According to journalgazette.net women in the military are more than twice as likely to get divorced then their male comrades and more than three times as likely if they are enlisted. As to the reason for this disparity, David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at…
In a recent article titled, ” Reason No. 172 Not to Practice Family Law” author Burt Likko describes how family law court can be a very unpleasant place to find oneself. Likko goes one to describe how transcripts and scenes from family law hearings can be “utterly miserable.” Although, I…
People contemplating divorce tend to be very curious about the topic of spousal support otherwise known as alimony. As a Jacksonville Beach Family Law Attorney I see divorce cases involving alimony on a regular basis. When first meeting with clients who are interested in the possibility of receiving or having…
Annette Benning and Julianne Moore play Nic and Jules, a married same-sex couple with teenage children, in the fairly recent movie, The Kids Are All Right. This is a story of lesbian marriage, sperm-donor fatherhood, sex, red wine, and teen angst, when two teen-aged siblings track down their biological “donor…
In a stunning announcement the Obama Administration just announced that it will no longer enforce a federal law barring gay marriage. In Florida, a constitutional amendment which bans same-sex marriages passed with 61% of the vote. Florida has adopted DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) as state law. DOMA, which was…
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon be hearing a case involving parental rights and allegations of child abuse. The Court will be hearing a 2003 case involving a caseworker that interviewed a child regarding allegations of sexual abuse by her father, while, allegedly, refusing to allow the mother of the…
As a Jacksonville Child Custody Attorney, I often see cases involving child abuse and child neglect. I run into these issues primarily in cases involving termination of parental rights or simply child custody disputes. Florida defines abuse as “any willful act or threatened act that results in any physical, mental,…
In a crucial step to ensuring that same-sex couples, including Florida gay and lesbian couples, are also protected against the dangerous acts of violence within relationships, the Department of Justice has make clear that the criminal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is intended to protect individuals in…
A new North Dakota bill is getting a lot of attention in the North Dakota legislature, as it is proposing mandatory marriage counseling in all divorce cases. The drafters of the bill want all married couples, with the exemption of cases with substantiated allegations of domestic abuse, to wait one…
A group of FAMU Law students in Orlando have drafted a bold and innovative bill regarding child support. The bill focuses on parents whose children have been removed from their care and provides a form of accountability for the parents. It is estimated that every year in Florida over…