Wisconsin Mother and Father are divorced for six years.

They have two children together.

Father is seeking a reduction in child support.

He is also seeking timesharing and visitation with his children, something he has neither had nor sought for six years.

The children have a guardian ad litem charged with looking out for them.

The children have trust funds for their benefit.

The funds were seized from Father, in satisfaction of a civil judgment in Mother’s favor.

Father was convicted of beating her nearly to death and then leaving her for dead.

Father is in prison for the attempted murder of Mother.

Father proposes that his parents bring the children to visit him there.

Father complains that he has no income in prison with which to pay child support.

But the seized monies are being applied to that purpose.

The state of Wisconsin advises the family court that it will prosecute additional charges of harassment against Father for pursuing timesharing and the reduction of his child support.

Read more in this Racine [WI] Journal Times article: His victims, his family: Man requests visitation, lower support payments for children whose mother he tried to kill.

International child abduction.

It’s in the news more and more … and on the rise.

There were one thousand, six hundred and fifty cases of children abducted from the US just last year.

Of those, two hundred and seventy were from California alone.

California is said to be home to many couples where each partner is from a different country.

Unfortunately, even among signatory nations, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is not always interpreted and applied similarly.

As a result, left behind parents can go months and years – and longer – without seeing their abducted children … regardless of what the Hague Convention says.

Read more in this KPIX CBS 5 TV news article: California Leads U.S. In Int’l Child Abductions.

New York, like Florida, does not recognize gay marriage or civil unions.

But what about annulments of them?

Gay couple (Couple) enter a civil union in Vermont.

Couple break up.

Couple file for annulment in New York state.

New York trial court dismisses the case on the ground that, since New York doesn’t recognize same sex marriages or the equivalent, its courts can’t address them.

Couple appeal.

An intermediate level appeals court reverses the trial court, holding that New York courts may annul out-of-state marriages or civil unions.

Read more in this Albany Chronicle news article: Court says NY has power to annul VT civil union.

Illinois Boyfriend and Girlfriend break up.

Boyfriend uses Facebook, the social networking website, to send Girlfriend a message containing a death threat if she persists in the breakup.

Boyfriend is arrested on the charge of electronic harassment by electronic communications.

The charge carries a sentence of up to three years’ incarceration.

Boyfriend is held for three months pending trial.

Boyfriend pleads guilty to the charge.

Boyfriend is sentenced to six months’ jail and thirty months of probation.

Boyfriend is also ordered to have no contact with Girlfriend and to undergo any counseling recommended by the probation department.

For that, Boyfriend is released for time served.

It is unclear whether the criminal court took into account that a member of Boyfriend’s family reportedly recently obtained a domestic violence restraining order of protection against him.

Read more in this Chicago Tribune article: Sentence of time served in Facebook dating threat.

In divorce cases, it can sometimes be surprisingly challenging … and expensive … to identify all of the assets (both marital property and separate, nonmarital property) the couple has.

How challenging?

Well, a Florida celebrity golfer has reportedly retained Florida attorneys for his divorce.

His Wife has also reportedly retained Florida attorneys for their divorce.

But, for the all-important task of identifying all of the couple’s substantial assets, Wife has reportedly resorted to hiring an attorney outside of Florida, who is particularly noted for his asset investigations.

In fact, that asset-tracking attorney is based in London.

And, it goes without saying, his fees are hefty.

That’s how challenging identifiying a couple’s assets (both marital property and separate, nonmarital property) can be.

Read more in this [UK] Digital Spy article: Tiger Woods’s wife hires top UK lawyer

A Canadian architect (Husband) living in the British Virgin Islands was in the process of divorcing his Wife of several years.

Husband’s divorce lawyer had reportedly told him that his divorce would be final on February 24th.

Based on that, Husband arranged to marry his pregnant Girlfriend on February 27th.

Problem is, the divorce was apparently running behind schedule.

Husband was still married to Wife when he married Girlfriend.

Rotten timing.

Husband is now charged with bigamy – and giving false information to a public servant.

Perhaps Husband should have checked in again with his divorce lawyer before taking his vows the second time around?

Read more in this Vancouver Sun article: B.C. man charged with bigamy in Caribbean.

New York may not recognize homosexual marriages or civil unions.

But New York’s highest court now recognizes a former homosexual partner’s standing to seek timesharing with a child born during the relationship.

New York surveyed the law developing in other states in carving out a narrow exception to the usual requirement of biological ties or legal adoption in order to assert custody or timesharing rights.

The legal standard to be applied will be whether it is in the child’s best interests.

New York’s Court of Appeals also now recognizes that a former homosexual partner may have an obligation to pay child support to the other parent of a child born during the relationship.

A court must determine that the paying spouse is a legal parent before it can order child support payments.

Read more in this [Boston] WBZ News Radio 1030 article: NY court backs lesbian’s right to seek visitation.

The kissing cousin of the prenuptial agreement is the cohabitation agreement.

Depending on the state where the cohabitants live, a cohabitation agreement may create rights or deny rights.

Regardless of the state, a cohabitation agreement may be made between:

1. romantic couples testing the waters prior to marriage
2. platonic couples living as roommates to share expenses and pool resources
3. gay couples in states where gays cannot legally marry or enter civil unions.

There are roughly 3.5 million cohabitants in the US.

Like prenups, a cohabitation agreement can address rights in the event of breakup or death of one party.

Unlike prenups, cohabitation agreements are governed by contract law, not family law.

It is prudent to draft them as pertaining to a business / monetary arrangement, rather than a thinly veiled prenup or postnup agreement.

Some tips:

1. be sure to cover the basics before plunging ahead to more complex matters
2. don’t contract for personal services, especially sexual services
3. each party should have their own attorney
4. disagreements should be required to be addressed in mediation before court

Read more in this Philadelphia Gay News article: Out Law: The pre-prenup.

Father is arrested for possession of illegal drugs.

Nebraska trial court orders Son taken into protective custody based on that and nothing more, concluding that Father might be tried, convicted and incarcerated.

But Father is not prosecuted.

Father appeals.

The appellate court reverses, holding that the state cannot remove a child from its parent’s custody just because the parent possesses an illegal drug, without demonstrating actual harm to the child.

The trial court ruled improperly based entirely on speculation.

Read more in this Nebraska TV ABC news article: Neb. court limits state’s power on child custody.

The threat has been repeated countless times.

“You won’t get one dime of alimony. I’ll file for bankruptcy first.” Husband.

Wife panics.

But neither alimony obligations nor child support obligations can be changed by a bankruptcy court from what family court ordered.

However, a bankruptcy attorney recommends filing a nondischargeability complaint in the bankruptcy case to ensure notice and protection of the receiving spouse’s interests.

And if there are arrearages in support, the spouse who is owed back-support is actually at the top of the heap of creditors. Back support obligations come off the top of the “bankruptcy estate” (what the bankrupt spouse has left).

Read more in this CreditCards.com advice column: Bankruptcy doesn’t absolve spousal support payments.