A Child’s College Education – Often a Hidden Cost in Divorce!

By Robert "Chip" Mues   |   August 13th, 2011

A divorce often leads to many changes within a family. Recognizing this fact is extremely important, especially when children are involved. Divorcing parents should ask themselves each step of the way what they can do to minimize the negative impact on their children. Parental funding of a child’s college education often becomes a casualty in the process.

A recent study published in the Journal of Family Issues which was led by Ruth N. Lopez Turley, an associate professor of sociology at Rice University, confirms a major disadvantage for children from divorced families: Kids whose birth parents divorce get less financial help with college costs, even if their parents remarry, the study finds.

Parents who stay married to each other meet 77% of the tuition costs and contribute about 8% of their income to their child’s college expenses, according to the study of 2400 undergraduate students. Not surprisingly, especially to most divorce lawyers, parents’ contributions to college costs fall after a divorce.… View Full Article → “A Child’s College Education – Often a Hidden Cost in Divorce!”

Whose Kids Are These?

By Guest Contributor Donna F. Ferber, LPC, LADC   |   August 6th, 2011

Even young children are aware that they are part of both parents. We tell them the story of our courtship, our wedding and of their birth. We show them baby pictures. “You have Daddy’s smile and you have Mommy’s eyes,” we tell them. This is one way children feel they are part of a family. It helps our children develop a sense of identity and belonging. As children grow older, we begin to identify more traits in them that remind us of ourselves. “You are artistic like your dad” or “you have your mom’s wit” are further ways we continue to build connection with our kids.

But when a marriage starts to deteriorate, parents sometimes focus only on the worst traits of their spouse and now flinch at any similarity they may see in their children. When anger and stress collide, parents find themselves comparing their children in a negative way to “you’re no good lazy cheating father” or “that crazy drunk of a mother.”… View Full Article → “Whose Kids Are These?”

Ohio’s Next of Kin Notification Program

By John C. Meehling   |   July 30th, 2011

In September of 2008, Ohio became one of the first states to make a Next of Kin registration program available to its residents.  The Ohio state legislature established the program in response to situations where police and emergency personnel had been unable to locate or contact family members of people who had been fatally injured.  Several accidents occurred where people had been severely injured but not killed instantly.  Tragically, their relatives were unable to spend time with their injured relatives during their last hours due to the difficulty police had in identifying exactly who to notify.

The law specifies that anyone who has a valid Ohio driver’s license, temporary instruction permit, or non-driver identification card may voluntarily participate in the program.  The program allows an individual to provide the name and contact information of a person who they wish to be notified in the event the individual is involved in a crash or emergency and is otherwise unable to communicate with the contact person. … View Full Article → “Ohio’s Next of Kin Notification Program”

Japan Announces its “Intention” to Join the Hague Convention

By Anne Shale   |   July 23rd, 2011

After years of intense pressure from the United States government and governments of the European Union, the government of Japan recently announced its intention to join the Hague Convention relative to child custody.  At the present time, Japan is the only major industrialized country that has not signed the treaty.  And, Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven (G-7) leading nations which is not a party to the treaty.  The G-7 countries which have adopted the Hague Convention are France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.

The Hague Convention, also known as the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or the Hague Abduction Convention, was signed on October 25, 1980.  Its effective date was December 1, 1983.  As of April 2011, eighty four (84) states/countries are parties or signatories to the Convention.  The primary objective of the Convention is to preserve whatever status quo child custody arrangement existed immediately before an alleged wrongful removal or retention of a child or children.  … View Full Article → “Japan Announces its “Intention” to Join the Hague Convention”

Marital Torts in Ohio … A Primer

By Robert "Chip" Mues   |   July 16th, 2011

I posted a blog article titled Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Alimony Proceedings on October 16, 2010. In it I promised a follow-up article discussing the status of Ohio law concerning domestic or marital torts.

In Ohio, like in most states, interspousal tort immunity has been abolished.  A person may bring a personal injury action against his current spouse or between a former spouse for personal injury which occurred during the marriage.  Marital torts can include any claim for personal injuries and are often referred to as domestic or marital torts because they are torts that occur within the family context, such as between spouses. Marital torts, moreover, can be lodged in connection with intentional or negligent acts, including the transmission of sexual diseases, psychological distress and emotional injury, slander and libel.

As in all torts, there must be a violation of some duty owed to the plaintiff, and generally that duty must arise by operation of law, not merely an agreement between the parties.  … View Full Article → “Marital Torts in Ohio … A Primer”

Think Before You FACEBOOK…Especially if You’re in a Divorce!

By John C. Meehling   |   July 9th, 2011

By now, I’m sure that most of you have read how Facebook, and every similar social networking site, makes posting “too much information” on the internet just too easy.  Do a quick Google search for “Facebook and Divorce” and you’ll find links to many articles discussing the correlation of postings on internet social networks to an increase in divorce.  The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says that 81 percent of its members have used or gone up against evidence in court plucked from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn over the last five years.

Consider the following situations:

  • Mom denies in court that she smokes marijuana but posts pot-smoking photos of herself on Facebook;
  • Dad claims minimal income from his small business and various “cash only” side jobs he performs but places posts and photos on Facebook of himself on fishing trips, gambling at the riverboat, and with new vehicles, including a Harley Davidson motorcycle; his new girlfriend also posts pictures of some of the gifts she has received from Dad;
  • During a custody dispute where Dad is alleging that child’s grades are falling, child is not receiving proper medical treatment, that Mom is allowing numerous men to have access to the child, and that Mom is not adequately supervising child, Mom posts profanity laced messages and pictures of herself partying on different vacations with numerous men in very “R-rated” poses and degrees of clothing;
  • Dad denies Mom’s claims that his drinking is excessive or that he has ever jeopardized the children’s safety, yet Dad posts photos on Facebook showing him usually holding a bottle of beer at family functions or out with his drinking buddies appearing highly intoxicated; and
  • After a hearing early in a custody proceeding, Mom posts an update on her case on Facebook and uses profanity to describe the Judge who made a ruling against her.
… View Full Article → “Think Before You FACEBOOK…Especially if You’re in a Divorce!”

ELDER LAW UPDATE: The Legal Implications of Multiple Generations Living Under One Roof

By Joseph E. Balmer   |   July 2nd, 2011

Due to the sputtering economy, the baby boomer generation approaching retirement age, and the ever increasing life expectancy, multi-generational households are becoming more common than they have been in decades.  Due to the need to combine family incomes or in order to take care of an elderly or ill relative, grandparents, parents and children are sharing living space in increasing numbers.  According to the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C., in 2008, 49 million Americans or 16 percent of the population lived in households with at least two adult generations, an increase of 17 percent from 2000.  This trend comes with numerous legal implications and issues, some of which are discussed below.

When a parent and adult child choose to live together, numerous elder law and estate planning issues arise. First, Medicaid issues need to be considered.  What if a parent contributes money for the child to add an addition to the child’s home for the parent to live in?  … View Full Article → “ELDER LAW UPDATE: The Legal Implications of Multiple Generations Living Under One Roof”

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