I Do, For the 23rd Time.

There is a woman in Indiana who holds the Guinness World Record as the most married woman and she recently wed for the 23rd time. Its reported that she have married so many man that she can't remember them in order, the longest marriage lasting 7 years and the shortest one lasting 36 hours. I am flabbergasted by this, for many different reasons, the most important reason being, why continue to get married if you have no intention of making the marriage work? The most I've known someone, client or otherwise, to be married was 6 times, and I thought that was an unbelievable amount of times to be married. 23 marriages is definitely something for the tabloid papers and for all of us to say, WOW.

Campaign to Strengthen Marriages

The Florida Family Policy Council is launching a new statewide campaign called, "Strong Marriages Florida." Its aim is to strengthen marriages and reduce the high divorce rate here in Florida. The aim is to teach people how to have healthy relationships in hopes that it will encourage strong marriages and less divorce. We'll see whether this newest attempt to reduce the Florida divorce rates will be successful.

14 Kids and Counting

By now, I'm sure there are very few Americans who have not heard of Nadya Suleman. You may not know her name, but you may know her story. She is a 33 year old, divorced mom who just gave birth to octuplets in California. The kicker is that she has six other children and they were all conceived by invitro-fertilization. I'm sure that this story has left a lot of people scratching their heads for many reasons. The questions have abounded, how she is going to be able to afford and take care of her children. There are other questions that are being raised concerning whether there should be restrictions and regulations put in place for IVF. Should you have to show a W-2 that shows you can support your children before you are allowed to go through IVF? Should there be a restriction on how many children you are allowed to have when you use IVF? While I strongly believe that having 14 children, whether that is through natural or artificial means, is socially irresponsible, I wonder whether we need to be careful with the types of restrictions we put on IVF. We tell someone you can't use IVF because they have too many children or not enough income, do we have the same right to tell someone that they can't have children the old fashion way because they don't have enough money or already have too many children? My question is where do we draw the line, and have our legislatures thought about the constitutional implications on putting restrictions on IVF? With new technology comes new social and legislative challenges. Hopefully we are able to look at the big picture to insure that whatever restrictions are put in place are not over-turned for Constitutional reasons.

Book about Divorce and Fatherhood

Many people are aware of the bitter divorce battle between Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger, and now Mr. Baldwin has written a book about his experience with divorce where he vilifies his ex-wife and the legal system. While I agree with him that there are plenty of attorneys' out there who pillage their client's who have large bank accounts, I believe that it is slightly unfair to put all of us into that category. Many divorce attorneys do their best to get their client's to the other side of divorce emotionally and financially in one piece. However, sometimes it is hard to control the other side if they are filing pointless motions and creating legal fees. When this happens, the best advice that I can give to my clients is to try to remain calm, let the system run its course and know that if they can get into the courtroom with clean hands, it will be in their best interest. The process can destroy you if you let it, and I think that this is something that Mr. Baldwin and other non-celebrities can relate to.

Escaping Death and Divorce

So many stories come out about people attempting to evade paying child support, alimony payments or splitting of marital assets. People will hide assets, fail to disclose income or simply hide cash under a mattress in order to escape these dirty words in divorce. However, rarely do you hear about someone faking his or her own death in order to escape these things. That's just what an Alabama may have done to escape divorce issues as well as other financial problems. Again, truth is stranger than fiction.

To read about this story, see:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hsET3AfuAoTChx5t6o2BcA9_YMbgD95MJN6O0

I Want A Divorce, And My Kidney Back!!!

I always love hearing about all the crazy divorce cases out there in other states that have unique and news worthy aspects to them. The latest case is about a man in Long Island who is asking for a divorce and wants his kidney back that he donated to his Wife. You'd be surprised how often things like this come up in a divorce, most often I hear about men wanting restitution for the plastic surgery that their wives have had during a divorce, most commonly breast augmentation. Generally speaking, these requests don't have any bearing in a divorce case, but they do make the news. Chances are, this guy has no shot at getting his kidney back, but if New York is a fault state, and if his Wife is at fault for the divorce, he may be given some money for that kidney, if the Judge buys his argument. Again, the truth is always stranger than fiction.

Click on the link below to access the story:
http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=8211776&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Immigration and Divorce

There are many areas of law that are tied to family law, most common are bankruptcy, real estate and immigration. I am by no means an expert in immigration law, but often times I am asked about whether not an H-4 Visa is valid during and after a divorce. An H-4 visa is a dependent/spouse Visa that is issued when your spouse has a H-1B Visa. You cannot work with an H-4 visa but you are allowed to remain in the United States with your spouse. The H-4 visa is valid until it expires, and will also terminate when your divorce is finalized. It will remain in effect during your separation period, but upon your final divorce decree, it will terminate. Therefore, you must file paperwork to change your status and request a new visa with a new classification before the finalization of your divorce. If you do not do this, you can possibly be deported or required to leave the country on your own accord. If you are concerned about immigration issues in your divorce, I highly suggest that you meet with an experienced immigration attorney before starting the divorce process, or in the alternative, hire an attorney who is knowledgeable in the area of immigration.