South Florida Husband and Wife have Children together.

Husband and Wife divorce.

Husband and Wife agree on timesharing schedule which is incorporated into final judgment.

Husband moves to an apartment east of Federal Highway, close to the ocean.

Wife and Children remain in marital home west of Florida’s Turnpike, well inland.

First hurricane season since divorce arrives.

A severe hurricane is expected to arrive during Husband’s timesharing.

Husband lives in an evacuation zone and it is anticipated that authorities will encourage Husband to stay in a shelter until the hurricane passes.

Wife suggests that Children stay in their own safe secure home with Wife during hurricane.

Husband insists on exercising his timesharing with Children, maintaining that whatever happens will be a learning and character-building experience for Children.

Such scenarios play out every year in South Florida.

And many variations of it.

(Husband lives in trailer … or houseboat. Or, Husband wants to take kids out of state – or out of the country – to avoid the hurricane completely.)

Unfortunately, the odds are high that neither the marital settlement agreement or parenting plan or final judgment specifically addresses situations like hurricanes.

Which are inherently emergency situations. Stressful and wrenching. Imminent.

One parent or the other – or both – start clamoring for emergency hearings over how to deal with the hurricane.

Just not feasible in the overwhelming majority of cases.

Although it may not be top of mind when your case is being decided / negotiated, what happens in a hurricane (or other natural disaster, especially where there’s warning) is well worth considering ahead of a crisis.

After all, at the very least, your children’s peace of mind may be at risk; at most, their actual safety and wellbeing.

Florida Husband and Wife have Children together.

Husband and Wife divorce.

Florida family court awards Husband primary residential custody of Children.

It appears that Husband may not be entirely cooperative with Wife’s exercise of visitation after their divorce.

Wife seeks and obtains from the Florida family court several different orders for enforcement of her visitation and holding Husband in contempt of court for his failure to comply with the Court’s orders for timesharing with Wife. The Florida family court also awards Wife significant compensatory visitation or makeup timesharing.

Because of Husband’s obstinacy, the Florida family court, without an evidentiary hearing, ultimately modifies custody of the Children to grant Wife primary residential custody of the Children. Without even having been asked to do so.

The court makes no written findings of fact in support of its ruling.

Husband appeals the modification of Children’s custody. On appeal, an intermediate level appellate court reverses for the following reasons.

1. It is well-established here in Florida that children should not be punished due to their parent’s violation of court orders, or other misdeeds.

2. Further, contempt proceedings are to enforce compliance with previous court orders. Not to modify custody. Especially not where the parent seeking enforcement has not put the other parent on formal notice that they are even looking to modify custody.

3. And last, but not least, the Florida family court did not make any express findings that modification of custody would be in the best interests of the Children.

Read more in the Florida court’s appellate opinion reversing the modification of child custody in contempt proceedings.

New York City reports an alarming 12% spike in domestic violence cases last year.

Domestic violence against wives, girlfriends and ex-partners climbed by an even more troubling 17%.

Domestic violence against boyfriends and husbands also grew, but only by about a more modest 5%.

Eighteen percent of cases are for violating an existing domestic violence restraining order of protection.

Part of the rising statistics is a broadening of the definition of domestic violence to include violence between cohabiting intimate partners without children in common and dating couples, including teenagers and same-sex couples. But only part.

Many attribute the greater part of the increase in violence to the fallout of the recession.

Further jumps in the statistics are anticipated as a result of relaxation of the requirements to press criminal charges for choking an intimate partner.

Read more in this New York Daily News article: Domestic violence jumps 12.3% in NYC; Brooklyn is borough with most cases.

In some states, enforcement of child support obligations keeps up with the times and gets increasingly creative.

Take the state of Louisiana.

Last year, it passed legislation authorizing seizure of winnings at casinos by parents behind on their child support obligations. Not entirely unique.

More recently, Louisiana has been eyeing claims paid out by BP Oil as a result of last year’s oil spill.

It turns out oil spill claims were filed by nearly 10,000 parents in arrears, who owe over $100 million in past due child support.

So Louisiana is now intercepting – seizing – their claims payments sent by BP.

Read more in this UPI news article: Oil spill aid diverted to child support.

Pennsylvania Father allegedly sexually abuses a seven year old girl in the presence of his two year old Son, for which Father is being prosecuted.

Despite this, the Pennsylvania Family Court allows Father visitation with Son, which is supervised by a friend of Father’s.

Then Son’s Mother requests that the court suspend Father’s timesharing with Son.

And the family court does suspend Father’s visitation, temporarily, indicating that timesharing will be reinstated when proper supervision by a social worker is arranged.

Under a new Pennsylvania family law, however, a parent charged with a sex crime is reportedly required to be psychologically evaluated before any award of visitation may be made.

Mother is apparently seeking to have the family court comply with the new law.

Read more in this [Moosic, PA] WNEP-TV news article: Accused Child Molester Loses Visitation Rights.

Florida teen (Mother) becomes pregnant.

Then marries a man (Husband) twenty-four years older than her.

Along the way, Husband reportedly pleads guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor under sixteen years of age and is required to register as a sex offender.

Husband also reportedly has a history of domestic violence and violent assaults.

Mother leaves Husband.

Husband files for divorce while Mother is pregnant. His divorce court papers explicitly deny paternity of Daughter.

Because Husband is not Daughter’s biological father.

But the divorce is never finalized.

Because one month after Daughter’s birth, Mother dies in a car accident.

Under the law, Mother’s and Husband’s divorce stops upon her death.

And, since Daughter’s biological father (Bio Father) does not come forward in any way, Husband is considered to be Daughter’s father under the law.

But Husband has no interest in Daughter at that time.

And Mother’s mother, Grandmother, takes Daughter in and raises her.

Until Daughter is almost four years old.

And Grandmother tries to adopt her.

At which point, Husband decides that he wants Daughter … and seeks primary custody of her.

And the Florida family court does indeed award Husband primary timesharing with Daughter – in Georgia, where Husband now lives.

Grandmother is appealing the ruling.

And Bio Father is now seeking to establish his paternity and parental rights over Daughter, to retrieve Daughter from Husband’s custody. And Husband is seeking to terminate Bio Father’s parental rights.

And Grandmother, of all people, is in hot water. For speaking out about Daughter’s case.

For which Grandmother may be held in contempt of court. And face incarceration.

Grandmother maintains that she spoke to the media about the case prior to the court’s gag order.

But she would be willing to do it again, now, to save Daughter from Husband.

Husband reportedly also communicates with the media – after the gag order is entered.

Read more in

1. this First Coast NBC TV news 12 article: Baker County Family Court Meets Again in Miranda Wilkerson Case

2. this First Coast NBC TV news 12 article: Grandmother Loses Custody of Girl to Father, Sex Offender

3. this First Coast NBC TV news 12 article: Miranda Wilkerson’s Grandmother before Baker County Judge Today on Contempt Charges

Canadian Man reportedly knows he is HIV-posiitive.

Man allegedly has sexual intercourse with eleven different women – without protection and without warning them of his condition.

Seven of his partners become infected with the disease. Two die.

Man is prosecuted for two counts of homicide and ten counts of aggravated sexual assault.

And convicted.

A Canadian court concludes that Man is a “dangerous offender” and may legally be confined indefinitely.

Man promises to appeal.

Read more in this New York Daily News article: Canadian court to keep HIV-positive man behind bars indefinitely; found guilty of infecting partners.

It’s probably not what first comes to mind when you think of Gettysburg, PA.

But modern Gettysburg is noted for its effectiveness at child support enforcement.

In fact, the entire state of Pennsylvania is.

August is Child Support Enforcement Awareness Month.

Which is especially important in states and communities that aren’t as successful at collecting child support.

The Gettysburg child support enforcement agency attributes its success in part to the impact of automation on what they do … and a bad eonomy discouraging breakups and the need for court-ordered child support.

Technology has also reduced expenses of operations.

More child support than you might imagine is collected through seizure of unclaimed assets such as forgotten bank accounts.

Read more in this [Gettysburg, PA] Times article: County Domestic Relations program proud of work.

Ten year old Arizona Child lives with her Aunt, her legal guardian, her two adult Cousins and her Grandmother.

Child weighs just fifty-nine pounds.

Child takes a popsicle without permission.

When her family finds out, Child is punished …

Her cousins allegedly lock her in a storage container roughly 3 feet by 1 foot by 1 foot in size.

Where Child suffocates.

It turns out Child was frequently punished by putting her in that storage container, among other punishments.

Child was also forced to eat animal waste, sleep on the floor of a shower and walk barefoot on extremely hot Arizona concrete.

Cousins are charged with murder.

Aunt and Grandmother are charged with child abuse and kidnapping.

Read more in this New York Daily News article: Ame Deal, Arizona girl suffocates to death after being put in box over Popsicle, family charged

The South Carolina family courts in Charleston may be on to something.

It didn’t come about easily though.

Husband and Wife were going through a divorce.

When they originally filed for divorce, Son was about six years old.

By the time Son had turned twelve, the custody battle over him was still raging on.

Apparently though, Son had had enough. He took his own life.

Out of that tragedy, a local family court judge drew inspiration to try to “fast track” many child custody cases, and spare many children from being the subject of long, bitter legal fights between their parents.

And last month the so-called Fast Track Custody Initiative made its debut.

Participation in the streamlined program is strictly voluntary at this point. And cases involving mental illness, substance abuse or domestic violence are excluded.

The “system within a system” aims to settle temporary residential placement of children within four months of filing of the case … based on a fifteen minute temporary hearing.

Where the judge believes it is appropriate, he or she may appoint a guardian ad litem to fact-find and advocate for the child or children – within a sixty day period.

Once the guardian ad litem has made their recommendation, the parties are ready for mediation and the custody case should be resolved within ninety days of the temporary hearing.

It’s unclear, however, what happens if parents are unable to reach an agreement at mediation in a fast-tracked case.

The fast track reportedly cuts about nine months off the average child custody case timeline.

By implication, the child custody portion of the divorce case is bifurcated (split off) from other aspects of the case, and the remainder (property division, alimony, etc.) would presumably follow a traditional timeline.

An initiative well worth a closer look.

Read more in this [Charleston SC] Post and Courier article: Putting child custody on fast track.