diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/annotator/MVLikelihoodRatio.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/annotator/MVLikelihoodRatio.java
index 8aa961c75..a2a39da1f 100755
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/annotator/MVLikelihoodRatio.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/annotator/MVLikelihoodRatio.java
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.annotator.interfaces.AnnotatorCompa
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.annotator.interfaces.ExperimentalAnnotation;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.annotator.interfaces.InfoFieldAnnotation;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.annotator.interfaces.RodRequiringAnnotation;
-import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.MathUtils;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.genotyper.PerReadAlleleLikelihoodMap;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.MendelianViolation;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.codecs.vcf.VCFHeaderLineType;
@@ -21,21 +20,17 @@ import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.variantcontext.VariantContext;
 import java.util.*;
 
 /**
- * Created by IntelliJ IDEA.
- * User: chartl
- * Date: 9/14/11
- * Time: 12:24 PM
+ * Given a variant context, uses the genotype likelihoods to assess the likelihood of the site being a mendelian violation
+ * versus the likelihood of the site transmitting according to mendelian rules. This assumes that the organism is
+ * diploid. When multiple trios are present, the annotation is simply the maximum of the likelihood ratios, rather than
+ * the strict 1-∏(1-p_i) calculation, as this can scale poorly for uncertain sites and many trios.
  */
 
 public class MVLikelihoodRatio extends InfoFieldAnnotation implements ExperimentalAnnotation, RodRequiringAnnotation {
 
     private MendelianViolation mendelianViolation = null;
+    public static final String MVLR_KEY = "MVLR";
     private Set<Trio> trios;
-    private class Trio {
-        String motherId;
-        String fatherId;
-        String childId;
-    }
 
     public Map<String, Object> annotate(final RefMetaDataTracker tracker,
                                         final AnnotatorCompatible walker,
@@ -44,7 +39,8 @@ public class MVLikelihoodRatio extends InfoFieldAnnotation implements Experiment
                                         final VariantContext vc,
                                         final Map<String, PerReadAlleleLikelihoodMap> stratifiedPerReadAlleleLikelihoodMap) {
         if ( mendelianViolation == null ) {
-            if (checkAndSetSamples(((Walker) walker).getSampleDB())) {
+            trios = checkAndSetSamples(((Walker) walker).getSampleDB());
+            if ( trios.size() > 0 ) {
                 mendelianViolation = new MendelianViolation(((VariantAnnotator)walker).minGenotypeQualityP );
             }
             else {
@@ -52,15 +48,12 @@ public class MVLikelihoodRatio extends InfoFieldAnnotation implements Experiment
             }
         }
 
-        Map<String,Object> toRet = new HashMap<String,Object>(1);
+        Map<String,Object> attributeMap = new HashMap<String,Object>(1);
         //double pNoMV = 1.0;
         double maxMVLR = Double.MIN_VALUE;
         for ( Trio trio : trios ) {
-            boolean hasAppropriateGenotypes = vc.hasGenotype(trio.motherId) && vc.getGenotype(trio.motherId).hasLikelihoods() &&
-                    vc.hasGenotype(trio.fatherId) && vc.getGenotype(trio.fatherId).hasLikelihoods() &&
-                    vc.hasGenotype(trio.childId) && vc.getGenotype(trio.childId).hasLikelihoods();
-            if ( hasAppropriateGenotypes ) {
-                Double likR = mendelianViolation.violationLikelihoodRatio(vc,trio.motherId,trio.fatherId,trio.childId);
+            if ( contextHasTrioLikelihoods(vc,trio) ) {
+                Double likR = mendelianViolation.violationLikelihoodRatio(vc,trio.getMaternalID(),trio.getPaternalID(),trio.childId);
                 maxMVLR = likR > maxMVLR ? likR : maxMVLR;
                 //pNoMV *= (1.0-Math.pow(10.0,likR)/(1+Math.pow(10.0,likR)));
             }
@@ -68,34 +61,79 @@ public class MVLikelihoodRatio extends InfoFieldAnnotation implements Experiment
 
         //double pSomeMV = 1.0-pNoMV;
         //toRet.put("MVLR",Math.log10(pSomeMV)-Math.log10(1.0-pSomeMV));
-        toRet.put("MVLR",maxMVLR);
-        return toRet;
+        if ( Double.compare(maxMVLR,Double.MIN_VALUE) != 0 )
+            attributeMap.put(MVLR_KEY,maxMVLR);
+        return attributeMap;
     }
 
     // return the descriptions used for the VCF INFO meta field
-    public List<String> getKeyNames() { return Arrays.asList("MVLR"); }
+    public List<String> getKeyNames() { return Arrays.asList(MVLR_KEY); }
 
-    public List<VCFInfoHeaderLine> getDescriptions() { return Arrays.asList(new VCFInfoHeaderLine("MVLR", 1, VCFHeaderLineType.Float, "Mendelian violation likelihood ratio: L[MV] - L[No MV]")); }
+    public List<VCFInfoHeaderLine> getDescriptions() { return Arrays.asList(new VCFInfoHeaderLine(MVLR_KEY, 1, VCFHeaderLineType.Float, "Mendelian violation likelihood ratio: L[MV] - L[No MV]")); }
 
-    private boolean checkAndSetSamples(SampleDB db){
-        trios = new HashSet<Trio>();
-        Set<String> families = db.getFamilyIDs();
-        for ( String familyString : families ) {
+    private Set<Trio> checkAndSetSamples(SampleDB db){
+        Set<Trio> trioSet = new HashSet<Trio>();
+        for ( String familyString : db.getFamilyIDs() ) {
             Set<Sample> family = db.getFamily(familyString);
-            Iterator<Sample> sampleIterator = family.iterator();
-            Sample sample;
-            for ( sample = sampleIterator.next(); sampleIterator.hasNext(); sample=sampleIterator.next()) {
+            for ( Sample sample : family) {
                 if ( sample.getParents().size() == 2 ) {
-                    Trio trio = new Trio();
-                    trio.childId = sample.getID();
-                    trio.fatherId = sample.getFather().getID();
-                    trio.motherId = sample.getMother().getID();
-                    trios.add(trio);
+                    Trio trio = new Trio(sample.getMaternalID(),sample.getPaternalID(),sample.getID());
+                    trioSet.add(trio);
                 }
             }
         }
 
-        return trios.size() > 0;
+        return trioSet;
     }
 
+    private boolean contextHasTrioLikelihoods(VariantContext context, Trio trio) {
+        for ( String sample : trio ) {
+            if ( ! context.hasGenotype(sample) )
+                return false;
+            if ( ! context.getGenotype(sample).hasLikelihoods() )
+                return false;
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    private class Trio implements Iterable<String> {
+        private String maternalID;
+        private String paternalID;
+        private String childId;
+
+        public Trio(String mom, String dad, String child) {
+            this.maternalID = mom;
+            this.paternalID = dad;
+            this.childId = child;
+        }
+
+        public String getMaternalID() {
+            return this.maternalID;
+        }
+
+        public String getPaternalID() {
+            return this.paternalID;
+        }
+
+        public String getChildId() {
+            return this.childId;
+        }
+
+        public void setMaternalID(String id) {
+            this.maternalID = id;
+        }
+
+        public void setPaternalID(String id) {
+            this.paternalID = id;
+        }
+
+        public void setChildId(String id) {
+            this.childId = id;
+        }
+
+        public Iterator<String> iterator() {
+            return Arrays.asList(maternalID,paternalID,childId).iterator();
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantutils/SelectVariants.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantutils/SelectVariants.java
index fc29a7f02..567262756 100755
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantutils/SelectVariants.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantutils/SelectVariants.java
@@ -579,14 +579,9 @@ public class SelectVariants extends RodWalker<Integer, Integer> implements TreeR
     }
 
     private boolean badIndelSize(final VariantContext vc) {
-        if ( vc.getReference().length() > maxIndelSize ) {
-            return true;
-        }
-
-        for ( Allele a : vc.getAlternateAlleles() ) {
-            if ( a.length() > maxIndelSize ) {
+        for ( Integer indelLength : vc.getIndelLengths() ) {
+            if ( indelLength > maxIndelSize )
                 return true;
-            }
         }
 
         return false;