Imagine finding out that you have been sued in Federal Court. Imagine that the case involves the most important thing in the whole world to you, perhaps even more important than your own life. Now imagine that, at the same time that you find out that there is a case at all, you also learned that your final trial is only one week away. Welcome to our world.
Custody Catch Phrases
The terms "co-parenting" and "best interests of the child" are phrases that are part of our daily language in the world of custody and family law. They are also commonly thrown around as weapons between divorcing parents, often without any real tie-in with their intended meaning. As a professor once told our class, they are terms of art, so we should use them artfully!
The Ambivalent Parent
"But I love my baby! I can't believe he's getting custody! I can't believe that he will be the person making all the important decisions in my child's life! It's like I don't matter at all!"
Common mistakes may sink your post-divorce finances
Life after divorce is often full of uncertainty, especially if the divorce has caught you off guard. You may have fears and concerns about how you will manage when your household income no longer includes your spouse's earnings or you have to find a new place to live. Other factors, such as alimony and child support, may place an even greater burden on your already stretched budget.
However, some of the financial problems you may face after your divorce can be avoided if you achieve a fair property division agreement and if you are careful not to make common money mistakes. As emotional a time as a divorce may be, it is important that you think clearly and make wise decisions when it comes to your money.
What's the Score?
"She's done it again! We have a Parenting Plan that sets out the schedule. It's supposed to be my weekend with the kids and here comes some other reason I shouldn't have my weekend. Sure, last month, I needed to switch weekends because I had family coming and they wanted to see the kids, but she's now asked me to switch weekends six times this year and it's only May! And now this weekend, she wants to get the kids 3 hours earlier than she's supposed to! This is absurd!"
It Could Only Get Worse
While driving home this evening, I was listening to NPR interview a woman in Panama City talking about the horrific devastation which all but wiped out that town. The reporter asked her, now that she, her husband and her three year old daughter have lived through that Cat 4 hurricane and lost everything, is she considering moving?
What To Do When Your Client Is Wrong
As I have written, we always want to represent the good guys. Our strategy always starts with a good guy approach. Representing the good guys is consistent with our MO. It is who we are known to be. We are honest and problem solving, not deceptive and problem creating. Judges know this. Opposing Counsels know this.
Audibles in Family Law
I'm a huge fan of football. College and pros. One of my favorite players to watch was Peyton Manning. I was never a particular fan of any of his teams, in fact, I was pretty neutral about all of them. But I really enjoyed watching him in action. His offensive coordinators must have had the easiest jobs in the world. In the summer they give Peyton the offensive playbook and by the first game, he had it memorized and was calling plays from the line. Not in the huddle, not getting them from the sideline (though both of those happened from time to time), but the vast majority of the time, Peyton was deciding the plays at the line of scrimmage based on his wealth of knowledge and understanding about famil...er...football. Even in the instances where a play was decided on the sidelines, by the time the ball had been snapped, "Omaha" had been yelled and a new play was chosen based on what the defense was showing when it lined up.
Working together may help parents create a custody plan
Ever since you became a parent, you have wanted nothing more than to do right by your kids. Because of this desire, you may have struggled with the fact that you and your spouse were heading for divorce. You likely considered staying married for the sake of the kids, but in the end, you knew that allowing them to potentially have two happy homes would work better than keeping them in one with an unhappy environment.
Still, you have many choices to make when it comes to child custody arrangements, and you may want to work with the other parent in hopes of coming up with a parenting arrangement and schedule that works to the benefit of everyone involved. Of course, this task may not prove easy, and some planning tips may help you along the way.
Let's start with, "I'll never speak to you again!"
People do the darndest things, don't they? People sometimes say one thing and do another. The contradiction makes no sense.
