Payment – or non-payment – of child support may affect children in ways that go beyond money and are, sometimes, unintended.

For noncustodial parents who are struggling to meet their legal obligations, it may mean children making do with less during visitation – and the rest of the time too.

For parents fighting about child support, it may mean children experiencing misguided guilt – or anger and frustration – toward one or both parents.

Children may act out.

They may empathize with the nonpaying parent.

Or they may experience denial of a deadbeat parent’s delingquency – or resulting low self-esteem.

Or it may affect them years later.

Children may imitate a responsible parent – or an irresponsible parent.

And they may learn the value of a dollar.

Read more in this South Texas Monitor article: For children, child support can’t buy peace of mind.

Postcards from Splitsville.

It sounds like a joke. But it’s actually about a very serious subject …

A tool for helping kids (and adults) cope with divorce – and express their true feelings in a safe, supportive environment.

All as part of an eight week divorce recovery workshop started in Arizona for kids three and up.

It’s also for their parents, as participants – or as observers of the impact of their divorce on their kids.

This volunteer-led workshop could catch on and spread.

Read more in this Arizona Daily Star article: Group lets kids share sad sentiments and the Divorce Recovery website.

Ohio man is convicted of bigamy.

Man is sentenced to probation – and ordered to get a divorce from one of his three wives within six months.

Man fails to get divorce.

Man is arrested for probation violation.

Man is confined to house arrest.

Man is again ordered to get divorce.

Man faces jail time for probation violation and, presumably, original offense.

But the judge doesn’t want to put Man in jail. The judge just wants Man to get a divorce from one of his wives.

However, that still appears to leave Man with one wife too many …

Read more in this Cincinnati Enquirer article: Bigamist gets time to divorce a wife.

Florida has had at least its fair share of scandal over sealing of court records in violation of the law and open public records policy of this state. But we’re not alone.

A Nevada judge ordered that a child support case against another, former Nevada judge be sealed – unilaterally and summarily – and also entered a gag order in the case. The judge benefiting from the sealing and gag order was seeking to get back into the judiciary.

The sealing judge reportedly did not comply with Nevada legal requirements for sealing court records. But she defended her actions as being for the protection of the minor child.

The Nevada Supreme Court reversed and ruled that the sealing judge abused her discretion.

Further, according to the Los Angeles Times, which had her under investigation, the same judge allegedly presided over cases where friends or business associates were parties – on more than one occasion.

Read more in this Los Angeles Times article: Nevada judge abused authority, court rules.

In recent years, the national (and international) trend has been one of increased tolerance of the notion of rotating custody, or timesharing that is more evenly distributed among parents than in traditional visitation schedules.

That is why the situation in Norway is so noteworthy.

Norway has an Ombudsman for Children, a government official who is supposed to be a mixture of spokesperson and advocate for kids.

And Norway’s Ombudsman doesn’t think children should have to “commute” between their parents’ respective homes after divorce.

He thinks this puts the parents’ rights above the children’s needs. And that the “commute” is too stressful and disruptive to most children.

The Ombudsman points out that some separated parents even want their children to attend different schools.

A Norwegian politician criticized the Ombudsman for failing to “equate the positions of mother and father”, concluding that therefore “it will continue to be the fathers who are discriminated against”.

The politician expressed no opinion as to the best interests of children though, arguably conceding the Ombudsman’s argument.

Read more in this Norway Aftenposten article: Child custody spurs debate.

A journalist for the Miami Herald observes that Miami-Dade’s family court is loaded with courtroom dramas.

The court processes some 4,500 child custody cases a year, most of them in its juvenile dependency division.

Those aren’t divorce or paternity cases. They’re cases where children are abandoned, abused or neglected, by one or both parents. So the state must intervene.

The children will typically be placed with extended family for a time or in foster care.

Cases can be very complex. As one court bailiff opines, ”[w]hen it’s just two parents who don’t like one another, a lot of times those are the easy ones”. That’s typical of family court.

Juvenile dependency court can be another can of worms entirely. There the mission is to educate parents who may not know on how to parent, and to assist them with the challenges that get in their way. Cases can continue for quite some time.

Twenty percent of the children involved are under the age of one year old. Thirty-three percent are under the age of five years old.

Read more in this Miami Herald article: Dramas large and small play out in family court.

Neighboring Georgia has just revamped its child custody statutory framework with the goal of streamlining its procedures.

The Georgia legislature attributed the changes to a desire to spare kids drawn-out, traumatic custody battles.

Odds are, the desire to spare family court judges and the judicial system’s infrastructure from the same was just as powerful a motivation.

But that, by itself, shouldn’t detract from the legal changes.

Under the new Georgia framework, each parent is required to propose a parenting plan.

This methodology has gained favor in several states and is under serious consideration by the Florida legislature as well.

Another change is that Georgians may now opt to submit their cases to binding arbitration, a somewhat less expensive and more informal process than taking their case before a judge in court.

This option is already available here in Florida, although rarely utilized.

Another significant change is that, under previous Georgia law, kids at least 14 years old could choose the parent with whom they wanted to live primarily. No longer do the kids necessarily get the final word.

Since the law continually evolves and changes with the people and times, it is very instructive to follow the experience and evolution of family law in our sister states.

Read more in this Atlanta 11 Alive TV article: 2008 Brings New Child Custody Laws.

Child abuse occurs most frequently during November, December and January, according to the University of Miami Child Protection Team, which sees 1,500 cases per year.

Recent horrific incidents include a woman allegedly stabbing her autistic nephew in the eyes and a mother allegedly beating her one year old baby to the extent of twelve broken bones.

The stresses of the holidays are the reason, the final straw – and they actually continue after the last of the Christmas decorations and the confetti are gone.

But the underlying problems were likely in the making for quite some time.

People under stress tend to take it out on those who are most vulnerable … children, the disabled and also the dependent elderly. The stresses of caregiving likely contribute to such incidents.

The number of child abuse cases rises from year to year.

But resources are available to help.

January is just beginning.

Note that the Florida child abuse hotline is 1-800-96-ABUSE.

Read more in this South Florida NBC 6 TV article: Recent Child Abuse Allegations Focus Attention On S. Fla. Kids In Jeopardy.

Massachusetts man buys lottery ticket.

Man wins $1 million lottery.

All is good in his universe.

Until …

Man gets charged with violating terms of his probation on bank robbery charges.

Not his first probation violation.

Then man is served with contempt of court papers for failure to pay almost $40,000 in back alimony and child support.

Man will not know his fate until next year.

Man’s story illustrates the saying: “be careful what you wish for…”.

Support recipients everywhere got what they wished for in this instance too.

A spokesman for the state lottery issued a statement that state lottery officials would comply with any court order for support.

Read more in this Cape Cod Times article: More bad news for lottery winner.

Four month old baby removed from parents’ home by social services.

Baby placed with foster family.

Biological parents’ parental rights are terminated.

Foster family wants to adopt Baby, who is a dual citizen of the USA and Mexico.

Twenty two months later, Baby’s biological grandmother in Mexico seeks to adopt him.

Trial court holds that Baby should be turned over to biological grandmother in Mexico.

Appellate court agrees.

Case draws national and international media attention.

Oregon’s child welfare services agency took something of a beating in the case, accused of misleading all concerned. Then agency arranges a mediation in Oregon – which lasts for ten hours.

As a result, everyone agrees that Baby should remain with foster parents in Oregon and that foster parents may adopt him.

They also agree that biological grandmother should have visitation and access rights and that Baby should learn to speak and write Spanish fluently.

Last, but not least, agency agrees to pay the Baby’s foster parents’ legal fees in the matter.

Read more in this Newport News-times article: Foster child to remain in Oregon.