parenting skills, while the father had a history of domestic violence and had underpaid child support.

The court granted sole custody to the mother, but allowed the father unsupervised access, finding his recreational marijuana use did not pose a risk to the children.

The father was ordered to pay retroactive child support of $6,053.00 and a lump sum retroactive spousal support payment of $7,500.00.