Tennessee Moves to Split Custody Evenly in Messy Divorces

A Tennessee bill that would evenly split child custody in contentious divorce cases is drawing national attention and dividing groups along gender lines.

On one side is an alliance of women's groups, some judges and the Tennessee Bar Association, who say the change would make divorces tougher to settle and give abusive ex-husbands leverage they shouldn't have. Spending half of the time with each parent would also impose impractical schedules on kids, they say.

On the other side are fathers' rights groups who say kids get deprived of full relationships with both parents. Courts have too long ignored laws calling for custody decisions to be made in children's best interests, they say, and judges are overly influenced by notions about the mother-child bond.

The state's House Children and Family Affairs' Family Justice Subcommittee is scheduled to meet today to review divorce-related data it requested from the Tennessee Bar Association, as it works to determine whether to send the bill to a second committee that could send it to the full House.

Other states, including Missouri, start from a presumption of an even custodial split unless there has been abuse, said Janet Richards, a law professor at the University of Memphis who specializes in child custody matters. Tennessee would be alone in requiring clear, convincing evidence that one parent is unfit before dividing custody unequally, she said.

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Help Line Could Eliminate Tense Child Custody Situations

FLORENCE - Lauderdale County Circuit Judge Jimmy Sandlin said the Co-Parenting Help Line can "defuse a potential volatile situation."

The help line is available for couples who are going through the initial stages of divorce, said program coordinator Debra Simmons. It's a benefit to parents who may have tension when it comes to child custodial issues. The help line, which is beginning its fourth year, is under the umbrella of Families First and is funded through the Alabama Law Foundation.

"We try to solve problems, help them work through the conflict and find a solution that will be agreeable to both parties," Simmons said.

Read more here.

Connecticut Says Mandatory Parenting Classes Allowable

A state law requiring Connecticut couples to take parenting education courses as a condition of their divorce cases is constitutional and protects children's interests, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The high court, in a unanimous ruling, rejected an appeal by Bristol resident Thomas Dutkiewicz stemming from his 2006 divorce.

Dutkiewicz said forcing parents to attend the classes is akin to convicting a person without a trial, since the law does not consider whether a person already is a good parent.

He also said it infringes on constitutional guarantees of freedom of choice in family matters and violates parents' right to choose what is best for their children.

The Supreme Court upheld a trial court's decision that the classes achieve "a compelling state interest by aiming to maintain familial harmony through a difficult transition."

Divorce: Fighting For, About, and Around Kids

Actions for divorce are like any other civil suit wherein the rights and duties of parties are decided and judgment is rendered. That is, aside from the fact that at the end of the case, both sides are still really mad.

There are exceptions, but the general rule is that if a judge or magistrates decides the outcome of who gets custody of the kids and on what days, everyone feels cheated. Dissolutions, which are simply divorces where the parties agree how to divide everything prior to filing in court, are always preferable but often impossible in the emotionally charged time of separation.

The legal issues of property settlement in a divorce, apart from alimony, are fairly cut and dry - everything acquired during the marriage that is not a gift or devise directly to one of the spouses gets divided in half. Problems deal mainly in valuations. For the calculation of alimony, it seems to matter more where you are getting a divorce than to whom you were married - it varies county to county.

Dividing a child is obviously more difficult. The wisdom of King Solomon is often needed and absolutely inadmissible in divorce court. (Solomon's proposal to halve the child really wasn't all that clever - what kind of hooligan would actually agree to cut the child in half in front of someone who was in the process of writing a book of the Bible? I think everyone already knew the likely outcome of it all when the retrobate showed up to the hearing with her face all exposed wearing a worn-out Ravi Shankar concert T-shirt.)

Scenarios Behind Hiring A California Child Custody Lawyer

Divorce is regarded as one of the most horrible things that may happen to a couple, especially if a misunderstanding is not resolved immediately. Many individuals are filing their petition for divorce with their respective partners because they cannot resolve their differences anymore. They feel that they cannot stand with each other living under the same roof anymore; they are just uncomfortable seeing and being with each other.

Aside from the legal procedure that needs to be followed, the family is also experiencing emotional distress. The atmosphere will not be as friendly as before, because such divorce petition means separation-one moving out of the house while the other will remain. In addition, if they have children, their custody will also be a subject for argument in the family court. That is the saddest part of a couple filing for a divorce-giving the children to whoever has the better right under the family law.

In the case of child custody, many divorcing couples are getting a child custody lawyer aside from the divorce lawyer for their petition. Most of the states in the country have their own regulations with regards to family law. In California, they have their own set of regulations that applies to child custody cases. That is why if you are residing in California and planning to get hold of the custody of your children in case your husband or wife filed a divorce, you need to hire a California-based child custody lawyer.

Your child custody lawyer will be your representative in California family courts. He or she will be the one to explain to you the possibilities of getting the custody of your children based on the circumstances present as well as the laws and regulations covering child custody issues.

Child Custody, Visitation Issues Considered

The House Judiciary Committee waded through a series of bills Wednesday that are designed to ease or eliminate disputes between divorcing parents on such issues as child custody and visitation.

Legislators have heard numerous tales from disgruntled and discouraged parents in recent years about those issues, and agreeing on solutions proved elusive Wednesday, too.

Stuck Together: Inside the Modern Divorce

Martha McCarthy, who has been practising family law for more than 15 years, says "You cannot agree to anything on a temporary basis that you wouldn't be willing to live with in the long term."

And so, she explains, for anyone who seeks some sort of serious child custody arrangement or desires sole custody of children, relinquishing any bit of ground in the household arrangement -- even temporarily -- is simply out of the question.

Grant Gold, another family law lawyer who has a surprising number of clients who continue to live together for increasingly long periods of time, says he tells those who say they cannot stand living in the matrimonial home that "what you lose by getting out is the ability to get back in in a hurry.… I don't want anybody leaving until there are arrangements in place for kids, for money; if you're the dad, I don't want you leaving until we have visitation nailed down."

Child Custody Cases & What to Expect

As divorce rates continue to rise, more and more children are growing up in a single parent household. Despite the fact that a divorce legally separates the parents from one another, it is important that both remain active in their child's life. Because the welfare of a child becomes the focal point of all child custody cases, it is essential that you hire a qualified divorce attorney who specializes in this area and will work hard to see that the child's best interests are met.

Domestic Investigations - When There is Trouble in the Home

Investigation News - Domestic Investigations - When There is Trouble in the Home - PInow.com Investigator Directory:
"Child Custody Investigations
Child custody and child support investigations help to keep your child safe and well-cared for. Investigators can run asset searches and missing persons searches in order to obtain the child support you have been awarded by a court. With the Department of Health and Human Services reporting that more than 46% of non-custodial mothers and more than 26% of non-custodial fathers totally default on support, these services are very common across the country today. Child custody investigations also can help ensure that the non-custodial parent does not neglect or abuse the child while they are in their care. This is a critical when you consider that since between 1976 and 1997, 11,000 children were murdered and thousands more were injured by parents or caregivers, according to the Present Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics."

If A Former Partner is Dating Someone New, Is a Child Custody Investigation A Smart Idea?

Investigation News - If A Former Partner is Dating Someone New, Is a Child Custody Investigation A Smart Idea? - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "There are many things that can affect a child’s safety in a custody situation. One of these things is the new friends and partners that a parent may meet after a divorce.

Child custody problems are more prevalent than most people realize. According to 2003 US census findings, 43.7% of mothers with custody and 56.2% of custodial fathers are separated or divorced. This means that many parents are raising their children while separated from their spouse. Statistics show that the majority of people who divorce eventually remarry or at least form new partnerships. Not surprisingly, custodial parents worry about the influence of these new partners on their children.

They may have a reason to worry. Custody arrangements in a divorce are usually based on information that is current at the time of the divorce. However, the circumstances of a person’s life can change dramatically – usually with no corresponding changes to custody arrangements. A parent may meet a new partner who is a bad influence – or is even actively dangerous – to the child the parent is responsible for."

What are the signs of a problem?

How to Avoid Child Support Hassles

Investigation News - How to Avoid Child Support Hassles - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "How you strategize at the start of your divorce can save you and your children from the hassle of a Child Support Enforcement.

Child support enforcement, while it can help ensure that you get the money you need from an ex-partner or ex-spouse to help you support your children, can also be expensive and difficult for both you and your children. Child support enforcement can by avoided from the very beginning by making divorce and child support arrangements as water-tight and as amicable as possible. If you and your ex-partner agree to a consistent plan, there is simply a better chance that both of you will actually stick to the plan. This will not only create less friction but will also ensure that the child support keeps arriving. According to experts, there are several ways that you can help your child get the support they need, right from the beginning:"

How to Avoid Child Support Hassles