Robert L. Mues, Author at Ohio Family Law Blog

Children, App Technology, and Messaging Safely

How vulnerable Are Children In Today’s App Technology-Driven Internet World?

New Certified Messenging Chat App For Children Provides Safe Monitoring For Parents And Encourages Responsible Social Media Development

children app safety Summer is coming.

These are the words that children ages 6-17 dream of hearing everyday as they’re leaving school. Ten to fifteen years ago, summer meant baseball, bikes, and adventures outside with your friends. The recent changes in technology have also brought about changes in interest among younger individuals in our population. Today, summer means iPads, TV’s, computers, and video games. Technology has brought about more advanced innovations at a cheaper price. This allows for easier access to extremely advanced technology. Think for a second, when was the last time you saw a child on an iPad, a tween with an iPhone, or a teenager paying more attention to their phone than their surroundings. This means your children, and your neighbors children can work those new computers, navigate your complicated phone, and dazzle with online gaming faster than you could ever hope to.

With advancement in technology, comes advancement in vulnerability. Our society will always maintain a small population of predatory individuals who attempt and succeed to deceive and infiltrate the … Read More... “Children, App Technology, and Messaging Safely”

Mother’s Day – Valuable Tips For New Stepparents

The Challenges of Blending Families – Important Advice For Mother’s Day

Patience Is Key When Stepmothers And Grandmothers Are Raising Their Grandchildren As Their Own Says Author Kate Fogerty

mother's day ohio NOTE: I was considering writing a new article about Mother’s Day so I began by looking through the Ohio Family Law Blog archives. Some advice is timeless. This one from seven years ago is still on point. Here is a reprise of “Mother’s Day – A Very Special Day!” We wish all Mother’s and Grandmother’s a wonderful Mother’s Day filled with smiles, laughter and joyous memories!

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 … Read More... “Mother’s Day – Valuable Tips For New Stepparents”

Prenuptial Agreement: Is it Enforcable If You Dispose of It?

Does Tearing up Your Executed Prenuptial Agreement in Ohio Revoke or Invalidate it?

prenuptial agreement ohio Recently, a New York court held that a husband could enforce a prenuptial agreement against his wife upon divorce, even though at the time the parties had no intention of ever being bound by the agreement and he ripped up his photocopy of the agreement at the same time his wife ripped up her original. Braha v. Braha, 2014 NY Slip Op 51532.

QUESTION:

The question presented here is, would the case yield the same result if it was adjudicated in Ohio?

DISCUSSION:

In Braha, the parties stated that they entered into a prenuptial agreement only because the husband’s father was insistent they do so. However, on their honeymoon they simultaneously ripped up copies of the agreement and threw them away. The parties were married for twelve years before the marriage began to dissolve. Upon dissolution, the husband produced his original copy of the prenuptial agreement and sought to enforce it. He testified that he had destroyed only a photocopy of his agreement, while his wife had destroyed her original.

In its decision, the court there held that the wife did not provide sufficient evidence by … Read More... “Prenuptial Agreement: Is it Enforcable If You Dispose of It?”

Divorce: Spouse Missing? Send Summons On Facebook!

Will Serving Divorce Papers Via Facebook be Allowed in Ohio?

Justice Matthew Cooper of the Manhattan, New York, Supreme Court is setting precedent which is likely to be a game-changer should the rest of the country follow suit.

In a recent decision, Justice Cooper gave Ellanora Baidoo the green light to serve her elusive husband, Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku, divorce papers through his Facebook account.

The couple, both from Ghana, were married in a civil ceremony in 2009. Shortly thereafter, the relationship began to unravel when Blood-Dzraku refused to fulfill his promise of participating in a traditional Ghanaian wedding ceremony. As a result, the couple parted ways and only remained in contact via social media and the occasional phone call. Nevertheless, Blood-Dzraku apparently does not want a divorce as every attempt to find him has failed.

Baidoo’s attorney, Andrew Spinnell, explained that Blood-Dzraku is nowhere to be found. The last known address for him was vacated in 2011, the post office has no forwarding address for him, no billing address linked to his prepaid cell phone exists, the Department of Motor Vehicles has no record of him, and even efforts by a private investigator hired to find him have failed. In … Read More... “Divorce: Spouse Missing? Send Summons On Facebook!”

Gray Divorce: Division of Retirement Assets Disparity

Be Sure To Hire A Divorce Attorney With Experience In “Gray Divorce” Cases

gray divorce division An interesting article published in the Arkansas Business Journal discussed the issue of divorce with retirement age individuals. As a founding member of the International Academy of Attorneys for Divorce Over 50, I personally am quite familiar with the unique issues that often arise in these “gray divorce” cases. When discussing the financial background of many couples aged 50-60, the typical equal asset allocation can be problematic.

These couples are more likely to have combined their retirement planning and savings. Over the past 5 generations, the workplace demographics have shifted. Often, many couples who marry today both pursue a career path and develop their own separate retirement accounts. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, married couples often relied financially on the men in the relationship to be the primary “breadwinner”. This means that when a retirement account is discovered during the divorce process, and it’s distributed equally, each party will be left with 50% of their retirement assets even though they are often only a few years away from retirement. Fair, right? Maybe not.

Let’s consider this scenario of Mary and John. Mary and John … Read More... “Gray Divorce: Division of Retirement Assets Disparity”

Adoption Records NOW Unsealed in Ohio!

All Adoption Records And Original Birth Certificates Available To Ohio Citizens

New Ohio Law Gives Adoptees Easier Access To Adoption Birth Records

UPDATE – March 20, 2015, is the first day that individuals adopted in Ohio between January 1, 1964, and September 18, 1996, can pay a $20 fee, and fill out a request form to get a copy of their original birth certificate and certificate of the adoption. Ohio now becomes the twelfth state to provide ALL of their adopted citizens access to their adoption records. This will affect up to 400,000 people who have previously been denied access to their Ohio birth records.

To learn more about this process, view this comprehensive 8 minute video from the Ohio Vital Statistics.

To obtain the request form go to: www.odh.ohio.gov/vs

Here is the backstory from my article from May 10, 2014, posted on the Ohio Family Law Blog.

Adoptees Can Access Original Birth Certificate Says New Ohio Law

adoption ohio birth A new law in Ohio will unseal records for about 400,000 Ohio adult adoptees. This law, Senate Bill 23, was signed by Gov. John Kasich on December 19th. This new law will unseal records and allow these adoptees to find … Read More... “Adoption Records NOW Unsealed in Ohio!”

Divorce Representation Without A Lawyer On The Rise

Representing Yourself in a Divorce? No Way! Why Retaining Legal Counsel Is Worth It!

divorce representation Courtrooms all across the country are seeing an increase in the number of unrepresented parties on their dockets. Whether it’s due to the failing economy, the rise in popularity of television shows such as “Judge Judy” which encourage the legal “do it yourself” attitude, or perhaps the belief that the courts will take it easy on those who represent themselves…the amount of people trying to navigate their way through the legal system without a lawyer is on the rise.

While it is easy, (and perhaps self-serving) for a family law attorney to claim that it is in a person’s best interest to hire a lawyer for their divorce or child custody matter, the courts’ decisions in cases where a party appears on their own behalf speak for themselves. Family law is filled with rules and procedures, nuances and intricacies…many of which differ depending on which county, district, state, etc. you are filing in. So, before you decide to go it alone, consider the following Ohio cases in which people chose to do so:

Hutchinson v. Hutchinson – In this Montgomery County case, the wife chose to

Page 48 of 71

1 … 46 47 48 49 50 … 71