Same Sex Marriage Divorce?

This week I had a question about whether you can divorce in Florida if you were married to your same-sex partner in another state and happened upon a story along the same subject involving Martina Navratilova. Ms. Navratilova is coming under a great deal of scrutiny from the gay community for hiding behind Florida's laws regarding same sex marriage in order to protect her assets. Florida does not recognize civil unions or gay marriages from other states, therefore, if you were married in a state that recognizes gay marriage or civil unions, you are not going to be able to file for a divorce in Florida. The Florida courts cannot dissolve something that the State does not recognize. What are you to do if you were married to your gay partner in another state? I have researched this issue, and unfortunately have not really found anything that could shed light on this topic, but for now, it appears that Florida would not recognize your marriage, therefore, you could not seek a divorce. You could file partition actions to split up joint property, but that may be your only legal remedy. If anyone has any comments or suggestions on this topic, please post your comments here for me to share with the rest of my readers.

http://www.queerty.com/is-martina-navratilova-actually-bad-for-gay-rights-20090630/

The Internet and Divorce

We are definitely in an information age where everyone seems to have a Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or Linked-In Account. I must admit I don't really understand Twitter but I am an actively involved member of the Facebook community. I always tell my clients that email, voicemail as well as Facebook and Myspace postings can all be used against you in a Courtroom, so before you post a status on Facebook or Twitter and before you post those pictures of you partying with your friends on Myspace, remember that all of this media can and often is used against you in Court. Everyone is watching and sometimes that means your soon to be ex spouse. When you are going through a divorce, it is important not to act emotionally, especially in Cyberspace. You never know when something you did impulsively ends up as Petitioner's Exhibit 1.

To read more about the Internet and divorce, see the following article:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1904147,00.html?iid=tsmodule

Adult Children and Divorce

Almost every time that I do a search for articles about divorce and Florida, inevitably there is something that comes up about the divorce of Hulk Hogan. Recently, there was an article that addressed the hard time that Brooke Hogan was having with her parents' divorce. Brooke is over the age of eighteen and for all purposes an adult, yet she still cries over "the way we were". There is plenty of literature out there about the effect that divorce has on adult children and why it may be harder on them then their minor child counterparts. If you are used to your parents being together and then when you are an adult, you are forced to deal with divorce, there are a variety of different reasons why this can be hard to take. The following article addresses the issues that adult children of divorce have.

http://blendedfamilies.suite101.com/article.cfm/adult_children_of_divorce

Parents of ADHD Children More Likely To Divorce

There is no doubt that there are many children these days that are being diagnosed with ADHD. A new study shows that parents of children with ADHD are more likely to divorce, due to the added stress that is put on the relationship. When a child has special needs, studies have shown that this puts an added strain on a marriage, especially if a child is not responding to treatment. The following article discusses this latest study:

http://www.examiner.com/x-8175-St-Louis-Marriage-Examiner~y2009m6d1-Study-finds-parents-of-ADHD-children-more-likely-to-divorce

If anyone has any helpful tips on what a couple can do to help their marriage when they have a special needs child, please feel free to post your suggestions here.

Reality Television and Divorce

Its been some time since I have posted any blogs, and while I was searching online today for interesting and new topics to discuss, Kate and Jon Gosselin popped up more times than any other topic. I've being trying to avoid a blog on this subject, but when these folks came up numerous times when I searched "divorce", I have chosen to bite the bullet and write a blog on this subject.

In case you are not aware of who the Gosselins are, they are a couple who have 8 children, 6 of which are sextuplets. Their lives are being chronicled on a TLC reality television program, and Mr. and Mrs. Gosselin are being scrutinized because of allegations of affairs and Kate's alleged poor treatment of her husband and previous family helpers. I have no interest in scrutinizing the lives of these people, and further have no opinion on who is responsible for the alleged demise of their marriage. However, I think that most people will agree that marriage can be very difficult, and I often question why anyone, celebrity or not, would open up their lives to the public by putting their family on television. It seems that every couple who chooses to do this ends up in divorce court. Is this because the couple has always had problems or is it because negative and positive media attention leads people down the path of adultery, greed and different wants? I'm interested to know whether people believe that the reality TV families always had issues and were doomed for divorce and fame was just a catalyst, or whether other people believe its the media attention that caused the breakdown of the marriage.

Is Divorce Recession Proof?

I've read lots of articles and stories about how divorce rates are on the decline and the reason for the decline is the poor economy. I've been wary of this theory for quite some time given the fact that I haven't seen much of a decline in my own practice. In some cases, we are busier than ever. The issues that people are arguing over are different, meaning that people are fighting over who has to keep the house rather than who wants the home. However, we haven't seen much a decline in the amount of people who are coming in for consultations. The following article discusses whether or not divorce is recession proof.

http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1041015.html

Child Support Woes

I hear many complaints from people who are unable to collect their child support, do not get the remedies they are promised by the Department of Revenue for getting arrears paid, or in some cases, there are people who have been paying child support who are not getting their proper credits. This doesn't occur in every case, but in many cases, people are lost in the system and there are many questions about whether or not the Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Division is being properly managed. The following article addresses one local woman's problem with child support, specifically the Department of Revenue. If you have had similar problems, please let us know about them and/or contact your local congressman/woman. Perhaps with a little bit of effort we all can help make some changes.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-asecsupport041909apr19,0,6230693.story