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

Arkansas Man has a domestic violence restraining order (or order of protection) against him.

As is customary, the injunction for protection against domestic violence bars Man from keeping guns.

Man discovers neighbor’s dog on his property.

Neither Man nor his own dogs are afraid of the neighbor’s dog.

But Man allegedly shoots the neighbor’s dog anyway.

Man is arrested on two misdemeanor charges, one for cruelty to animals and one for violating an order of protection.

The odds are against the restraining order against Man being for the benefit of an animal.

Cruelty to animals is closely associated with domestic violence.

Read more in this [Mountain Home, AR] Baxter Bulletin article: Briarcliff man arrested for cruelty to animal after shooting dog.

A British college instructor (Father) hasn’t seen his Daughter in fourteen years.

Her Mother allegedly abducted her from the UK to Brazil at that time.

Brazil is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

But Brazil sometimes seems to follow the Convention only at its pleasure.

Brazilian authorities have reportedly told Father he is not welcome in Brazil.

Father is now appealing to the UK government to intervene with Brazil, but probably too late to do any good even under the Hague Convention. Daughter is now 17 years old.

Mother reportedly changed Daughter’s name as part of an improper adoption.

Read more in this Kent Online article: Lecturer vows to battle on over estranged Brazilian daughter.

Before it draws to a close, it should be noted that August is our national Child Support Enforcement Month.

Local and statewide child support enforcement agencies are celebrating their mission, their increasingly innovative and resourceful efforts to maximize collections of child support, their accomplishments and the contributions of parents.

Some getting tough collections tactics: withholding wages, publishing “most wanted” lists, roundups, liens, freezing assets, collecting lottery winnings, revoking drivers’ licenses and denial of applications for passports.

Read more in this Holyoke [CO] Enterprise article: Celebrating August as Child Support Enforcement Month and this Virginia Department of Social Services 2001 press release: Governor Gilmore proclaims Aug. as Child Support Enforcement Month in Virginia

A group of Michigan professionals are rallying around one particular path to an uncontested divorce. It’s called collaborative divorce.

In collaborative divorce, both spouses commit to pursuing an amicable resolution without the necessity of litigating.

Their methodology includes a team approach, with a lawyer for each spouse, mental health professionals, financial advisors, child experts, divorce coaches, etc.

A lot of folks. As many – or more – as in some litigated cases. But all unified in the goal of avoiding litigation.

Proponents of collaborative divorce maintain that it is less costly than other approaches to divorce.

One may reasonably question that premise, at least in certain cases, after considering the team roster.

But it definitely may be less emotionally costly and lead to better co-parenting relationships after the divorce.

The Michigan collaborative divorce group concedes that collaborative divorce may not be the best methodology in cases where there is a history of domestic violence, illness or mental health issues.

In reality, there are also other circumstances where collaborative divorce is likely not the most appropriate approach.

Collaborative divorce is certainly an approach worth considering under the right circumstances.

But collaborative divorce is just one approach to uncontested divorce in Florida and elsewhere. It is not the only approach to uncontested divorce.

If both spouses want to divorce amicably, without litigation, whether it is collaborative divorce or not, there is at least one approach to uncontested divorce that is right for them.

Read more in this Traverse City [MI] Record-Eagle article: Amicable Split: ‘Collaborative divorce’ offers fewer fights, costs.

Illinois Husband and Wife had been together for thirty years.

Wife’s Sister is a domestic violence victims’ advocate, who helps others to escape abusive relationships.

Wife and Husband were estranged, with a significant history of domestic violence reportedly behind them.

Sister advised Wife to seek an order of protection or restraining order against Husband.

Wife didn’t heed Sister’s warnings, and let Husband back into her home to visit other family members.

During one such visit, Husband allegedly murdered Wife. Then fled to his workplace, where he committed suicide.

Wife had sought an injunction for protection against domestic violence in 2006, and pressed criminal charges against Husband at that time as well.

But Wife did not follow through with either, presumably out of fear of possible consequences from Husband.

And so Sister’s fears came true.

Read more in this Chicago Tribune article: Couple in murder-suicide had history of violence, family says.

New York state Mother and Father, a medical doctor / psychiatrist, have a Daughter together.

But mother has sole custody of Daughter.

Under New York law, that means that Mother, in general, has sole medical decision-making authority for Daughter.

During timesharing with Daughter, Father adjusts Daughter’s dosage of medication downward.

Father “concluded that the treatment regimen prescribed by his daughter’s doctor was too aggressive and the prescription strengths were too powerful.”

Mother initiates a contempt proceeding against Father for unilaterally adjusting Daughter’s medication.

The Court dismisses the Mother’s motion, finding that the Father has a “good faith basis” for adjusting Daughter’s medication dosage and, therefore, is not guilty of criminal or civil contempt, or willful defiance of Mother’s or her doctor’s court-ordered authority.

The Court also finds that Father’s status as non-custodial parent is not tantamount to being a “potted plant”.

Rather, a timesharing parent “has a residual authority to make decisions in the child’s best interest that are called for by the immediate circumstances–even if those decisions might overlap with or intrude upon the other parent’s ’sole custody’ authority.”

Read more in this West Palm Beach Examiner article: Albany family court judge finds non-custodial dad not guilty of contempt for changing child’s meds.

Illinois Man allegedly abuses both alcohol and drugs.

While under the influence in two past incidents, Man allegedly pressed a knife to his girlfriend’s (Woman) neck, and shoved and choked her.

Couple separate when Man relapses again.

In another episode of violence, Woman calls police.

Man is arrested, convicted, and sentenced to incarceration as well as anger management and substance abuse classes.

A restraining order or order of protection is also entered against Man for Woman’s protection.

This is just one of more than 1,000 domestic violence complaints made to police per year in Bloomington, Illinois.

Police can spend hours responding to a single complaint.

Police typically make follow up visits as well.

Woman believes Man can get better and they can get back together.

Read more in this Bloomington [IL] Pantagraph article: Cycle of domestic violence traps victims, police.

Separated parents sometimes can’t agree on parenting issues.

Most issues can be resolved by mediation or litigation … whenever.

But some have deadlines.

Take school. Selection.

School starts when it starts.

Even if the parents are going through a custody case.

If the parents can’t agree, a judge must decide.

Depending on the nature of the dispute, the judge may want to hear from witnesses and see evidence.

Regarding differences in tuition, differences in religious orientation, differences in location, student track records, etc.

Hearings like that take time and plenty of advance scheduling.

But parents tend not to take such factors into account.

Alerting their attorneys to these issues much too late for a timely decision going the evidentiary hearing route.

Or perhaps they thought the matter was resolved only to learn at the last minute that it really was not.

Failing to definitively resolve the dispute in a timely manner can force decisions into hurried hearings with inadequate information.

Read more in this Witchita [KS] article: Parents’ procrastination in custody cases crowds family court dockets.

Two-thirds of juvenile correctional facilities inmates suffer from at least one mental health diagnosis.

Many such children are confined in such facilities because their families are unable to find affordable mental health treatment for them in their communities.

So, the government reports, 9,000 children a year are simply given up by their families in hopes they will have mental health treatment in corrections facilities.

So the children receive what treatment they receive at public expense … from juvenile detention facilities…

The primary residential psychiatric treatment facilities for minor children.

A juvenile criminal record, punishment, neglect, violence and abuse are just part of the nonmonetary price tag.

The current recession’s impact on state and county budgets only aggravates the problem.

Therapists trained in treating children are in short supply and multiple powerful narcotics often become the only treatment these children have.

Read more in this New York Times article: Mentally Ill Offenders Strain Juvenile System.

England is one-upping the increasingly common unified family court system.

In unified family courts, such as in Florida, the goal is for all cases involving a single family to ultimately be assigned to the same judge, be the case criminal, juvenile dependency, divorce or paternity, or criminal. That is the goal.

In England, victims of domestic violence can now come forward in a new dedicated domestic violence court and start the ball rolling in that one courtroom to obtain a divorce, child custody, an order of protection or injunction for protection against domestic violence, and a criminal charge against their abuser.

The judge will specialize in all these related issues and have power to implement all the above measures.

The courtroom will also have domestic violence victim advocates on hand.

In England, two women are killed each week by a current or former partner. Police there are summoned to an alleged incident of abuse every single minute.

Read more in this London Sun article: Special courts for women who are victims of domestic abuse.

New York Father and Italian immigrant Mother battle for custody of Son.

Mother accuses Father of child abuse.

But police and psychologists see things differently.

Mother is diagnosed with various psychological disorders and is found to have alienated Son from Father.

Father is awarded sole custody of Son and Court prohibits Son’s removal from US.

Nonetheless, Mother gets Son at school and abducts him to her native Italy.

Where she continues to accuse Father of abuse.

In time, child welfare authorities in Italy discredit Mother’s allegations and remove Son from Mother’s custody …

And place Son in an orphanage. Two years ago.

While Father is denied any contact with Son at all.

Father has finally been allowed supervised visitation.

But the Italian courts won’t allow him to take Son home.

And Italy is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Read more in this West Palm Beach Examiner article: American father Michael McCarty fights to rescue his son from an Italian orphanage.

Asylum will be available to foreign victims of domestic violence who show 1. that domestic violence is socially acceptable in their own country such that safety would always elude them there and 2. that their social standing in their own country is inferior to their abuser’s.

Re-consideration of standing policy is prompted under the new administration by the application for asylum of a Mexican woman who was beaten, raped and imprisoned by a man who set her bed on fire while she was in it.

It remains a government concern that this new protected class of asylum applicants not “open the floodgates”.

Read more in this New York Times editorial: Asylum for Battered Women and this New York Times article: New Policy Permits Asylum for Battered Women.

Colorado Husband and Wife have two young children.

Couple fear two year old Boy might have ingested some medication, after finding part of a pill on the floor.

Couple call a local Poison Control Center (Center), allegedly not for the first time. The Center recommends keeping an eye on the Boy and taking him to the hospital if he shows symptoms.

Center reportedly suspects child abuse or neglect.

Center contacts police.

Police arrive at the couple’s home and insist on taking Boy to the hospital.

A drug test shows that the Boy does not have any drugs in his system.

Then the local child welfare agency removes the couple’s two children anyway and places them into temporary protective custody.

The children are in foster care for five whole days before a hearing is held.

At the hearing, the children are placed into the temporary custody of their grandparents … pending the results of a second drug test on the Boy.

Read more in this [Denver, CO] Fox KDVR-TV 31 news article: Poison Control Center responds to child custody case and Family loses custody of children after calling poison control.

Illinois Woman obtains order of protection or injunction for protection against domestic violence against her ex-Husband, Man.

Man violates restraining order and is jailed.

While in jail, Man allegedly forms plan to hire hit man to kill Woman.

Man allegedly offers undercover police officer money to kill Woman.

Man is arrested for solicitation of murder.

Read more in this CBS WBBM-TV 2 new article: Prosecutors: Man Tried To Have Ex-Wife Killed.

If you’ve ever wondered whether or how divorce (or death of a spouse) affect a person’s health, a recently published study on mature singles sheds some light on the subject.

The study finds that the Single Again population experiences a lasting decline in health and/or mobility, even if they marry again.

Interestingly, never-marrieds tend to have fewer chronic health and / or mobility problems than those who are widowed or divorced.

The study attributes the statistics to the effects of the stress associated with the death of a spouse or figurative death of a marriage.

But the statistical correlation does not prove causality.

On the other hand, according to other experiments, marital strife also tends to weaken a spouse’s immune system – rather dramatically.

So staying together does not necessarily improve health at all…

Read more in this New York Times article: Divorce, It Seems, Can Make You Ill.

Tennessee Father and Mother are divorced. Father and Mother have two daughters together.

Mother allegedly shoots Father in the leg. In the presence of their two daughters.

If for no other reason, Father wins temporary custody of their two daughters.

And Mother is charged with attempted murder and reckless endangerment of the children.

Although there is probably little need for it for the foreseeable future, Father plans to seek an order or protection or injunction for protection against domestic violence against Mother.

Read more in this [Chattanooga, TN] WTVC-TV News Channel 9 NBC TV News article: Signal Shooting Victim Granted Custody Of Children.

Abductions of children across international borders continue to increase.

In the UK, the number of such cases (and some cases involve more than one child) has risen from 488 in 2006 to 554 in 2008. It is likely that not all abductions are properly reported.

Most such abductions are by one of the parents of the child.

The most common places that children are abducted to from the UK are:

1. Pakistan
2. USA
3. Spain
4. Ireland
5. France

A Canadian man searching for his missing daughter in the UK has been searching for … sixteen (16) years.

Even with the existence of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and similar bilateral treaties.

Not the typical case perhaps but …

A British jurist acknowledges that some parents willfully disobey the law, but others don’t even realize that what they are doing is illegal.

Law enforcement tends not to want to get involved in family abduction cases, referring people to family court attorneys.

Unfortunately, the resulting delay can make all the difference in whether an abduction can be stopped or the perpetrator caught.

Potential abduction scenarios are increasing in part because so many people work abroad in this day and age, and form relationships with people in the country where they are working. But they aren’t necessarily educated about the law and the dangers inherent in such situations.

The misled children are the victims in these scenarios. Eventually, they find out the truth and are robbed of their trust.

Most abductors are mothers. Some are fleeing domestic violence. Others just want out.

Read more in this BBC News article: ‘I’ll never end hunt for my girl’.

New York state boyfriend (Man) and girlfriend (Woman) break up.

Man allegedly kicks Woman’s puppy to death.

Man says it was “looking at me like it didn’t like me.”

Man is charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals.

Man eventually pleads guilty to disorderly conduct and agrees to make financial restitution to Woman, take anger management classes and undergo a mental health evaluation.

Judge enters an order of protection, or injunction for protection against domestic violence, barring Man from contact with Woman for three years.

Early warning signs of domestic violence include attacking or killing the pet of the true targeted victim.

Read more in this Niagara Gazette article: TOWN OF TONAWANDA: Reduced charges for accused dog killer.

Parental Alienation. Syndrome. Or not.

Whether one accepts it as a legitimate diagnosis of a psychological condition or not, there can be little doubt that the term describes a pattern of behavior that some parents actively engage in.

Willfully or unwittingly.

To their children’s detriment.

Numerous organizations rally against it, including:

1. A Family’s Heartbreak
2. Hostile Aggressive Parenting
3. Hugs to Heartbreak
4. Keeping Families Connected
5. Overcoming Parental Alienation
6. Parental Alienation Awareness Organization
7. Parental Alienation Awareness Organization – US
8. Parental Alienation Canada
9. Parental Alienation Hurts
10. Solutions 4 PAS
11. Split n Two
12. Stop Parental Alienation
13. The Rachel Foundation for Family Reintegration

Read more in this Tampa Bay Examiner article: Parental alienation information and support.

Tennessee Wife obtains order of protection against Husband.

Husband violates restraining order by going to Wife’s house.

Husband is arrested for violating injunction for protection against domestic violence.

Police free Husband.

Less than half an hour later, Husband returns to Wife’s home.

And threatens to kill her. With his arms on her throat.

And warns her “she’ll never get rid of him”.

Police come and arrest him again.

This time, police charge husband with violation of an order of protection, resisting arrest and domestic violence with aggravated assault.

Husband is even confined this time, pending posting of bond.

An isolated occurrence?

No. Husband has been charged with aggravated assault of Wife four other times, although Wife ultimately dismissed all of them.

Read more in this Blount County, TN Daily Times article: Knoxville man arrested twice in one day by Blount Sheriff’s deputies.

A financial advisor dispenses some financial advice to guide those going through a divorce:

• get a handle on your finances – hire a professional if cost-effective and necessary
• split assets equitably – take relative degrees of liquidity of various assets into account
• divide and conquer your debts – block incurring further debt on joint accounts
• pay attention to taxes – be aware of tax impacts which can tip seemingly equal divisions of property
• determine alimony and child support before the courts impose a number on both parties and consider the benefit of insurance, and
• plan for your future – with or without a financial professional

Read more in this [Southgate, MI] News Herald article: SHAWN BUMGARDNER: Steps should be taken to preserve one’s self during divorce.