Children’s Extracurricular Activities A Delicate Balancing Act Post Divorce

In the second of a two-part series, attorney Robert Mues discusses the impact that a divorce may have on juggling a child’s activities and parenting time.

A recurring battle that I see in my family law practice is how to juggle a child’s extracurricular activities after a divorce.  There is no black and white answer, of course, to this question.  In many cases where there is shared parenting or both mother and father continue to communicate with each other and place the child’s best interest in perspective, both parents will attend the child’s after-school activities and will seamlessly foster the child’s continued participation in the activities no matter which home the child may be residing in.  However, in a large number of post-divorce situations, especially in high conflict cases or where the parties do not live in close proximity with one another, continuation of extracurricular activities can present a major problem.… View Full Article → “Children’s Extracurricular Activities A Delicate Balancing Act Post Divorce”

Moms, Stepmothers and Grandmothers, Please Take a Bow!

NOTE: Due to its timeless nature, this article from the Ohio Family Law Blog is being republished from May 10, 2008.

Naturally Mother’s Day is a special day for families and especially for mothers. In this day and age however, there are often multiple females who may play a key role in a child’s life. Stepmothers and grandmothers raising their grandchildren as their own are now quite the norm. These women need to be recognized on Mother’s Day.

Stepmothers are often portrayed in a negative light. It is important to look at all sides, as a step mom often has to walk the tight rope. She has to carefully navigate the road so that she is an integral part of her new child or children’s lives, while still respecting the child’s need to honor and love their own mother. Grandmothers raising grandchildren as their own child has been an increasing occurrence in our society.… View Full Article → “Moms, Stepmothers and Grandmothers, Please Take a Bow!”

So You Want To Be A Parent…

In these challenging and difficult times, and with depressing news and economic turmoil seemingly everywhere, I thought it was worth re-publishing this humorous but poignant “Job Description” recently posted by fellow family-law blogger, Martha Milam, the publisher of the excellent Durham Family Law Journal. Click here to read and enjoy her blog!

POSITION:
Mother, Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Father, Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION: Long-term, team players needed, for challenging, permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends, including frequent 24-hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel is required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities! Travel expenses are not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Job responsibilities continue for the rest of your life. You must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5.… View Full Article → “So You Want To Be A Parent…”

Mom Loses Custody For Alienating Children From Their Father For Over A Decade

An Ontario, Canada, Superior Court Judge issued a thorough well-reasoned but very unusual decision on January 16, 2009, changing custody of three (3) girls, ages 15, 11 and 9, from their primary caregiving mother to the father based upon evidence of a long pattern of parental alienation.  In fact, Mother had denied Father, a vascular surgeon, any contact with the girls for about two (2) years before these proceedings.

Judge Faye McWatt not only changed custody to the father, but denied Mother any contact with the girls for at least 90 days.  The Court concluded that Mother had conducted a “consistent and overwhelming campaign for more than a decade to alienate the children from their father”.

The Court was impressed with the testimony from Dr. Barbara Fidler, an expert in the field of parental alienation.  The Court, in its decision, stated:

Dr. Fidler testified that children are more susceptible to alienation in certain age ranges.… View Full Article → “Mom Loses Custody For Alienating Children From Their Father For Over A Decade”

Virtual Visitation: Part 2 – Legal Aspects

In the second part of a two part series, Attorney Robert Mues looks at the legal aspects of Virtual Visitation.

Ohio Revised Code Section 3109.051(A) provides, in part, that, “Whenever possible, the order or decree permitting the parenting time shall ensure the opportunity for both parents to have frequent and continuing contact with the child, unless frequent and continuing contact by either parent with the child would not be in the best interest of the child.” In 2006, a bill was introduced in the Ohio Senate to allow Juvenile or Domestic Relations Courts to grant a reasonable amount of “electronic communication” between a parent and a child so long as the electronic communication was in the child’s best interest and the equipment was readily available. In Senate Bill 341, electronic communications was defined as “communication facilitated by the use of methods of communication such as the telephone, electronic mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, or other wired or wireless technologies via the internet, or another medium of communication that allows a party who has been granted parenting time, companionship, or visitation rights to communicate with a child during times in which the child is not physically present with the party.”… View Full Article → “Virtual Visitation: Part 2 – Legal Aspects”

Divorce And Insurance Policies: What Divorce Attorneys Need To Know To Protect Their Clients

You may not be aware that, years after you have prepared a separation agreement, it may have a direct bearing on whether your clients are covered under their auto or homeowners’ insurance policies in a variety of accident scenarios.

Here’s a typical scenario. Months or years after Mom and Dad are divorced, one of them hands the car keys to “Junior,” who negligently wrecks the car and injures another motorist. One or both parents, thinking that Junior is covered under their auto policy, turn the claim into their insurer, only to be shocked that the insurance company denies the claim.

There are two principal reasons why the claim might be denied: Junior is not a “named insured” or a “resident relative” under the policy. If the denial holds water, Junior and perhaps his parents may be exposed to personal liability, and the distinct prospect of bankruptcy. The question is: Is there anything the divorce attorney can do to ensure or increase the likelihood that minor children will be covered in a future accident under one or both parents’ insurance policies?… View Full Article → “Divorce And Insurance Policies: What Divorce Attorneys Need To Know To Protect Their Clients”

Can Parental Alienation Be Far Behind? The Warning Signs Every Family Lawyer Should Know

Our guest contributor this week is Judianne Cochran a nationally recognized expert/consultant in the following disciplines: sex offender profiling; interstate and international parental abduction; interstate custody and parental alienation. She has testified in numerous Courts throughout Ohio and the country. Judi presently resides in Columbus, Ohio.

It is important that family law attorneys remain aware of the patterns of behavior found in cases involving possible parental alienation and pay heed to ongoing complaints by clients experiencing even the early stages of alienating behavior. Early in a custody case it can be very apparent that one parent is extremely angry, bitter or feels betrayed, by both the other parent and by expectations of the “system”. Having to share custody may only intensify the anger due to having to continue the relationship with a person they despise. Then a campaign begins to align the children to his or her side and together with the children work to destroy any viable relationship with the target parent.… View Full Article → “Can Parental Alienation Be Far Behind? The Warning Signs Every Family Lawyer Should Know”

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