Bringing Laughter Back Into Your Life

By Guest Contributor Donna F. Ferber, LPC, LADC   |   March 5th, 2011

Joel Goodman of the Humor Project in Saratoga Springs, New York, says, “Humor is what lubricates life.” Humor can help you deal with all the stressors in your life. Humor cannot erase the situation, but it can take the sting out of many things, thus reducing their negative impact. In order for humor to be curative in your life, you need to find your own laugh button. Remember, divorce is one part of your life, don’t make it your whole life!

Jennie remarked recently how surprised she was that she could still feel joy taking a walk on a beautiful autumn morning, even though she felt devastated by her divorce. Nurture those feelings of joy, laughter, and wonder. Laughter is not just a luxury; it is a vital piece in the healing process. It is especially important during times of stress. It provides our body, heart, and mind with a welcome and necessary reprieve.… View Full Article → “Bringing Laughter Back Into Your Life”

BREAKING NEWS: Secretary of Defense Gates Changes Position to Protect Custodial Parents Deployed Overseas!

By Anne Shale   |   February 26th, 2011

On February 6, 2010, I posted an article entitled, “They Fight for America and Upon Return Must Fight for Their Children”. The article addressed the issue of active duty servicemen and servicewomen returning from overseas assignments, often in the Middle East, to find that their former spouses were using the overseas military assignment as a “substantial change in circumstances” to obtain a change in custody of their minor children.  At the time of that posting, Michael R. Turner, R-Ohio, was trying to persuade Secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates, to agree that active duty military parents should receive child custody protection while they were deployed out of the country.  The Department of the Defense had opposed this protection and Turner’s proposed legislation.

On February 11, 2011, Secretary of Defense Gates responded to Representative Michael Turner in a brief letter which said that his Department “was/are willing to consider whether appropriate legislation can be crafted that provides Service members with a federal uniform standard of protection in cases where it is established that military service is the sole factor involved in a child custody decision involving a Service member.”  … View Full Article → “BREAKING NEWS: Secretary of Defense Gates Changes Position to Protect Custodial Parents Deployed Overseas!”

The Benefits of Four Way Settlement Conferences

By Anne Shale   |   February 19th, 2011

The topic for this Family Blog Article is one that is I like to use and one that I highly recommend to clients and to other practitioners.  A four (4) way settlement conference is a meeting or conference attended by both parties (Husband and Wife) and their respective attorneys.  The meeting generally takes place at one of the attorney’s offices but it could be held at an absolutely neutral location such as the Bar Association, a local library, or a church having meeting rooms available for the public.  The meetings can take place during normal business hours but can also be held during evening or weekend hours as no one from the Court needs to be present and no one from the Court needs to oversee or supervise the conference.  Therefore, the scheduling of settlement conferences can be done to accommodate each of the parties’ schedules and their respective attorneys’ schedules.… View Full Article → “The Benefits of Four Way Settlement Conferences”

Caregiver Liability: When Kids Run from Foster Care

By Guest Contributor, Daniel Pollack   |   February 12th, 2011

The National Runaway Switchboard reports that between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away each year. It also reports that there has been “a significant increase in the number of crisis calls identifying abuse or neglect as a reason for the call, with abuse calls up 33 percent and neglect calls up 54 percent between 2005-2008″ (National Runaway Switchboard Crisis Caller Trends, 2009, p. 2).

Youth in out-of-home care often choose conduct that does not ensure their own safety. They elope from foster homes, group homes, or other residential settings at an unknown rate. When children are known risks for eloping a court may find that it is the legal duty of the caregiver to take all prudent means to take appropriate preventative measures.

Instinctively, we are aware of the links between youths running away in general and youths eloping from out-of-home care. Social science research has made significant progress in describing runaway youth in general (Martinez, 2006; Sanchez, Waller, & Greene, 2006), but has made minimal inroads in accurately describing the phenomenon of youth eloping from out-of-home care.  … View Full Article → “Caregiver Liability: When Kids Run from Foster Care”

Highlights of the 2010 Tax Relief Act

By Joseph E. Balmer   |   February 5th, 2011

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010, signed into law December 2010, finally brought some certainty to estate tax, gift and generation skipping tax, at least temporarily.  Although estate planning attorneys now have a better idea as to advising clients in wealth management opportunities, the new law only applies through December 31, 2012. Thus, we may find ourselves back in this position of uncertainty in two years.  Some of the major aspects of the Act are summarized below:

  • Estate tax exemptions and estate tax rates: Under President Bush’s Tax Relief Act of 2001, the federal estate tax exemption had increased to $3.5 million dollars in 2009, was unlimited in 2010, and was set to fall all the way back down to $1.0 million dollars in 2011.  This problem was solved for the short term by setting the exemption at $5.0 million dollars for 2011 and 2012.  
… View Full Article → “Highlights of the 2010 Tax Relief Act”

A Good Divorce Therapist is Critical to Your Emotional Health!

By Robert "Chip" Mues   |   January 29th, 2011

For most people going through a divorce, there is no substitute for having a neutral professional by their side who is trained to listen and discuss the emotional issues relevant to a divorce.  The emotions many encounter are similar to dealing with a death or loss of a loved one.  Therapists may refer to the stages of emotion by differing names, but they are: shock, denial, anger, sadness, and finally, acceptance.

In my practice I discuss counseling with virtually every new divorce client I meet.  Many clients going through a divorce feel like their life has been completely turned upside down.  Even if the individual has some sort of a “support network”, this is usually not an adequate substitute for having a good therapist. Most friends or family members are not trained or equipped to provide objective professional guidance and steady you through the divorce process, which often can turn into a very long marathon.… View Full Article → “A Good Divorce Therapist is Critical to Your Emotional Health!”

Potential Civil Liability for Unauthorized Access to Another’s Email Account

By Robert "Chip" Mues   |   January 22nd, 2011

I am not an Internet or cyberlaw expert by any stretch of the imagination. But I am not alone in that regard according to an interesting Associated Press. story that Judges on the nation’s top court are handicapped by a lack of knowledge about the Internet when deciding related cases–Justice Stephen G. Breyer, a U.S. Supreme Court justice, admits. If you have a minute, click on the link in blue to read some pretty humorous exchanges from the Justices when discussing technology related issues.

Without trying to grapple with all the subtle nuances on this subject, I do think it is important to make people aware that there are potential legal ramifications for anyone who enters another’s email account without permission and prints or downloads stored emails. There are two portions of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA): the Wiretap Act and the Stored Communications Act (SCA). Title I of the ECPA, the Wiretap Act, prohibits interception of communication in certain instances.… View Full Article → “Potential Civil Liability for Unauthorized Access to Another’s Email Account”

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