Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer | Boynton Beach

A study of about 9,000 people over a period of several years concludes that divorcees and never-marrieds are a bit more physically fit than married couples.

According to treadmill performance testing and physical examinations, both men and women experience a decline in cardiovascular wellness during marriage.

Men who divorced during the study improved their fitness level. Women, who represented a much smaller segment of the population studied, did not exhibit the increase in fitness upon divorce. But other variables can explain that.

The study does not demonstrate causality between marital status and fitness. It is believed that social factors are the driving forces: dating singles pay greater attention to their physical fitness and settled couples tend to be more relaxed about it.

Women who were single throughout the study tended to become more fit over time. Both married and single men’s fitness diminished over time, but more so for married men.

Scientists conclude that people must be mindful of how life changes affect fitness and plan accordingly.

Read more in this Reuters article: Is marriage bad for your physical fitness?.

UK Husband and Wife divorce.

Husband, a multi-millionaire, allegedly “overlooks” some assets in his required disclosures … about 2 million pounds’ worth.

Such as three gold bars smuggled out of Austria in the 1930s, and offshore bank accounts.

Husband claims not to have the “overlooked” assets.

The divorce court doesn’t buy that.

And awards Wife 2.4 million pounds.

Husband appeals.

The appellate court dismisses Husband’s appeal of the divorce trial court’s property award to Wife.

Husband now lives in Florida …

Read more in this UK Daily Mail article: Wife wins battle of the Nazi gold: £2.4m divorce payout after husband hid assets.

A family court judge in Canada was presiding over a divorce involving a minor Child.

This divorce court judge apparently found that:

1. Wife tried to run Husband over with a van.

2. Wife’s relatives have made threats against Husband.

3. Husband is verbally abusive.

4. Wife has alienated Child from Husband.

5. Husband has no clue how to parent.

This family court judge has served on the bench for fifteen years.

And this particular case appears to have gotten to him.

So much so that he wrote a scathing thirty-one page opinion taking both Husband and Wife to task for their behavior toward each other and their Child.

On a roll, the divorce court judge even has at the Canadian family court legal system.

The lengthy vent may have improved this family court judge’s mood, but it did not conclude Husband and Wife’s case.

It would be interesting to know whether it made any impression on Husband and Wife.

Read more in this [Canadian] Globe and Mail article: In family court, a judge turns to ridicule to defuse the rage.

Michigan Husband and Wife are going through a divorce.

They have three Sons ranging in age from 5 to 9 years old.

Husband has the Sons for timesharing on Thanksgiving.

Afterward, Husband does not return Sons to Wife, variously claiming that he handed the boys over to a woman he knows through the internet or to an “organization”.

Husband reportedly tries to commit suicide the next day.

Husband insists that Sons are OK but that he is protecting them from Wife, who he asserts is sexually abusing Sons.

Husband is arrested on charges of parental kidnapping, a misdemeanor.

Read more in this Toledo WTOL CBS TV 11 news article: Father of missing Morenci boys arraigned in Michigan and this CBS TV News article: John Skelton Waives Right to Key Hearing.

Some New York children don’t get to see their fathers regularly.

It’s not because their parents have divorced, or voluntarily parted company.

It’s because their fathers are incarcerated.

For these dads and their children, the New York Department of Corrections has launched a program called “Daddy and Me”.

The program gets fathers reading children’s books, and recording the stories for their children.

At the conclusion of the program, the children will come to the jail and their fathers will present them with the CDs the dads recorded for their children.

The program’s primary, stated purpose is to promote literacy.

But it offers the implicit additional fringe benefit of fostering parent-child bonds.

Read more in this New York Times article: ‘Daddy, Read for Me’.

A couple marry in Massachusetts. The couple adopt a child.

The couple move to Texas. One partner files for divorce.

The divorce culminates in a two day trial deciding proerty division and parenting of the couple’s child.

The family court in Austin, Texas grants the couple’s divorce. Subsequently, the Texas Attorney General intervenes to challenge the divorce.

The couple are lesbians. And Texas does not recognize homosexual marriages.

Where there is no legally valid marriage, there can be no divorce. Or so the Attorney General maintains.

And so an appellate court in Dallas concluded on similar facts. But that was Dallas.

Once the intermediate level appellate court in Austin rules, the losing party will likely take the case to the state’s supreme court.

Read more in this Austin Statesman article: Court urged to void Travis County gay divorce.

Fourteen member nations of the European Union have agreed to adopt special rules governing divorces of international couples. The new rules will go into effect in a year and a half.

International couples are couples where each partner is from, or lives in, a different European Union nation.

About thirteen percent of the European Union’s one hundred twenty-two million marriages involve international couples.

Under these rules, the couple can agree upon which nation’s rules will control their divorce, provided that the couple has a strong connection to the chosen country.

If the couple can’t reach agreement, then the new rules determine which nation’s law will apply to an international couple’s divorce.

The claimed purpose of the new rules is to squelch the filing spouse shopping for the most advantageous country to file in and then racing the other spouse to file first.

The new procedures have some glaring omissions though.

No country will be required to end a marriage that its own law does not recognize as valid.

Further, the choice of law really only applies to grounds for divorce and/or separation, as the case may be.

The new rules do not apply to legal capacity, annulment, property division, parental responsibility, child support or spousal support.

It’s not clear that the new rules will really thwart shopping for the nation with the most favorable divorce laws, but they may be a first step in that direction.

Read more in this European Parliament press release: Divorcing international couples can choose which law governs their break-up.

As the song says, breaking up is hard to do.

In fact, it is dreaded so much by so many, that one stalwart soul has decided to offer to do it for pretty much anyone who doesn’t want to do it themselves … for a nominal fee, of course.

So, operating under the says-it-all trade name “iDump4U”, said stalwart soul will be the bearer of the following bad breakup news:

• you want to end a casual dating relationship

• you want to call off your engagement

• you want a divorce

For between $10 and $50, your unpleasant message is delivered with, uh, style … by someone who is … not you …

Via video and/or phone call.

Many people do obsess over how to broach the subject of divorce with their spouse.

For some of them, this may be an option to consider. Or not …

Read more in this [Northern] Kentucky Post article: Website offers break-up services.

Husband recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and his unsecured debts (such as credit card debts) were discharged (canceled).

Now Husband and Wife are unable to pay their mortgage.

Husband and Wife apply for a mortgage modification.

Their Bank puts them on a trial loan modification reduced payment schedule while it reviews their loan application.

Husband fears that, if their application is denied, they will have accumulated a significant delinquency on their mortgage.

Can Husband file bankruptcy again, this time for a repayment plan rather than to discharge his debts?

According to a bankruptcy advisor, if the loan modification is denied, Husband can indeed file for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and thereby reduce his and Wife’s monthly payments on their mortgage delinquency.

And Wife doesn’t have to file bankruptcy along with Husband to accomplish it.

This is an increasingly common strategy among the many people in need of mortgage modifications.

Including those going through a divorce, or planning to divorce.

Read more in this Bankrate.com column: Second bankruptcy may spare home, spouse.

Husband and Wife’s four year old Child is in foster care, placed with Wife’s ex-boss.

Husband and Wife are now seeking custody of Child.

Child is in foster care because Wife pleaded guilty to statutory rape.

Because Wife became pregant with Child when she was in her thirties … and Husband was fifteen years old.

And that is when Husband and Wife married, despite the twenty-two year difference between their ages, and Husband being a child under the law.

(The marriage was allowed under Georgia law – at that time – due to Wife’s pregnancy. The law has since changed, reportedly.)

Husband and Wife’s efforts to gain custody of Child are denied. But Husband is awarded greater timesharing with Child.

Read more in this UPI article: Judge nixes custody request of teen, wife.

Roughly half of all marriages fail. That’s the good news.

Roughly two thirds of second marriages fail. That’s the bad news.

And that is part of the reason that marriage is on the decline, and cohabitation is gaining wider and wider popularity.

So much so that thirty-nine percent of Americans surveyed believe marriage is becoming obsolete.

The odds of second marriages succeeding rise where the partners have learned from their unsuccessful first marriages and try to do better the second time around.

Interestingly though, the couples more likely to give marriage another shot tend to be better educated and more privileged.

Cohabitation may work OK for partners without children, but children are more likely to thrive in households where the partners are married rather than cohabiting.

Read more in this New York Times series: Room for Debate: Why Remarry?.

Right after parents split up, before any court orders are entered regarding custody and visitation, one or both parents often experience anxiety over the possibility of the other parent’s early or unapproved pickup of their child from school.

Unless and until a court orders otherwise, as a natural guardian of their child, the other parent has rights too.

Sometimes, in certain circumstances, to a parent, it may feel as though “that’s bad enough” but …

Son is a high school student in Delaware.

Suspect goes to Son’s school to pick Son up early.

School district policy prohibits anyone except a parent or legal guardian (or a third person with written authorization from a parent or legal guardian) from “signing” a student out of school early.

But Suspect is able to do so just the same. A so-called “mix-up”.

Son is returned the same day, but warrants are issued for Suspect’s arrest.

It is unclear whether Son knew Suspect or had any relationship to him.

Read more in this Milford [DE] Beacon news article: Milford police search for man who signed out high school boy without parental consent.

Wedding approaching?

• Anticipating an inheritance?

• Active in a family owned business?

• Have children from a previous marriage you want to provide for?

• Accumulated premarital property?

These are just a few of the circumstances in which a prenuptial agreement, or prenup, should be considered.

Without a prenup, what happens in the event of a divorce, or one spouse’s death, can be uncertain or simply not what the spouses intended.

With a prenuptial agreement, intended spouses can reduce uncertainty and exert control over issues like property division and alimony in the event of a divorce, and inheritance in the event of a spouse’s death.

They may not be romantic, but prenups permit post-divorce (or post-death) financial affairs to be settled more rapidly, less expensively and more predictably.

Read more in this Local Tech Wire release: Premarital agreements – Hoping for the best, planning for the worst.

German Husband and Wife have a Dog, which they adopted together during their marriage.

Husband and Wife legally separate.

Husband and Wife agree that Dog will live with Husband.

Wife, however, wants to visit Dog twice a week.

Husband opposes that.

A German appellate court takes Husband’s side, ruling that legally separated or divorcing spouses have no rights to visitation or timesharing with pets of the marriage.

The German ruling is consistent with the law regarding visitation with pets prevailing in the United States.

Read more in this Expatica article: A separated spouse has no right to see pets: German court.

Controlling behavior in a relationship, such as monitoring a partner’s calls and text messages, or trying to influence what clothing he or she wears, might indicate a pattern of behavior culminating in abuse and violence.

So concludes a doctoral student in psychology and a team of psychologists conducting a study at the University of Arizona.

The coercive need for control is what gives rise to abusive behavior, not anger. Without regard to gender.

And violence is not a reflection of loss of control, but a means to achieve control, through fear.

The study also finds that men and women engage in similar coercive behaviors and abusive tactics.

One key conclusion of the study is that anger management training, widely ordered in criminal domestic violence cases and sometimes in restraining order cases, doesn’t really address the real problem.

Abuse, as defined by the study, includes psychological abuse, sexual assault, intimidation, coercion, physical abuse, threats and more aggressive physical violence.

Read more in this University of Arizona News article: Coercive Habits Lead to Intimate Partner Abuse.

Father lives in South Korea.

Father has four children in South Korea.

Father dies … leaving behind a multi-million dollar estate.

Four people in North Korea believe that they are Father’s children as well, from a previous marriage when Father lived in North Korea.

The North Koreans file a paternity lawsuit in South Korea against Father in order to assert a claim directly against Father’s estate and/or indirectly against Father’s beneficiaries in South Korea.

DNA tests confirm that the four North Koreans are indeed Father’s biological children.

This litigation is reported to be the of its kind in South Korea.

The disposition of the case is anticipated to be followed closely by North Koreans and South Koreans.

Read more in this Korean Chosun Ilbo news article: N.Koreans Win Paternity Suit in Inheritance Battle with S.Korean Siblings and this Korea Joongang Daily article: Children in North win paternity suit in South.

Mother allegedly abuses drugs.

Mother has been investigated by the state’s child welfare agency on at least six occasions. Previous allegations against Mother include taking drugs in front of her children.

Mother allegedly was on so many drugs while she was pregnant recently that her speech was slurred and was unable to walk down stairs.

Mother’s ten day old Baby dies … in a running washing machine.

Mother’s other children have been removed from Mother’s care and placed with relatives.

Ohio law was recently amended … to reduce the number of cases where children are removed from a parent’s care. Last year, Ohio removed more children from a parent’s home than all other states but one.

Under the new law there, a child must face an “imminent safety threat” rather than a mere “risk of danger” to justify removal. And a parent’s drug addiction, by itself, is not deemed to constitute an imminent safety threat.

Read more in this Tulsa World article: DHS laws for child removal defended.

Wife marries.

And Wife marries again, this time to a friend of her first husband.

First husband regrets that Wife won’t give him a divorce.

That’s how second husband learns that Wife and first husband were never divorced.

By this time though, Wife has married third husband.

Wife and second husband were never divorced either.

It seems Wife couldn’t afford to obtain divorces.

So she allegedly just married new husbands without divorces from the old husbands.

Wife is arrested on two counts of bigamy.

Third husband wants to take care of Wife’s first two divorces, so that he can legalize his marriage to Wife.

On the bright side, Wife’s divorces may qualify for a volume discount.

Read more in this Shreveport [LA] KTBS ABC TV article: Oops, She Did It Again — And Again.

Husband and Wife live in New York. They married in the US.

But they come from France. And it just so happens that they entered a prenuptial agreement (prenup) on an occasion when they were in France.

It was Wife, or rather her family who pushed for the prenup.

Flash forward thirteen years.

It turns out Husband has done pretty well over the intervening years.

Now Husband and Wife are divorcing, in New York.

Wife argues that the New York law should control their divorce. And the prenuptial agreement they signed in France should be ignored.

If so, the couple’s assets would likely be divided equally.

Husband, on the other hand, argues that the prenup should be enforced. And French law should govern their divorce.

If so, each spouse would keep the assets held in their respective names.

Of course, a third alternative may be the most likely outcome: the prenup is upheld and New York law applies to it.

Read more in this UPI article: Over the years, though, Husband has done pretty well and this Business Insider article: Sarkozy’s Banker Brother Got Rich And Now His Wife Wants Their Pre-Nup Voided.

Property division can be complicated.

Staying in the family home often appeals to the parent with primary timesharing.

In many cases, to achieve an even split of the total marital assets, this means that all the other assets are allocated to the other spouse.

What may appear to be a fair, even split on paper sometimes isn’t so even over the long haul.

Pensions and financial accounts do not require maintenance and typically will appreciate over time.

Real estate may well appreciate too over time but it also demands sometimes significant maintenance and upkeep expenses as well as routine mortgage service, property taxes and insurance.

Financially less sophisticated spouses often don’t fully appreciate how these costs and expenses can mount.

Before long, they may be forced to sell the home anyway. At a price the market will bear. If they can. The outcome is not always positive, especially in economies such as the present one.

The emotional choice to stay in the home may be a poor decision for the financially weaker spouse … at least if they would have to buy out the other spouse’s interest at or about the time of the divorce.

Of course, the assessment may be different if both spouses will share ownership and expenses of the home until their youngest child is emancipated, and then split the proceeds upon sale.

Read more in this TheStreet article: Life’s Tragedies Take Toll on Finances.

Missouri Father has an adult pregnant Daughter.

Father also has a teenaged Son who, apparently, joined the family from foster care.

Son suffers from mental illness and, at times, allegedly is very aggressive.

Son presently lives in a group home equipped to provide appropriate services to meet Son’s special needs.

This arrangement is likely court-ordered through either a juvenile dependency case or a juvenile delinquency case or related cases of both types, as a result of Son’s alleged prior assault on Father.

Son is released to Father for the Thanksgiving holiday. Father and Son go to Daughter’s home for the holiday.

Over the visit, Son reportedly becomes enraged and allegedly assaults Daughter.

Upon arrival of other family members, who assist in restraining Son, Father calls Son’s Therapist.

Therapist advises Father to call the police.

Father calls the police.

The police arrive …

And ask Son whether Son wants to leave for a psychiatric facility.

Son indicates that he does not.

The police advise Father that they cannot take Son to a psychiatric facility against his will.

Father then requests, as an alternative, that they arrest Son and take him to juvenile detention.

The police advise Father that they cannot arrest Son because he is a minor.

One of the officers on the scene is a supervisor.

The officers suggest that Father take Son home with him, away from Daughter.

Father arranges for a family member to return Son to his group home.

Read more in this Kansas City [MO] Examiner article: KCPD refuse to remove homicidal teen from the home.

This particular family lives in Missouri.

But there are similar families facing similar challenges throughout Florida.

Depending upon Son’s precise conduct and history, Florida law provides at least two different mechanisms for immediate intervention in crises such as this:

• Baker Act-ing (seventy-two hour commitment for psychological evaluation) and

• Arrest on domestic battery by a juvenile

In Florida, law enforcement officers should be familiar with both processes and, in appropriate cases, should be prepared to assist a parent with whichever measure is most appropriate in the case at hand.

In the event that law enforcement officers will not intercede in the immediate family crisis or in the event that family assistance is needed beyond the immediate crisis, a family law attorney with additional experience in juvenile law and, ideally, further experience in mental health law and/or substance abuse law, should be consulted as soon as possible.

Ohio Mother has ten month old Baby.

Mother is apparently unhappy with her child support.

While at her home with Baby, Mother telephones the child support enforcement agency and, angry over the response, allegedly makes a verbal threat to go to their office and murder her child support case worker, social workers and the magistrate presiding over her child support case.

A different person, who had previously threatened violence in connection with his unrelated child support case, recently made good on his threats, killing a woman and then taking his own life.

So the agency takes Mother’s threat seriously and contacts law enforcement.

Police go to Mother’s home to arrest her.

Once at the scene, the officers note that Mother’s home has considerable illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia, weapons, and alcohol on the premises, but little baby formula. The home also has the odor of recently smoked marijuana.

Mother is charged with three counts of aggravated menacing, child endangerment and drug possession, and jailed. With bail set at $1 million.

Baby is placed in the care of his grandmother.

The recent murder and the fact that the telephoned verbal threats were made against agents of the courts may have played a role in what may not be typical handling of similar cases.

Read more in this [Charleston, WV] State Journal article: Woman Allegedly Threatens to Kill Social Workers, Magistrate Over Child Support Arrangements.

Some Indians claim to know the key to a successful, enduring marriage and diminished divorce rates: separate bedrooms for husbands and wives.

They believe that husbands and wives need their own spaces, literally and figuratively.

Especially closets and bathrooms.

But, ideally, a whole separate bedroom.

Particularly as the couple ages.

The separate living spaces don’t have to be distant though.

Adjacent bedrooms with a connecting door reportedly can work fine.

Proponents of separate bedrooms to strengthen marriages draw support from the cliche: absence makes the heart grow fonder.

And their premise has been imported into the US.

According to a recent survey of US home builders, sixty percent of custom-built homes in the US will have two master bedrooms by the year 2015.

Read more in this Times of India article: Living apart together

Wife leaves her husband in Georgia.

Wife moves in with her Boyfriend. Twelve years later, Wife and her Boyfriend move to Florida.

Wife, wanting an official divorce from her husband, applies to the legislature to grant her one. The Florida legislature grants Wife a divorce.

Wife then marries her Boyfriend. Years later, Boyfriend dies.

Boyfriend’s will leaves Wife an inheritance … an unsatisfactory inheritance.

Wife elects to reject her inheritance under Boyfriend’s will and to instead take a statutory inheritance, called dower: one-third of Husband’s lands and one-half of his property. Electing dower is irreversible and gives up any claim under a will.

Boyfriend’s Executor rejects Wife’s dower election, on the ground that Wife and Boyfriend were never legally married.

The dispute escalates to the Florida Supreme Court. Which agrees with Executor that Wife and Boyfriend were never legally married. Wife’s divorce from her first husband violates due process because he had no notice or opportunity to appear to assert his interests.

And because Wife’s first marriage was not legally terminated, Boyfriend’s and Wife’s marriage was never valid. Therefore, Wife has no legal right to dower.

Ironically, if Wife had not elected dower, she would have been entitled to keep her inheritance under Boyfriend’s will.

Although dower is no longer around, it has been succeeded by a similar legal mechanism for rejecting an unsatisfactory inheritance under a will and instead electing to take a larger statutory share.

Read more in this Tampa Tribune article: Divorce court files hold intriguing stories.

Lenders bankrolling court cases and keeping litigants afloat until final judgment – and collection – are nothing new really. In civil court.

But in divorce court and family court, they’re breaking new ground. Although they make perfect sense and there’s a huge need.

Millions of dollars in assets and / or revenues in businesses controlled by one spouse all too often allegedly disappear or shrink as soon as one of the couple wants a divorce.

Garnering the proof to support a truly equitable distribution of marital property can require considerable expertise and time from attorneys, accountants and investigators. And that costs money.

Money that one of the couple often does not have access to when needed. Enter private funding of contentious, high-stakes divorce cases for profit.

It’s a high risk business, but the rewards can be high too. Many charge a contingency fee (a percentage of the recovery) rather than interest.

Read more in this New York Times article: Taking Sides in a Divorce, Chasing Profit.

Scottish Husband and Wife have been married for about fifteen years. They have three Children together.

Husband and Wife have been separated for about two years.

Husband owns an oil company, and has been paying Wife a previously agreed upon amount of support.

Until Husband unilaterally cuts back on his payment, without notice to Wife, while he is away on business in the middle east.

Frustrated, Wife drives to Husband’s company’s business location, obstructs the entrance, and, wielding a loudspeaker, carries on a protest, with the intention of obtaining additional funds from Husband’s accountant.

Wife intends to repeat her protest until she get satisfaction.

Husband was fined by law enforcement authorities earlier in the year for e-mailing Wife abusive messages.

Read more in this Aberdeen [Scotland] Press and Journal article: Divorce wife ‘driven’ to protest at company.

Mother and Canadian Father have pre-school Daughter together.

Mother and Father separate.

Father is awarded primary custody of Daughter.

Mother allegedly abducts Daughter two years ago, to China.

China is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Father seeks assistance from the Canadian police. Eventually, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Interpol and the Missing Children Society of Canada become involved.

And now, two years later, Daughter is back in Canada as a result of lengthy diplomatic negotiations.

Daughter is now of school age.

Mother will be appearing before a judge to answer for her actions.

Read more in this Calgary [Canada] Herald article: Girl, dad reunite 2 years after mom took her to China and this Morningstar MarketWire article: Missing Children Society of Canada: Calgary Girl Reunited With Father, Ending 2 Year Abduction Ordeal.

In Louisiana, letters are sent to parents who are behind on their child support obligations … inviting them to come down and collect their economic stimulus money.

But when the deadbeat parents show up, there is no stimulus money. And law enforcement authorities handcuff them, confiscate their car keys and lock them up.

And vow to keep them in jail until their debts are paid off.

Of course, as word gets out, this strategy may not be so effective anymore.

Read more in this New Orleans WVUE Fox 8 TV article: Dads who neglected child support are arrested.

Mother and Father have twenty-one month old Baby together.

Mother and Father break up.

Baby lives with Mother.

Mother and Father are competing for custody of Baby.

Suspect breaks into Mother’s parents home and kills Mother’s parents and one of Mother’s brothers.

Mother manages to hide and then escape.

Suspect claims Father hired him to murder Mother so that Father could win custody of Baby.

Father is arrested and confined without bail until trial.

Family court judge orders that Father and his family have no contact with Baby.

Father now seeks to modify that order to allow visitation and timesharing with Baby for himself and for his family.

Mother’s family oppose Father’s family having timesharing and visitation with Baby.

Father does not appear to have been present at the scene of the murders.

The family court will hold a hearing on Father’s request for visitation and timesharing.

Read more in this Chicago Tribune article: Grandparents of Darien slaying suspect seek access to baby