Separated, unmarried Russian couple owe debts.

Couple has, among other children, a one and one-half year old Son.

Couple has a history of “mistreating” their children.

Father needs to travel to obtain funds to help pay off debts.

To secure performance of Father’s promise to pay, Father deposits with creditor as collateral … Son.

Authorities forcibly rescue Son.

Couple may face action to terminate their parental rights to Son.

Son will go into child protective custody.

Read more in this Russia Today article: Father hands his baby son over for debts.

Pennsylvania Mother has primary physical custody of her three children.

Mother moves to another county for employment.

Mother claims she did not know that she wasn’t at liberty to move.

Court orders Mother to move back to original county – and modifies physical custody to shared.

A retired Pennsylvania judge suggests that the only problem here was that Mother just moved, without first seeking permission of the Court. Which might not have been difficult to obtain.

Technically, this type of relocation may constitute a kidnapping under the custody order.

Mother reportedly racked up substantial legal fees as a result of her relocation.

With unemployment at its height for many years, many custodial parents may be tempted to relocate for a better job, or any job.

But it may be imprudent – and costly, in more ways than one – to simply move.

It is always prudent to ask the court’s permission before relocating, no matter how good a reason there is for the relocation.

Read more in this [Pittsburgh] WPXI TV news article: Poor Economy Affecting Child Custody Cases.

In Texas, a lot of parents evidently can’t understand their court-ordered visitation.

Actually, that’s not just true in Texas.

Floridians also find errors – and omissions – in their visitation orders all the time, as well as totally incomprehensible provisions.

A lot of it stems from use of uniform forms, whose primary virtue is, well, uniformity.

Unfortunately, they often lack clarity and comprehensiveness, while containing contradictions and ambiguity.

So what’s a parent to do, if they each interpret the darn thing differently?

The State of Texas is trying to rise to that occasion.

The state’s Attorney General’s office and the Access to Justice Foundation are jointly offering free monthly legal clinics to help parents figure out their visitation orders.

The State also offers a visitation phone hotline manned by attorneys. The hotline serves 1,500 callers per month.

Another strategy for addressing this problem might be to have better model forms for visitation orders.

Read more in this Liberty [TX] Vindicator article: New OAG Service Helps Parents Address Visitation Concerns.

Hard times are pushing many into mental illness, reports an article in the Buffalo [NY] News.

The article talks about widespread stressors these days, such as: recession, the mortgage crisis, foreclosures, layoffs, business closings, credit crunch, gas prices and inflation, Ponzi schemes, devalued retirement savings, and snow and cold (well, at least that one doesn’t apply here in South Florida).

Of one couple’s three adult children, two are laid off and one is unemployed.

Anxiety is commonplace and – some people are slipping over the edge. Sometimes with killing sprees and suicides.

Experts recommend reaching out to others, trying to avoid the barrage of gloom and doom from media and others, and staying focused and anchored in the here and now.

The article barely mentions family law matters. Just one casual reference to a “recently divorced” man who was racking up debt after losing his job and was saddled with an alimony obligation on top of that.

But all of these stressors on individuals also affect their families and exes.

At best, they can inspire more frequent and heated arguments and disharmony into the family. At worst, they can incite domestic violence, child abuse, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency and more.

Read more in Hard times are pushing many into mental illness.