Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer | Boca Raton

Some legislators in South Dakota are working to revamp much of the state’s child custody laws that reportedly are not serving the divorced parents of the state, or their children, well. Their stated goal is to focus on the best interests of kids.

Under current South Dakota law, temporary custody of children is apparently awarded to the parent who has been the primary caregiver for the thirty days prior to filing. Unfortunately, a snapshot of such a short slice of life may not accurately reflect which parent has been the primary caregiver over the longer haul.

The new proposed legislation increases the thirty day period to twelve months. That is a much more realistic indicator.

Under current South Dakota law, violation of visitation or custody orders may be punished by fines or imprisonment. Judges have allegedly withheld those sanctions as too harsh.

The new proposed legislation allows more flexible remedies / sanctions, such as ordering attendance of parenting classes, awarding makeup visitation time and awarding legal fees.

Interestingly, the new proposed legislation contemplates “joint legal custody” (what Florida calls “shared parenting responsibility”) but not that both parents “equally participate” in major decisions concerning their children.

Many South Dakotan legal commentators, however, anticipate increased litigation over less than perfect implementations of joint legal custody.

Beware state-specific definitions.

Read more in this South Coast Massachusetts Standard Times article: Child custody, visitation issues considered.

A Michigan senator believes divorce runs roughshod, without any consideration – over pets.

Under the current law of most states, pets are relegated to personal property status.

“You want Rover? … I’ll take the silverware then. Deal.”

The senator has sponsored legislation to remedy that, requiring divorcing spouses to list all of their pets and when they were adopted.

Further, it would require the spouses to file a custody plan for the pet with the court – or take the matter up before the judge presiding over their case.

The Michigan senator was reportedly inspired by Wisconsin legislation that he read about.

But most Michigan commentators have criticized the proposed legislation as adding to the problem of too much family court litigation rather than helping solve the problem.

Oddly enough, the senator does not have a pet. He must think he has a lot of pet lovers among his constituency …

Read more in this Grand Rapids Press article: Bill dictates pet custody in divorce cases.

Dallas, Texas has more than its share of human trafficking in illegal aliens smuggled into this country against their will.

Of the approximately 16,000 victims of fraud, force, coercion and abuse per year, about twenty percent wind up in Texas.

These illegal immigrants are often victims of domestic violence and abuse.

Immigrants, particularly illegal immigrants, are often hesitant to speak out or seek help.

And so four women per day are murdered by their abusers.

But help is available in most communities. From shelters. And from nonprofit associations.

Read more in this Dallas Morning News editorial: Abuse of immigrants in focus.

The Arizona Daily Star brought a lawsuit to compel Arizona’s Child Protective Services (CPS) to disclose records in two cases culminating in the deaths of three children.

In Arizona, as in many states, including Florida, juvenile dependency cases are sealed and confidential.

The problem with that is that it all but eliminates oversight by the legislature and accountability to the public.

When there are deaths or near-deaths of children, some Arizona legislators believe that records should have to be turned over to anyone making a request for them, unless disclosure would impede an investigation. Legislation to implement that policy is pending in Arizona.

More pending legislation would

• make termination of parental rights proceedings and other juvenile dependency proceedings public, unless it would not be in the best interests of the children involved and/or would be harmful to them
• increase files available to police and prosecutors with a court order
• implement new procedures when a child in protective custody goes missing
• provide greater public access to the personnel records of state employees, including CPS employees

Notwithstanding opening of hearings, the proposed legislation prohibits disclosing personal identifying information about children outside the courtroom.

Some legislators fear that too much information will be made public – and haunt the children involved.

Read more in this Arizona Daily Star article: House discusses opening some CPS files.

California legislators are considering passing a bill that would pave the way for the state to establish the first free, publicly accessible website in the nation to identify perpetrators convicted of domestic violence, specifically, at least one felony or two misdemeanors.

The intent of the website would be to empower prospective dating partners and significant others to easily and inexpensively “check out” someone whose behavior spawns some concerns – ideally, before they get in too deep.

The sites would also provide information on obtaining restraining orders for protection from domestic violence.

Other online databases now in existence are restricted to law enforcement personnel. Making the information freely accessible to the public could save lives.

In at least one well-publicized murder, the parents of the victim had suspicions about her boyfriend. But, being unable to afford an investigator, they didn’t learn of his three felony convictions for attacking women until after he killed the mother of his child and her mother.

Development and maintenance costs would be funded by fines paid by perpetrators.

Read more in this Government Computer News article: Bill would let Californians screen dates and this New York Times article: Bill Proposes Database of Offenders to Aid Dating.

Continuances are a fact of life in the legal system, for many reasons. But, in some cases, things really get out of hand. And judges usually don’t like it.

Take this California case. Many court appearances and many continuances.

The wife had two types of cancer and suffered from bipolar disorder. Out of money, she was representing herself.

And she checked herself into the hospital because of her psychiatric condition on the day before her re-set trial.

The trial judge decided that enough was enough and proceeded with the trial in the wife’s absence.

On appeal, the court reversed. The appellate court held that the woman was entitled to an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and a related California court rule.

The court ruled that the trial court did not have the same degree of discretion in denying a continuance as an accommodation to a disability as for other reasons.

Read more in this Los Angeles Metropolitan News-Enterprise article: C.A.: Judges Violated ADA by Denying Trial Delay to Bipolar Pro Per.

It is not uncommon for a parent to ask how far they may go in punishing a rebellious, defiant child – what therapists often call an “oppositional” child.

For example, a NYC Father beat his 7 year old stepchild (Child) as physical punishment for her misbehavior.

Child dies as a result of latest beating.

Father is charged in the Child’s death.

But is it murder?

Is it even illegal?

Physical discipline as such is not illegal in most states.

What type of physical punishment crosses beyond discipline, to abuse that might lead to the state taking your child away from you – or to abuse that might lead to criminal sentencing?

Many parents expect there to be a firm standard they can look to. But, surprisingly enough, the law in many states doesn’t offer clear guidelines, what lawyers call bright lines.

The Constitution protects a parent’s right to parent in the way that the parent thinks best and legislators are reluctant to make hard and fast rules as to what is acceptable or unacceptable.

So both the civil and criminal cases vary quite a bit from case to case and are not always consistent or reconcilable.

What’s a parent to do? Tread carefully may be a prudent rule of thumb.

Read more in this New York Times article: Murder Case Tests Limits on Parents’ Right to Hit.

Juvenile detention costs New York City taxpayers $200,000 per year per youth. In dollars.

There are other, social costs. Juvenile detention may be viewed as the proverbial fork in the road, where young people are more likely to veer off on the path toward a life of repeat offender crimes.

The alternative to juvenile detention, community-based counseling and probation programs, costs substantially less. In dollars. And in social costs. It reduces recidivism.

But New York State’s policies incentivize confining youths in juvenile detention centers rather than community programs. To the tune of reimbursing the city fifty (50%) percent of the costs of detention.

Reimbursement of community-based programs? A whopping zero (0%) percent. Zip.

What’s wrong with that picture for our children?

What has Florida’s juvenile justice system learned from studies such as this?

What can it still learn from its juvenile justice system as laboratory?

Read more in this New York Times editorial: Juvenile Detention Trap.

Missouri Husband and wife separate.

Fourteen months later, wife gives birth to a child.

Husband and wife advise Missouri’s child support enforcement agency that Husband is not the biological father of the baby.

But since the couple was still legally married, the state declared Husband to be the father and liable for child support.

At one point, he was incarcerated for non-payment.

Six years later, the Missouri Supreme Court recently ruled, however, that Husband could not be incarcerated without a hearing and an opportunity to prove that he is not the biological father of the child.

That’s because Husband was determined to be the father by the child support agency rather than a court.

But even if Husband wins the hearing, that is, proves to the Court that he is not the father, that just means that he can’t be incarcerated for non-payment.

He can still be compelled to pay by other means.

Because he didn’t challenge the determination in a timely fashion.

Some states, including Florida, have amended similar laws – but only if the alleged father timely proves that he is not the biological father.

That still would not have helped Husband here.

Read more in this Kansas City Star article: Despite DNA, child support may be enforced.

Baby is taken into protective custody by Missouri.

Baby is placed with Biological Cousin and his wife.

They provide a loving home and seek to adopt Baby.

State removes Baby from Biological Cousin and places Baby with unrelated couple.

Generally, children’s welfare agencies prefer to place children with suitable relatives rather than strangers.

Why would the state remove Baby from biologically-related foster parents to strangers?

Well, Biological Cousin alleges that it was because he was obese.

The Court said that he didn’t properly follow state procedures for bringing a child into the state.

It took six months, but Biological Cousin got Baby back – after having gastric bypass surgery …

Read more in this Kansas City KMBC TV 9 article: Judge Rules In Baby Max Custody Case and this Kansas City KMBC TV 9 article: Baby Max Stuck In Middle Of Custody Battle.

An Ohio divorce recently turned ugly.

One popular tactic engaged in by couples is “ratting the other spouse out”.

That’s what happened in this case.

The Husband allegedly reported the Wife to … the Health Department.

For keeping some chickens in their home (he still lives there), specifically, the couple’s child’s room.

The Wife is a vet.

And the boy reportedly hasn’t been staying in the room since the chickens have been there.

The chickens are healthy and are being kept in a clean and appropriate manner.

Interesting to note, the Health Department reports that approximately half of the complaints it receives each year arise in divorces.

Read more in this Cleveland WKYC article: Chickens at the center of Willoughby Hills divorce dispute.

UK Mother is incarcerated for four plus years for murdering her babies, based on subsequently discredited medical testimony. In actuality, the babies died of crib death.

Since Mother’s arrest, Father has had sole custody of surviving minor child, Daughter.

Now released, Mother wants a divorce – and modification of custody to her.

Of course, Mother and Daughter’s relationship deteriorated during and immediately prior to Mother’s unjust incarceration.

Father opposes modification of custody, based on Daughter’s alleged desires – and because Daughter has always lived with him and because it would “break his heart” to lose custody of her.

One may speculate that it broke Mother’s heart to be wrongly tried, convicted and incarcerated for murder and wrongly separated from Daughter for years.

Read more in this UK Daily Mail article: Give me a divorce and my daughter, says Angela Cannings, who was wrongly jailed for murdering her sons.

Florida Baby’s biological mother is incarcerated for trafficking in narcotics and prostitution.

Baby’s biological father left the state when Baby was just three weeks old.

Baby was placed in foster care with a loving family, the only family she has since known.

Baby is now four.

Foster family continues to want to adopt Baby.

But, now, biological father, long absent, returns, out of the blue, to assert his right to take Baby to his new home in California.

It was recommended some time ago that social services terminate the biological father’s parental rights, to free the child up for adoption to her loving foster family.

Only it never happened, let alone in a timely fashion. Had it happened, the courthouse door would most likely have slammed in biological father’s face.

What is particularly sad in this case is that the foster family could have – and undoubtedly would have – asked the Court themselves to terminate the biological father’s parental rights – if they had only known that they had that power and right.

But no one ever told them … until it was too late.

Meanwhile, the biological father is allegedly still battling substance abuse problems of his own, even as the Court appears to be ordering reunification.

But the biological father has rights.

And, according to the family courts, Baby apparently doesn’t.

Read more in this Orlando Sentinel article: Orlando-area family faces losing foster child.

Father doesn’t want to pay child support.

How badly?

So badly that he reportedly fled the US for Canada.

How much does he owe?

Allegedly, almost $500,000.

What distinction did that earn him?

A spot on the Ten Most Wanted list for nonpayment of child support.

And criminal charges.

And deportation from Canada.

Father is now being held in custody by authorities.

His bail was set at $500,000.

Read more in this Milford Daily News article: Top 10 deadbeat dad faces charges and this Metrowest Daily News article: Judge sets bail high for father.

The Canadian Supreme Court recently ruled that a premarital agreement is a binding contract and that the Court has the power and obligation to enforce it – even where it has religious implications.

In the case at hand, a premarital agreement provided that, in the event the couple’s marriage broke down, the husband was to seek a “get” for the wife. A get is a divorce under Jewish religious law.

Without the get, under religious law, the spouses are still considered married to each other.

The husband refused to pursue a get for fifteen years, until after the wife was beyond her child-bearing years.

The wife sued the husband for breach of contract, seeking damages because she was unable to remarry and have kids within her faith.

But, of course, under Canadian law, she had the legal right to remarry and have children.

Read more in this Montreal Gazette editorial: Court erred badly in divorce ruling.

Ten years ago a young Australian man wrote a book setting out all the questions and issues to consider before deciding to marry someone.

Using his own book as the determinant of whether to marry a young Utah woman, the young man opted to marry her.

The book garnered the young man significant media attention and launched his career as a marriage advisor.

Only a few years later, the couple divorced.

So then the young man wrote another book setting out all the questions and issues to consider before deciding to divorce your spouse.

Now I suppose he can say he has re-launched his career as divorce advisor.

Good save?!

One thing is certain. The decision whether to divorce is a complex one, which typically must take many issues and circumstances into account.

Read more in this Salt Lake Tribune article: Marriage guru’s own wedded bliss amiss, so he writes book on divorce.

Payment – or non-payment – of child support may affect children in ways that go beyond money and are, sometimes, unintended.

For noncustodial parents who are struggling to meet their legal obligations, it may mean children making do with less during visitation – and the rest of the time too.

For parents fighting about child support, it may mean children experiencing misguided guilt – or anger and frustration – toward one or both parents.

Children may act out.

They may empathize with the nonpaying parent.

Or they may experience denial of a deadbeat parent’s delingquency – or resulting low self-esteem.

Or it may affect them years later.

Children may imitate a responsible parent – or an irresponsible parent.

And they may learn the value of a dollar.

Read more in this South Texas Monitor article: For children, child support can’t buy peace of mind.

Postcards from Splitsville.

It sounds like a joke. But it’s actually about a very serious subject …

A tool for helping kids (and adults) cope with divorce – and express their true feelings in a safe, supportive environment.

All as part of an eight week divorce recovery workshop started in Arizona for kids three and up.

It’s also for their parents, as participants – or as observers of the impact of their divorce on their kids.

This volunteer-led workshop could catch on and spread.

Read more in this Arizona Daily Star article: Group lets kids share sad sentiments and the Divorce Recovery website.

Ohio man is convicted of bigamy.

Man is sentenced to probation – and ordered to get a divorce from one of his three wives within six months.

Man fails to get divorce.

Man is arrested for probation violation.

Man is confined to house arrest.

Man is again ordered to get divorce.

Man faces jail time for probation violation and, presumably, original offense.

But the judge doesn’t want to put Man in jail. The judge just wants Man to get a divorce from one of his wives.

However, that still appears to leave Man with one wife too many …

Read more in this Cincinnati Enquirer article: Bigamist gets time to divorce a wife.

Florida has had at least its fair share of scandal over sealing of court records in violation of the law and open public records policy of this state. But we’re not alone.

A Nevada judge ordered that a child support case against another, former Nevada judge be sealed – unilaterally and summarily – and also entered a gag order in the case. The judge benefiting from the sealing and gag order was seeking to get back into the judiciary.

The sealing judge reportedly did not comply with Nevada legal requirements for sealing court records. But she defended her actions as being for the protection of the minor child.

The Nevada Supreme Court reversed and ruled that the sealing judge abused her discretion.

Further, according to the Los Angeles Times, which had her under investigation, the same judge allegedly presided over cases where friends or business associates were parties – on more than one occasion.

Read more in this Los Angeles Times article: Nevada judge abused authority, court rules.

In recent years, the national (and international) trend has been one of increased tolerance of the notion of rotating custody, or timesharing that is more evenly distributed among parents than in traditional visitation schedules.

That is why the situation in Norway is so noteworthy.

Norway has an Ombudsman for Children, a government official who is supposed to be a mixture of spokesperson and advocate for kids.

And Norway’s Ombudsman doesn’t think children should have to “commute” between their parents’ respective homes after divorce.

He thinks this puts the parents’ rights above the children’s needs. And that the “commute” is too stressful and disruptive to most children.

The Ombudsman points out that some separated parents even want their children to attend different schools.

A Norwegian politician criticized the Ombudsman for failing to “equate the positions of mother and father”, concluding that therefore “it will continue to be the fathers who are discriminated against”.

The politician expressed no opinion as to the best interests of children though, arguably conceding the Ombudsman’s argument.

Read more in this Norway Aftenposten article: Child custody spurs debate.

A journalist for the Miami Herald observes that Miami-Dade’s family court is loaded with courtroom dramas.

The court processes some 4,500 child custody cases a year, most of them in its juvenile dependency division.

Those aren’t divorce or paternity cases. They’re cases where children are abandoned, abused or neglected, by one or both parents. So the state must intervene.

The children will typically be placed with extended family for a time or in foster care.

Cases can be very complex. As one court bailiff opines, ”[w]hen it’s just two parents who don’t like one another, a lot of times those are the easy ones”. That’s typical of family court.

Juvenile dependency court can be another can of worms entirely. There the mission is to educate parents who may not know on how to parent, and to assist them with the challenges that get in their way. Cases can continue for quite some time.

Twenty percent of the children involved are under the age of one year old. Thirty-three percent are under the age of five years old.

Read more in this Miami Herald article: Dramas large and small play out in family court.

Neighboring Georgia has just revamped its child custody statutory framework with the goal of streamlining its procedures.

The Georgia legislature attributed the changes to a desire to spare kids drawn-out, traumatic custody battles.

Odds are, the desire to spare family court judges and the judicial system’s infrastructure from the same was just as powerful a motivation.

But that, by itself, shouldn’t detract from the legal changes.

Under the new Georgia framework, each parent is required to propose a parenting plan.

This methodology has gained favor in several states and is under serious consideration by the Florida legislature as well.

Another change is that Georgians may now opt to submit their cases to binding arbitration, a somewhat less expensive and more informal process than taking their case before a judge in court.

This option is already available here in Florida, although rarely utilized.

Another significant change is that, under previous Georgia law, kids at least 14 years old could choose the parent with whom they wanted to live primarily. No longer do the kids necessarily get the final word.

Since the law continually evolves and changes with the people and times, it is very instructive to follow the experience and evolution of family law in our sister states.

Read more in this Atlanta 11 Alive TV article: 2008 Brings New Child Custody Laws.

Child abuse occurs most frequently during November, December and January, according to the University of Miami Child Protection Team, which sees 1,500 cases per year.

Recent horrific incidents include a woman allegedly stabbing her autistic nephew in the eyes and a mother allegedly beating her one year old baby to the extent of twelve broken bones.

The stresses of the holidays are the reason, the final straw – and they actually continue after the last of the Christmas decorations and the confetti are gone.

But the underlying problems were likely in the making for quite some time.

People under stress tend to take it out on those who are most vulnerable … children, the disabled and also the dependent elderly. The stresses of caregiving likely contribute to such incidents.

The number of child abuse cases rises from year to year.

But resources are available to help.

January is just beginning.

Note that the Florida child abuse hotline is 1-800-96-ABUSE.

Read more in this South Florida NBC 6 TV article: Recent Child Abuse Allegations Focus Attention On S. Fla. Kids In Jeopardy.