Marital Settlement of Former City Manager Includes Splitting Profits with Wife from Selling Story of His Life with Sex Change

Man marries woman. Couple has child.

Man becomes city manager of a Florida town.

Man has sex change operation.

Man-turned-woman gets discharged from city manager job.

Couple begins divorce.

Couple reaches agreement under which former husband pays former wife alimony and child support.

In an unusual property division provision of the marital settlement agreement, former wife will be entitled to one-half of any monies former husband receives from selling his / her story to the media in the form of a book or movie.

Read more in this Tampa Tribune article: Transgendered Ex-Largo Manager Gets Divorce Terms

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Technology Threatens “Traditional” Affairs

Although they remain one of the most common reasons for breakups of relationships, affairs may just be going out of style.

Not so much because people no longer want to have them. But more because they are getting harder and harder to carry on in secret, at least for any length of time.

Imagine, a Nintendo Wii toy that saves player profiles and information about “games”. That is how a homecoming soldier learned of his wife’s affair with another player.

Between gadgets like Nintendo Wii, computers, smart phones, spy software, e-mails, text messages and social networking websites, who isn’t in over their head, playing with fire?

Most of us have little idea how to control or conceal the information left behind – if we even realize the information is being saved.

But it’s easy to stumble upon. And even when it isn’t, there are experts who can find it for a price.

This can end up spoiling a primary relationship, leading to divorce, potentially affecting rulings in a divorce and generally wreaking havoc with a person’s life.

On the other hand, a technological problem usually inspires a technological solution. Undoubtedly, such solutions will come to market (or “black market”), if they haven’t already.

So, for better or worse, it may be just a trifle premature to sound the death knell of the affair.

Read more in this Irish Evening Herald article: Technological end to the affair.

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It’s Not Your Mother’s Prenup

They used to be primarily about how property would be divided in the event of divorce – or death of a spouse.

And perhaps alimony and attorney’s fees in the event of a divorce.

In the old days.

Modern prenups have gotten more expansive … and creative.

He wants guarantees about how frequently they will have sex.

They each want promises that the other will maintain – or lose – weight.

He wants a guarantee she will get pregnant – within a certain number of years, months, days, etc.

She wants a “no smoking pledge”.

And on and on.

Social promises, for a social contract.

Morally binding perhaps. Not legally enforceable.

The sole remedy: take it – or leave it (also known as divorce).

But such provisions are more and more common. Kind of like personalized wedding vows.

One newer promise finding its way into prenups is in the more traditional vein, but updated and enforceable.

A promise to pay or provide health insurance to the other spouse.

This makes perfect sense in times where people are often driven to marriage to obtain affordable health insurance coverage.

Read more in this US News & World Report article: Prenuptial Agreements to Lose Weight, Have Sex.

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Mistakes Men – And Women – Make in Divorce – and Usually Regret, Later

An attorney who concentrates on representing only men offers the following mistakes that men make in divorce. Truth is, women can and do make the same mistakes.

They are not (generally) legal mistakes per se, but rather tactical mistakes that both men and women usually come to regret – in time.

  1. Responding to an impending divorce with anger
  2. Serving your spouse with divorce papers in embarrassing places
  3. Arguing about who gets what
  4. Becoming passive
  5. Using a difficult attorney
  6. Rubbing salt in the wound
  7. Using verbal abuse
  8. Allowing your spouse to convince you not to hire an attorney
  9. Thinking romance first, divorce second
  10. Using your children as pawns

Read more in this Askmen.com article: Top 10: Mistakes Men Make In Divorce.

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Global Positioning Devices Find New Use as Domestic Abusers’ Detection Alert System

Abuse victims can obtain orders of protection, called injunctions for protection against domestic violence in Florida.

The purpose of these orders is to deter further violence. And to facilitate a swift and appropriate remedy for any violations of the order.

Now Illinois has taken an additional step. Under a new law, violators of orders of protection must wear global positioning devices (GPSs) as a condition of parole and judges may order accused violators to wear them as a condition of bail.

The devices will keep authorities and victims apprised of enjoined aggressors’ whereabouts – and, hopefully, one step ahead of aggressors, if necessary. It is hoped that the technology will ease victims’ minds, facilitate assessment of threats and act as an early warning signal of true danger.

Illinois follows in Massachusetts footsteps with this legislation. Presumably, other states will follow suit in time.

Read more in this Chicago Sun-Times article: New law allows judges to order GPS on violators of order of protection

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Multi-Millionaire Winner in Divorce Court Challenges Her Legal Fees – Unsuccessfully

A Canadian Wife recently challenged her divorce attorney’s invoice in Canadian court.

That’s a pretty extraordinary thing to do. And, not surprisingly, she wasn’t successful in it.

After a thorough review of the record, which took more than 10 days, the British Columbia Court of Appeal found the attorney’s invoice was reasonable under all of the circumstances of the case.

The divorce was between a wealthy couple who had accumulated an approximately $12 million fortune over approximately 42 years of marriage.

The couple were pretty litigious and chose to litigate just about any issue that could be litigated – both at trial and all the way through appeal.

Family businesses, real estate, art, jewelry, inheritance, airline points, etc., you name it, they litigated it.

This couple was in court for nearly a month of days, spread out over a three and a half month period.

The Wife was awarded well over half (64%, to be precise) of the family’s remaining fortune, approximately $6 million.

The Wife chose a commercial litigator as her lead counsel, rather than a divorce lawyer. As a result, a divorce lawyer had to be consulted as well.

All told, the case took about 2,500 lawyer-hours of effort on behalf of the Wife.

The total fees and costs billed to the Wife: over $1 million.

Read more in this Toronto Globe and Mail article: B.C. court upholds $1-million legal bill for complex divorce.

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Husband Kidnaps and Tortures Wife Intending to Avoid Property Division and Alimony

California Husband wanted a divorce. A special kind of divorce.

Outside the courts …

He did not want to divide the marital assets with Wife. Or to pay her alimony.

He wanted everything for himself. But he had put everything in Wife’s name.

Husband’s solution to his dilemma?

He abducted Wife, drugged her and tortured her for five days.

Until she managed to escape.

At which point he was arrested and charged with kidnapping and kidnapping for ransom, grand theft of personal property, making a criminal threat and corporal injury to a spouse.

The Husband’s accomplice has not been taken into custody yet.

Now Husband is in jail with his bail set at $10 million …

Read more in this [LA] Daily Breeze article: Hawthorne man accused of torturing his wife; second suspect remains at large.

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Father Confesses to Murdering His Children After Maryland Court Awards Unsupervised Visitation Despite Psychiatric Diagnoses and Threats

Maryland Husband is charged with murdering his three children, ranging in ages from 2 to 6.

For five months, Husband, who confessed to the murders, has tried to change his defense counsel’s plea to guilty, and now has requested to represent himself.

Before the court rules on his request to represent himself, a competency evaluation will be performed. A psychiatric evaluation for purposes of an insanity plea was never completed.

But a different psychiatric evaluation was completed for purposes of Husband’s divorce and child custody case.

The psychological expert in family court diagnosed Husband with “mood and narcissistic personality disorders and borderline and histrionic personality traits.” All very serious and difficult to treat diagnoses.

The Husband allegedly had made threats to murder his children – because Wife had reported them to the police.

Nonetheless, the Maryland family court had awarded Husband unsupervised visitation.

And, had the Wife not complied with the Court’s visitation order, she might have been held in contempt. Or the court might even have found her guilty of trying to alienate the children from the Husband – and transferred primary residential custody to the Husband as her punishment.

But the Wife complied with the Court’s order. And now the children are dead. And the Husband admits that he is responsible.

Read more in this Baltimore Sun article: Father seeks to plead guilty to killing children.

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OH: Statutory Rape Child-Victim Ordered to Pay Child Support to His Rapist, While His Parents Seek Custody of Baby

Nineteen year old woman (Mother) and a fifteen year old boy (Boy) have sex, and a Baby is conceived.

The Mother is under a grand jury indictment for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, which could lead to incarceration for a year and one-half as well as having to register as a sex offender.

Mother got acquainted with Boy and moved in with the Boy’s family after complaining of abuse by her stepfather.

Mother’s stepfather was allegedly convicted of domestic violence against Mother’s minor sister, specifically, striking, choking and pointing a gun at her.

For now, Mother and Baby are living with the Mother’s family, including the stepfather.

The Boy’s parents are seeking to obtain custody of the Baby due to the asserted unfitness of Mother and reported abusiveness of Mother’s stepfather.

In the meantime, an Ohio Family Court has ordered the Boy-victim to pay Mother $50 per month in child support.

It is unknown whether the amount of child support was based on an afterschool job or on the Boy’s allowance from his parents.

The Boy was also awarded seven hours per week of visitation with the Baby.

Read more in this Columbus Dispatch article: Boy’s Parents Sue to Get His Baby From Mom, 21.

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A Modern Fault: Financial Infidelity

A spouse wants to be able to spend money without having to account to or justify the expenditure to the other spouse.

How to accomplish it?

Either hidden savings or hidden credit cards.

According to surveys, anywhere from 40% to over 80% of couples have money secrets from each other or lie to each other about spending and/or credit.

According to financial counselors, concealing these financial misdeeds can place a strain on the offender and the marriage.

Sometimes it even drives a spouse to drinking or drugs.

“Financial infidelity” is most often discovered by accident.

According to a survey, 9% of couples felt this misconduct was “grounds” for divorce and 55% agreed it was a “major violation” of the marriage contract.

But in a no-fault state such as Florida, none of that really matters. What does matter is how that misconduct may end up haunting the unwitting spouse.

Some spouses may want to act to take steps to protect themselves from the other spouse’s debt, whether it is debt run up on a joint credit account on which a creditor may collect from either spouse, or marital debt that may have to be answered for in family court.

The easy ounce of prevention: frequent credit reports on the other spouse.

Read more in this CreditCards.com article: Hiding credit card debt – Secret credit cards and hidden debt exact high toll on couples.

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