Custodial Grandparents: Stress From Raising Grandchildren

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Increasing Number of Grandparents Becoming Custodial Grandparents to their Grandchildren

Custodial Grandparents Have Higher Stress Levels than Grandparents Who Are not Caregivers of their Grandchildren According to Recent Studies

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance.  They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life.  And, most importantly, cookies.

~ Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

custodial grandparents grandchildrenI believe Mayor Giuliani’s wonderful quote about grandparents resonates in most of our hearts when we think of our own grandparents.  However, in today’s society we are seeing an increasing number of grandparents becoming custodial grandparents to their grandchildren.  Custodial grandparent or grandparents are best defined as grandparents who take over as the primary caretaker to their grandchildren.  Collectively, custodial grandparents often face a number of different and unique difficulties associated with the caring of their grandchildren, when compared to the traditional nuclear family structure of two birth parents raising and caring for their children. Some of these difficulties include increase of stress in their day-to-day lives, financial struggles due to fixed incomes, and health related limitations as custodial grandparents are usually at … Read More... “Custodial Grandparents: Stress From Raising Grandchildren”

Gray Divorce: Division of Retirement Assets Disparity

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

gray divorce divisionAn 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? … Read More... “Gray Divorce: Division of Retirement Assets Disparity”

5 Steps Toward Connecting with your Kids

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connecting kids stepsWhy should I rush home to have dinner with my kids when my efforts to talk with them are met with silence and indifference that borders on contempt?,” asked a dad at a recent workshop.

Many parents voiced similar concerns but quickly justified their adolescents’ misbehavior with “that’s typical of the teenage years.”

The fact that something may be common doesn’t make it right or an inevitable stage of growing up. Lots of parents raise teens who are communicative and emotionally engaged with their families, not sullen and disrespectful.

  1. Discuss the issue directly. Get your kids’ perspectives about what is going on during dinner time. I find that individual discussions with the kids generally work better than a family meeting. Listen and try to understand their perspective without becoming argumentative or defensive. Explain that you want to respect their privacy and independence while continuing to be a part of their lives.
  2. Avoid corrections and lectures. Many kids tell me they dread meal times because they feel they are being interrogated by their parents. Revealing any important information about issues results in reprimands. Why would you talk about
… Read More... “5 Steps Toward Connecting with your Kids”

Adoption Records NOW Unsealed in Ohio!

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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 birthA 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 … Read More... “Adoption Records NOW Unsealed in Ohio!”

Domestic Relations Court In Greene County Hires Nidiffer

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An Introduction to Greene County Domestic Relations Court Staff Attorney Justin C. Nidiffer

domestic relations court greene county ohio
Justin C. Nidiffer

On February 9, 2015, I traveled to the Domestic Relations Court of Greene County, Ohio to interview Justin C. Nidiffer, the newly hired Staff Attorney for the named Court.  Justin advised me that he had completed an internship with the Court during his last year in law school and that he was so very pleased with that experience.  It was apparent to me that the Domestic Relations Court was very satisfied with Justin’s performance as the Court hired him as their very first Staff Attorney to commence his position on January 1, 2015.

What will Justin’s responsibilities be?

  1. He will be reviewing new cases filed with the Court and examining the pleadings and Financial Affidavits of the parties.  He will then be preparing and filing the Court’s Temporary Orders of Custody and Support.  He will be working closely with Judge Steven Hurley, Magistrate Cynthia Martin, and Magistrate Kimberly Combs.
  2. He will be conducting Case Management Conferences with the attorneys involved in each case.  If a Guardian ad Litem or a
… Read More... “Domestic Relations Court In Greene County Hires Nidiffer”

FOMO: Does it Impact Decisions to File for Divorce?

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The Role FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) Plays Out In Daily and Family Life

FOMO divorceTechnology has created a glut of new words and expressions. It also has “repurposed” old words; a mouse is no longer just a rodent in my basement. A crash is not a vehicular accident, a chip is not just used for scooping up onion dip and a pad is not just a monthly required feminine product.

Electronic communication has also introduced us to a wave of new acronyms. LOL, ROFL, OMG, BRB were sprinkled through our e-mail and now are a standard in texting. Those initialisms (another new word I recently learned) have entered into our face to face conversations and are a part of our lexicon. Since I don’t Tweet, Snap, or Facebook, I admit I am lagging in current vocabulary updates.

Then an acquaintance confided she attends church weekly because she has FOMO. For those of you who are, like me, lagging in social media jargon, I will decode. FOMO refers to “Fear of Missing Out”. It is used most frequently by teenagers posting on social media in response to … Read More... “FOMO: Does it Impact Decisions to File for Divorce?”

Divorce Representation Without A Lawyer On The Rise

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

divorce representationCourtrooms 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:… Read More... “Divorce Representation Without A Lawyer On The Rise”

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