Tuesday, June 30, 2009

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/

Monday, June 29, 2009

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

Monday, June 8, 2009

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

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

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.