New York has passed a law that Florida and other states might do well to consider modeling.

The New York statute, in effect, prohibits either spouse from moving monies or other marital assets without court order or written consent of the other spouse. (Except for usual business or household expenses and divorce attorney fees, of course.)

In Florida, things currently work exactly the opposite way. (Except in certain counties that automatically impose a restraint along the lines of the New York statute.)

In most of Florida (including Broward and Palm Beach counties) today, if either spouse wants the court to restrain the other from transferring marital assets, the spouse seeking the restraint must go to court – to try to persuade the court to do it.

The New York legislation saves both spouses litigation expenses, unclogs the courts a bit and preserves the marital assets (or estate) from the get-go of the divorce case.

The new New York law has another feature: it prohibits either spouse from dropping the other spouse or a child from life insurance or medical insurance coverage.

Right now, Florida divorce law presently offers no such protection. A spouse seeking such protection must go to court to try to persuade the court to order it.

New York’s new legislative policy certainly sounds on the mark. Yet the champion of the New York legislation had to work for over a decade to get it passed. …

Read more in this New York City Gotham Gazette article: New Law Protects Assets During Divorce.

Lancaster, PA. Small town USA. Wholesome. Close to Amish country.

Where an affluent, 40-something member (Husband) of a successful funeral home-owning family lived with his Wife and four Children.

The Man had a string of affairs, finally becoming obsessed with one of them (Mistress).

And so, Man allegedly strangled, beat and then drowned Wife, to get her out of the way.

Man planned to marry Mistress. And divorce is such a bother.

Even after his arrest and during his trial, Man continued his obsessive e-mails and calls with Mistress, looking forward to their future together.

And now Man stands convicted of first degree murder, sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Children, now orphans, in effect, are living with relatives.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Domestic violence is not a problem limited to any particular economic status, social status, ethnic status or geographic location.

It can happen to anyone, anywhere … by anyone.

Just ask Man’s family.

Read more in this Lancaster [PA] Intelligencer Journal article: Roseboro sentence imposed.

If you’re in an unhappy marriage and contemplating or confronted by the prospect of divorce, you may be past caring about the whys and whether it could have been predicted at the time of your marriage.

But a recent study sheds light on precisely those factors.

And the results may be worth considering for those seeking insight.

The study demonstrated a strong inverse correlation between the spouses’ ages at marriage and their level of age education.

Put another way, people marrying at a later age and having greater education are least likely to divorce.

Why? It’s hard to know for sure, but there are several possible explanations.

First, more mature and educated spouses probably earn more money. Money helps overcome or cope with many challenges.

People who wait to marry also probably have evolved into the person they will be, know who they are and have a better idea of what they are looking for in a life partner.

More educated and older people may also have more discipline and commitment, spurring them to work harder at their marriages. Younger, less educated people may be more impulsive and quicker to give up and move on.

Read more in this UK Guardian | Observer article: US study says divorce is linked to age and education.

Husband is a senior banking executive.

After fifteen years of marriage, Husband, Wife and Children appear to be living the good life.

Except Husband is having an affair.

And so is Wife. Two actually.

But Husband is possessive and unwilling to lose what he has worked to obtain.

Wife is mindful of her “entitlements” under the law and wants custody of their Children.

Husband begins diverting lots of money to separate accounts.

Husband taps into Wife’s e-mails and text messages.

Husband tape records hours upon hours of Wife’s conversations with her lovers.

And finally, Husband allegedly strangles Wife to death.

Husband apparently claims self-defense.

Wife’s body bears bruises practically all over.

Read more in this UK Times article: Bank boss ‘strangled his wife after discovering two affairs’.

The agreement to live together should be about more than simply the major decision to live together. That’s probably the easy part. Both parties also need to consider all the issues surrounding living together.

1. Who owns what? How will expenses be met? Debt anyone? Is either one supporting the other? Under what conditions and for how long? What happens regarding assets, debts and support if you decide to part company? Are you relying on any explicit or implied promises? These things should all be spelled out clearly in a written cohabitation agreement

2. How well do you know your partner? Do they have good credit? Are they spendthrifts? Do they pay to take care of their stuff?

3. Is living together just the first step in a more involved and complex merged life plan? Is joint property ownership in your futures? Is a business partnership in your futures? The future may be the best place to leave them until you have tested the “living together waters” adequately.

4. Don’t burn bridges or eliminate all your fallback options. Approximately half of marriages end in divorce. The rate for cohabitating relationships is even higher.

Read more in this Lansing State Journal article: 8 tips to consider when living together.

Not so long ago in Florida, separating parents (and, if necessary, the courts) addressed “child custody”.

The term “child custody” has since been banished from the Florida legal vocabulary and courts.

In the words of one Canadian commentator, Florida has joined the ranks of “label-free” settlements of parental responsibility and timesharing regarding children.

That contrarian voice questions whether this is a change for the better.

She looks to Australia, which she reports adopted a presumption of joint custody in 2006.

After which, she reports, conflict and litigation there escalated, rather than decreased.

“Label-free” parenting arrangements can also leave significant third parties in the dark, such as schools, health care providers, etc., and necessitate cumbersome duplicative communications with and permissions from both parents when the third party is in doubt.

“Label-free” kid-sharing can also tie hands of police and other law enforcement authorities who are unclear as to which parent has rights and is in the right.

Label-free parents, according to this commentator, can even stump judges charged with applying family law in the no-label vacuum.

Read more in this Canadian Lawyers Weekly article: Why custody labels matter.

Old money, multi-millionaire Husband, Wife and their five children live in “ancestral” mansion home in the UK for twenty-odd years.

Couple divorce.

Wife characterizes Husband as a controlling, critical bully, responsible for her depression.

Court orders fifty-nine year old Husband to vacate home … and to stay away from Wife.

Quite unseemly …

Husband appeals, objecting to being evicted from his own parents’ home, without adequate provocation or justification.

Husband asserts that the mansion is large enough to accommodate the entire family, without them tripping over one another.

Husband remains in the ancestral mansion home pending his appeal.

Regrettably, the principle of awarding exclusive use and possession of the marital residence to a dependent spouse and/or caregiver for the minor children of the marriage probably does not take into proper account that some marital residences were ancestral mansion homes before they became marital residences.

Read more in this UK Telegraph article: Wife has husband ‘evicted’ from ancestral home as he makes her ill and this Argus article: Sussex millionaire fighting to stay in his family mansion.

In Europe, London has the dubious distinction of being the “divorce capital of the world”.

Apparently, highly generous spousal support awards are very common in the UK, even in short term marriages.

Traditionally, UK men were the ones paying out. But more recently, British women are often the ones writing large “manimony” checks.

And, not surprisingly, when women are the ones writing the alimony checks, they don’t like it any better than men do.

And it isn’t just the threat of spousal support striking fear into the hearts of well-off women.

Traditionally, UK women have also fared better than men in property division, as in receiving more than half of the property.

More financially able women now fear having the tables turned on them in this regard as well.

Result?

Well, for one thing, in Britain, women are the ones insisting on prenuptial agreements (or prenups) before marriage these days.

For another, important women are clamoring for family law reform to correct systemic injustices now increasingly adversely impacting women.

Other changes in the UK divorce world include social ones encouraging men to seek alimony and more than their fair share of property – and child custody too.

Oh, in the UK nowadays, ten percent of marriages fail within five years.

And attorneys are starting to advise wealthy clients against marrying at all …

Please note that Florida law places great weight on length of marriage in spousal support determinations and presumes an equal division of marital property.

Read more in this UK Times article: Rich woman are suffering painful divorce settlements.

Two year old Son had developmental delays and a deformity of his head.

Allegedly because Father shook him – twice – when he was just two months old.

For that, Father was sentenced to four years of probation … after pleading guilty to felony child abuse.

And given custody of Son in 2007.

Father’s household generated five new allegations of child abuse or neglect in 2007.

And still Father had custody of Son.

Father took Son to doctor to check a shunt placed in Son’s head after he was shaken.

Son didn’t cooperate and his appointment was rescheduled.

Father apparently wasn’t happy. A nurse reported sounds like a spanking.

That night, Father’s wife heard Son screaming.

Son died of blunt force trauma to the head shortly afterward.

Now, Father has been arrested in Son’s death and charged with second degree murder, child abuse and probation violation.

Two babies have been removed from Father’s home since last year.

Read more in this Las Vegas Review-Journal article: Las Vegas man arrested in 2007 death of his toddler son.

Unmarried British Mother and Spanish Father have Daughter together.

Daughter is born in UK.

The family lives in Tenerife Island, Spain for over a year.

Daughter has serious heart condition.

Mother and Daughter return to the UK.

According to Mother, Father encouraged them to return to the UK for family support.

Both Spain and the UK are parties to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Further, Tenerife law, apparently requires formal government permission to remove a child who has lived there for more than a year and who is the biological child of a Spaniard.

Father concedes that he does not take advantage of easy opportunities to visit Daughter and, according to Mother, Father never calls to find out about Daughter.

Nonetheless, some eight months of silence after Mother’s and Daughter’s return to the UK, police appear at Mother’s home and seize her passport.

Mother learns that she is required to return with ill Daughter to Tenerife, to appear in court there for the purpose of determining custody of Daughter.

Father reportedly now wishes to seek custody of Daughter.

Father comments that he does not want to go to court in England … because “it’s not my country”.

So much better to drag his sick child back to court in Tenerife.

Read more in this UK Daily Mail article: Tug of love mother must fly to court in Tenerife to fight for daughter, 5, after being accused of abducting her.