One of the dilemmas faced by many victims of domestic violence is that they depend upon child support and / or alimony and spousal support from their abusers to get by.

That financial dependence, as well as fear, inhibits them from reporting the domestic violence perpetrated against them to law enforcement authorities … and sometimes even inhibits them from seeking domestic violence injunctions and restraining orders of protection.

On the other side of the spectrum, confinement may be imposed to soothe a victim even when bail or release might be entertained without appreciable risk to the community.

Grasping the opposing tensions at work in the context of domestic violence, Maine is testing a potential solution: electronic monitoring anklets / bracelets on those accused of domestic violence, whether in lieu of bail or, next, on parole.

This puts teeth into a no contact order of injunction for protection against domestic violence. Inexpensively. Efficiently. Effectively.

Currently implemented only in cases where there is deemed to be “just” a moderately high risk of recurrence of domestic violence. (If too high, confinement is preferable. If too low, it seems like overkill.)

This would seem to be a win, win, win for all concerned. Hopefully, other states are watching…

Read more in this [Portland, ME] WGME CBS TV 13 news article:I-Team Investigates: Electronic monitoring of domestic abusers used sparingly, but growing .

Nonpaying exes aren’t the only child support concern a custodial parent may have to face these days.

In the UK, a child support agency staffer, a single parent of a child of her own, allegedly took, advantage of her position to divert UK 150,000 pounds from the agency to a private account of her own via electronic transfer.

Presumably, the so-called agency funds were really, in effect, misappropriated from the other single parents counting on them, on whose behalf they were collected.

The accused embezzler reportedly did not face any special or unusual financial crisis motivating her actions. On the contrary, it appears that most of the funds usurped were applied to trivial, incidental expenses.

For which she will now be separated from her son for nearly two years while she is imprisoned for her confessed crime.

The electronic audit trail was apparently clearly “visible” for those with access to the child support agency’s processing system. One can only wonder what this mother was thinking.

It is not reported who will look after her son while she is confined…

The embezzlement is not without precedent.

Such occurrences, however rare, don’t encourage parents with child support obligations to live up to them.

Read more in

• this [Fife, Scotland] Fife Today news article: Miracle mum jailed after £150k child support scam
• this [Scotland] STV news article: Child Support Agency worker stole £150,000 from employer
• this Scottish Sun news article: ‘FRITTERED IT AWAY’ Mum who embezzled £150,000 from child support agency where she worked in Fife splashed cash on holidays and a car

Nebraska processes over 100,000 child support cases each year.

With a staff of 100 people.

So far this year, they’ve collected $217 million for recipient parents.

But about 30% of parents obligated to make child support payments through Nebraska are behind … or not paying at all.

That’s in Nebraska. Where they agree the problem is not as severe as in other states.

As mentioned in the article, some obligated parents just go off the grid completely. Making it all but impossible to even find them, let alone collect from them.

For those who aren’t off the grid, their income, their accounts at financial institutions and their tax refunds are all available to pay off their child support arrears.

And their driver’s licenses as well as professional licenses are at risk of suspension.

Read more in this [Lincoln, NE] 1011 News article: DHHS: Nearly 30% of parents aren’t up to date with child support payments.

Canadian Husband and Wife have been married for several years.

They have an eighteen month old Child together.

Wife reportedly has a history of mental health issues.

Husband and Wife separate, with Wife and Child leaving the marital residence.

Several months later, Wife has some sort of “medical episode”.

Paramedics are summoned to her home by unknown means.

Child is nonresponsive and does not survive.

Wife is revived.

Wife is ultimately arrested and charged with the murder of Child.

Later, in family court, Wife requests alimony, or spousal support, and a share of the marital home she abandoned.

Husband asks the divorce court to dismiss Wife’s claim for alimony and the property claim because of Wife’s alleged murder of Child.

The family court denies Husband’s motion to dismiss Wife’s claims, citing insufficient evidence before it to show that Wife murdered Child.

The divorce court’s ruling does not mean that the Court will ultimately grant Wife’s requests for alimony and property. It just means that the Court will not reject Wife’s claims out of hand at this time.

Read more in this Vancouver (Canada) Times Colonist article: Victoria mom charged with murder of toddler is granted spousal-support hearing

Quite possibly. Almost without regard to the source and nature of your marital discord.

So what exactly is a postnuptial agreement? One way to wrap your head around a postnuptial agreement is to think of it like a prenuptial agreement – entered after the wedding.

Days, months or years after the fact. It really doesn’t matter.

Why would a couple make a postnup?

Actually, for lots of potential reasons.

Sometimes, they simply allowed their window of opportunity to enter a prenuptial agreement to close.

Sometimes there is marital discord. Sometimes, not so much.

Sometimes, they never thought about making a prenuptial agreement, but, events looming on the horizon, or changed / changing or newly discovered circumstances raise questions or concerns about:

What If One of Us …. Dies? Or Cheats? Or Moves Out? Or Wants a Divorce ? Etc. Etc.

The marriage isn’t necessarily over, or even doomed. But – there is a change.

A postnuptial agreement can be a means to work things through / out, address a concern, settle a potential dispute – maybe before it even erupts. That is the ideal a postnup has to offer.

If circumstances are a little rougher, a postnuptial agreement can be a stopgap / temporary legal arrangement either during a trial separation or even after a divorce is filed but while it is ongoing.

(In the latter situations, the postnup may be called a separation agreement or a property settlement agreement. In essence, a rose by another name.)

If the marriage proves to be beyond repair, that same postnuptial agreement may serve as a marital settlement agreement, the document that produces an amicable resolution and avoids trial in Florida divorces.

(That’s assuming that the postnuptial agreement is comprehensive or broad enough. Even if it’s not, it may still avoid trial on some of the issues in the divorce.)

So a postnuptial agreement is potentially pretty powerful … and can save a lot of money, aggravation and stress if done before the relationship deteriorates too much.

Read more in

• this Bloomberg Quint article: Why More Couples Are Signing Postnuptial Agreements
• this the Spruce article: Postnuptial Agreements: Are postnups a trend to get a marriage on track? and
• this Huffington Post article: Why a Post-Nuptial Agreement Can Save Your Marriage

Husband and Wife have three Children.

They have been married for twelve years.

Now they have decided together to get a divorce.

So that one of them can marry … their shared Girlfriend.

They haven’t yet decided which one of them will marry their Girlfriend.

In the end, it may not really matter.

They are a “threesome”.

They apparently share everything, including Husband’s and Wife’s Children.

Children apparently understand that they have acquired a bonus parent.

Husband and Wife actually want to extend parental rights to the Children to Girlfriend.

And New York is a state which appears ready to go along with that.

Read more in this New York Post article: Couple wants to divorce each other to marry live-in girlfriend .

Italian Husband and Wife are married for years.

They have two children together.

The last several years have been – trying.

In 2007, Wife reportedly begins exhibiting unusual, “inexplicable” behavior, in the presence of witnesses.

Levitating. Fits. Overturning a church pew and then hurling it towards the altar.

For all of the above reasons, Husband seeks a divorce, claiming that Wife is … “possessed by the devil”.

Husband doesn’t suggest that Wife is blameworthy for this though. Rather, just spooky, one may infer.

His claim snags Husband a no-fault divorce in Italy.

One can only hope that it wins Wife an examination by an epilepsy neurologist or psychiatrist.

Read more in this UK Daily Mail article: Italian man is granted a divorce by claiming his wife is ‘possessed by the devil’ after witnesses said they’d seen her LEVITATE

Young Children are in care of Oklahoma City Grandmother.

Grandmother dresses up in a witch’s costume. Not to entertain Children.

But in an apparent punishment ritual.

Child pleads for Grandmother to “stop”, promising to behave better.

Grandmother allegedly burns Children, cuts them, whips them,withholds food from them, grabs them with pliers, and engages in other abusive acts.

Some of them captured on video taken by unknown parties.

Grandmother is charged with and convicted of felony child abuse.

Grandmother is sentenced to three life terms in prison.

A Man who also reportedly lives in the home with Grandmother and Children is also arrested and convicted of felony child abuse.

Man is sentenced to life in prison.

It is not stated how Children came to be in Grandmother’s care or whether they were taken into child protective custody.

Read more in

1. this Tribune Media Wire Service video: Video Shows Grandmother Dressed as a Witch While Abusing Child and
2. this KFOR News Channel 4 article: Video shows Oklahoma City grandmother dressed as a witch while abusing grandchild