Alternative dispute resolution can be a wonderful tool in divorce cases. Montgomery County’s Domestic Relations Court, along with many other divorce Courts, have adopted mediation conferences as a voluntary or, in some cases, mandatory prerequisite to trial. I am focusing this article on how that process works in Montgomery County.
So one might ask, “What is mediation?” In this context it is essentially a way of resolving disputes between the husband and wife and to hopefully eliminate issues in the divorce case. In Montgomery County there are two neutral mediators (facilitators) involved in the session(s). One is a lawyer who has experience as a divorce court magistrate and the other has a family services social worker background. They work to assist the parties to negotiate their own settlement. They can let the couple know what the laws are, but not give legal advice, and try to guide them through the complicated process in a way that helps them find solutions.
Lawyers may or may not attend the mediations. The sessions are completely confidential. No notes or writings generated by the parties or their lawyers in the mediation … Read More... “The Mediation Process in Montgomery County Domestic Relations Court”
A divorce often leads to many changes within a family. Recognizing this fact is extremely important, especially when children are involved. Divorcing parents should ask themselves each step of the way what they can do to minimize the negative impact on their children. Parental funding of a child’s college education often becomes a casualty in the process.
Even young children are aware that they are part of both parents. We tell them the story of our courtship, our wedding and of their birth. We show them baby pictures. “You have Daddy’s smile and you have Mommy’s eyes,” we tell them. This is one way children feel they are part of a family. It helps our children develop a sense of identity and belonging. As children grow older, we begin to identify more traits in them that remind us of ourselves. “You are artistic like your dad” or “you have your mom’s wit” are further ways we continue to build connection with our kids.
In September of 2008, Ohio became one of the first states to make a Next of Kin registration program available to its residents. The Ohio state legislature established the program in response to situations where police and emergency personnel had been unable to locate or contact family members of people who had been fatally injured. Several accidents occurred where people had been severely injured but not killed instantly. Tragically, their relatives were unable to spend time with their injured relatives during their last hours due to the difficulty police had in identifying exactly who to notify.
After years of intense pressure from the United States government and governments of the European Union, the government of Japan recently announced its intention to join the Hague Convention relative to child custody. At the present time, Japan is the only major industrialized country that has not signed the treaty. And, Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven (G-7) leading nations which is not a party to the treaty. The G-7 countries which have adopted the Hague Convention are France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
I posted a blog article titled 
By now, I’m sure that most of you have read how Facebook, and every similar social networking site, makes posting “too much information” on the internet just too easy. Do a quick Google search for “Facebook and Divorce” and you’ll find links to many articles discussing the correlation of postings on internet social networks to an increase in divorce. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says that 81 percent of its members have used or gone up against evidence in court plucked from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn over the last five years.