Some property acquired during a marriage is easier to split up than other property.

One recently separated couple is learning that now.

Wife has served as chief executive of a professional baseball team acquired during the long-term marriage.

Since the split, Husband has allegedly purported to fire Wife … and assert sole ownership of the team.

Wife, a non-practicing attorney, is reportedly not taking the termination lying down. Quite the contrary, she is rumored to be exploring a takeover.

Their state of residence, California, is a community property state though.

In general, that means that all property acquired by either during the marriage is split 50/50.

Absent a prenuptial agreement (prenup) or postnuptial agreement (postnup), however, that would suggest that both spouses, not just Husband, own the team.

Dividing a major league baseball team of living, breathing people is a bit different from dividing inanimate objects, which neither the objects nor third parties much care about.

In this dispute, there are many opinions being formed and some being expressed – publicly. Although, ultimately, the only opinion that will count is that of the presiding family court judge.

Read more in this Contra Costa [CA] Times article: Jamie McCourt faces uphill fight in court of public opinion and this Los Angeles Times article: Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt fires wife Jamie.

Four women and one man live in Mississippi House with as many as ten Children.

The House is filthy and blood-stained. The walls are covered by graffiti. Dirty clothes are in piles.

The landlord reacts, “I’ve never seen human beings live like this.” He has served eviction papers on the residents.

One of the Children, a four year old Boy, is now in the hospital, in critical condition. He has internal injuries, broken teeth and damaged gums.

The other nine Children have been taken into child protective custody by the local child welfare agency.

It does not appear that any of the adults living in the House are parents of the Boy. Authorities are looking for them.

The adult residents of the House have all been arrested on felony child abuse charges and are confined.

Read more in this Hattiesburg [MS] American article: 5 face child abuse charges.

Mother and Father separate.

Mother has primary timesharing with eight year old Daughter.

Mother is a hairstylist earning a modest income.

Mother had cancer as a child, but is healthy now.

Mother cannot afford health insurance for herself because it is priced based on her childhood preexisting condtion.

So Mother is unable to provide health insurance for Daughter.

(Father’s health insurance status and whether he pays any child support, medical or otherwise, is unknown.)

So …

Mother gives guardianship of Daughter to Grandparents, who have health insurance.

By virtue of their guardianship of Daughter, Grandparents are able to add Daughter on to their health insurance.

But Mother hates having to give up legal custody of Daughter to her parents … and worries about it … just a bit.

Read more in this Columbia Missourian article: One in 50 million: Ferguson transfers custody to get daughter health coverage.

Preface: In New York State, parents are generally legally responsible for supporting their children until the children are twenty-one years old.

New York State Son, who is under the age of twenty-one, has a full-time retail job.

Despite Son’s employment, Mother currently helps Son pay his bills out of her own earnings and a trust fund.

Mother seeks to be relieved of supporting Son, arguing that Son has emancipated himself by his full-time employment.

Child support obligations typically end when a child becomes emancipated.

An intermediate level appellate court in New York concludes that Son’s job does not constitute emancipation, because Son is not financially independent. Son relies upon additional support from Mother to get by.

Therefore, the New York court holds that Mother cannot terminate her obligation to support Son before he is twenty-one.

Note: In Florida, parents are generally legally responsible for supporting their children only until the children are eighteen years old.

Read more in this West Palm Beach Examiner article: Court says parents in New York cannot contract away obligation to support children until age 21

“Panic rooms”, rooms intended to be secure, even impregnable, were conceived to offer protection to homeowners in the event of a break-in by potentially violent intruders.

The doors to the rooms are extra thick and strong, and can’t be kicked down.

In a county in Wales, UK, homes of high-risk victims of domestic violence are now being equipped with panic rooms, re-dubbed “sanctuary rooms”.

The special rooms have “good neighbour alarms” which, if triggered, alert neighbors to call police.

A domestic abuse advocate believes the sanctuary room has given at least one homeowner her best night’s sleep in years, by finally relieving her domestic abuse-induced terror in her own home.

A person should be able to find sanctuary in their own home.

Unfortunately, though, this sanctuary ends at the door where the victim leaves their home.

Read more in this South Wales [UK] Echo article: ‘Panic rooms’ being built for Caerphilly domestic abuse victims.

Virginia Husband and Wife separate.

They travel to California to appear on Court TV, intending to get their divorce.

Ex-couple returns to Virginia.

Life goes on.

Several years later, Husband and Fiance obtain marriage license.

Husband and Fiance marry.

Wife finds out.

Next thing Husband knows, the prosecutor is submitting a bigamy charge against Husband to a Virginia grand jury.

According to Wife, Husband and Wife never completed the necessary divorce paperwork for unspecified financial reasons.

It is not clear that Husband is aware that his TV divorce from Wife was not final and complete.

A surprising number of spouses in seemingly uncontested divorces in Florida leave it to the other spouse to “take care of” the details of the divorce.

And then simply assume that all is in fact taken care of.

Only to find out, often at a most inconvenient time and place, that the divorce was never finalized – or may not have been.

Moral: if there was a final divorce, there was a piece of paper, called a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage in Florida, to evidence the divorce. Both spouses (or their respective counsel) should have been furnished copies of it. If it exists, copies should be available from counsel for either spouse or the clerk of court of the appropriate county.

Check on it …

Read more in this Waynesboro [VA] News Virginian article: Attempted TV divorce leads to charge.

Parents in an intact family should designate in each of their wills a guardian for their children in the event of both of their untimely deaths in a common accident.

As soon as their first child is born. If not sooner. No matter the parents’ ages or current health statuses.

The above almost goes without saying.

Otherwise, guardianship must be decided by courts, with a large potential cost and delay, at the children’s ultimate expense. The children could wind up in foster care while the courts are sorting things out.

Once parents split up, each parent should revisit their earlier designations of guardians for their children.

Whether through the passage of time or changes in feelings related to the breakup, either parent (or both) may no longer be comfortable with their original designations.

Generally, both parents must agree on the designation. Not necessarily so easy, at a time when the parents may not be able to agree on blue skies or grey.

Even more difficult, once both parents split up, each parent should now consider the possibility of the death of either parent alone.

Normally, if one parent dies, the other parent will assume sole custody of the children, unless the surviving parent is obviously unfit.

There may be legitimate reasons, however, why one parent would not want the other parent to raise their children alone in the event of his or her own death.

It is also possible that the other parent would be fine at raising the children … but terrible at handling their finances and/or inheritance.

The law allows for guardianship of children to be separated into guardianship of their person and guardianship of their property. With this division of “labor”, a different person can be designated guardian of the children’s property from the person who is designated as guardian of the children’s persons.

While either parent’s designation (or, for that matter, the designation of both) is not legally binding on the court, it is certainly worthwhile for a parent to fully express to the court in writing their feelings on guardianship of their children and their supporting reasons.

It can focus the court’s attention on potential concerns with the other parent or other pre-designated guardians.

Read more in this Kingsport [TN] Times-News article: Deciding guardianship important legal step for parents.

Wisconsin Mother and Texas Father have been involved in lengthy child custody case over 4 year old Son.

Along the way, Father is held in contempt of court, with potential for jail time.

Custody evaluations by Wisconsin and Texas social workers are very close to being filed with the court. Father reportedly knows the recommendation of the Texas social worker.

Mother is stabbed to death at home. Son is at the home at the time.

Father is a suspect in the murder.

Son is with relatives in Wisconsin.

Read more in this Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel article: Stabbing victim was involved in custody fight.

Tennessee Husband and Japanese immigrant Wife have two children. Couple divorce.

Wife is unhappy in Tennessee. She writes to Husband of her concerns that their children are “losing Japanese identity”.

Over the course of a year, Husband repreatedly asks Tennessee court to prohibit Wife from removing children from the US. These are not idle requests.

In Japan, the noncustodial parent more or less fades out of a child’s life after divorce. Mothers almost always get custody. Foreign parents almost never get custody – or timesharing (or visitation).

The Tennesee court does not really share Husband’s concerns that Wife may abscond with the children. After all, Wife testifies that she will stay in Tennessee; she just wants a vacation with relatives in Japan.

So, passports are released to Wife. Wife and children vacation in Japan.

And return to Tennessee. Wife retains passports.

Then, two weeks later, in August, the children’s school calls Husband to report their absence from school. News to Husband.

Wife is on her way to Japan with their children.

Now Tennessee court awards Husband full custody of the children.

So what is an American father to do?

In this case, Husband goes to Japan, grabs his abducted kids while they are walkling to school, and walks toward the US Consulate.

But before Husband can reach the safe haven of the US Consulate, he is arrested while still on Japanese soil … for kidnapping his own children, of whom he has sole custody under US law.

Husband is now in a Japanese jail, waiting to learn his fate. Wondering: will he be prosecuted for kidnapping his own children, of whom he has sole custody under US law?

Since 1980, Japan has refused to enter the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The US, Canada, Britain and France have all called upon Japan to sign. And resolve numerous cases where abducted children have foreign parents totally cut out of their lives, as though they had never been.

Read more in this Associated Press article via Google: Dad jailed in Japan warned ex-wife would take kids and this CNN article: Group calls for release of American dad jailed in Japan

In an effort to help more people achieve an uncontested divorce, a counseling center is offering mediation services with additional facilitation by social workers.

Although referred to as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), the use of therapists and social workers really transforms mediation into an approach closer to collaborative family law.

This version of ADR is now being enthusiastically embraced throughout Ontario, Canada.

It is anticipated that only rare disputes among broken family members, including abuse and neglect situations, will be settled by a judge after a trial.

The facilitators also teach separating parents better interaction skills. Like parenting coordinators in Florida do.

Proponents trumpet that ADR is typically less damaging for children … and cheaper for parents.

It’s not a solution for every family. But it’s certainly worth trying in most cases.

(Palm Beach County mandates mediation prior to trial and Broward County judges routinely order it as well, in the hopes of residents having a Florida uncontested divorce.)

The addition of the mental health professionals and social workers are helpful in determining what is in the children’s best interests, but it pushes up the cost of ADR and complicates scheduling a mediation when all concerned are available.

Read more in this Thunder Bay Ontario Canada Chronicle Journal article: ADR all about peace.