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.)

Custody Fight Continues Over Ex-Lesbian's Child

The battle continues between a homosexual activist and her former lesbian partner over who will control the now heterosexual, Christian woman's biological daughter. It's the latest twist in a complicated story.

Lisa Miller is a former lesbian who became a Christian, left the homosexual lifestyle, and took her biological daughter with her. Miller's former partner, Janet Jenkins, has been using a since-dissolved Vermont civil union to try to claim parental rights to Miller's daughter. Earlier this week, a Virginia civil court ruled that Jenkins must go to juvenile and domestic relations court to seek enforcement of a Vermont visitation order.

Attorney Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, is representing Miller in her efforts to protect her six-year-old daughter. He says the former Vermont civil union should be rendered meaningless in Virginia's courts by Virginia's 2007 marriage protection amendment.

Custody Fight Continues Over Ex-Lesbian's Child

The battle continues between a homosexual activist and her former lesbian partner over who will control the now heterosexual, Christian woman's biological daughter. It's the latest twist in a complicated story.

Lisa Miller is a former lesbian who became a Christian, left the homosexual lifestyle, and took her biological daughter with her. Miller's former partner, Janet Jenkins, has been using a since-dissolved Vermont civil union to try to claim parental rights to Miller's daughter. Earlier this week, a Virginia civil court ruled that Jenkins must go to juvenile and domestic relations court to seek enforcement of a Vermont visitation order.

Attorney Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, is representing Miller in her efforts to protect her six-year-old daughter. He says the former Vermont civil union should be rendered meaningless in Virginia's courts by Virginia's 2007 marriage protection amendment.

16-Yr.-Old To Pay Child Support To 19-Yr.-Old Mom Who Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Him

It's a situation fraught with so many twists and turns that if you saw it on a movie screen you might not believe it.

It began when a 19-year-old girl from the town of Lancaster, Ohio was accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy. Jane Crane was allowed to stay at the child's Columbus-area home when allegations surfaced that her stepfather was being abusive.

But something apparently clicked between the girl and the underage son of those providing her temporary refuge. She's since been charged with unlawful sexual conduct, after allegedly having physical relations at least twice with the underage boy.

So far, the story is somewhat sad, but not that unusual.

But here's where it takes an odd turn. The teen became pregnant as a result of the encounter and paternity tests prove the boy is the father of the little girl, who was born in late April.

Gloves Are Off in Aussie's 007 Custody Battle

Australia's James Bond, George Lazenby, has cranked up his bitter child custody battle with estranged wife, former tennis champion Pam Shriver.

Queanbeyan-born Lazenby, who played 007 in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969, has asked the US judge handling the case to order psychological tests on himself and Shriver to determine if they are fit to be parents.

"He wants it because he has nothing to lose," Lazenby's lawyer Marina Korol said.

The couple, who have three children, four-year-old George and two-year-olds twins, Kaitlin and Samuel, have waged a public war in the past week.

Lazenby, in court papers filed yesterday, accused Shriver of consuming "a cocktail of prescription painkillers, Ambien sleeping pills and rum or vodka each night and during the day".

Shriver, who won 22 Grand Slam doubles titles with Martina Navratilova, has alleged her husband of six years offered beer to their children, was anti-Semitic and threatened to kill her.

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.

Custody Shopping

Child custody cases can get very messy if both parents are fighting for sole custody. But what if one parent is granted custody in one county, and another is granted custody in a different county?

It recently happened to an Encinitas man. Doug Rhodes told NBC 7/39 he became the victim of a legal loophole, called jurisdiction shopping.

"She's my life, you know. I love her more than anything in this world," Rhodes said about his 7-year-old daughter Katarissa.

He said he's spent thousands of dollars fighting in court for sole custody.

"To go back and forth, the chaos and confusion for my daughter, it's just been too much," Rhodes said.

After four years in court, a San Diego judge gave him full custody. The judge also gave Katarissa's mom, Stephani Bolton visitation rights on Sundays. But on July 8, Rhodes said all of that changed. When he went to pick up Katarissa at school, he was met by a San Diego County sheriff's deputy.

Judge Divides FLDS Child Cases

Nearly four months after the largest child-custody case in U.S. history commenced, Texas 51st District Judge Barbara Walther has broken it up, leaving 234 separate cases involving the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Walther split Case No. 2902 - which included more than 300 children - into 110 cases grouped by mother, and Case 2903, which included more than 30 children, into nine cases, also grouped by mother. They join 115 cases filed separately by the state's Child Protective Services agency, which removed nearly 440 children from the sect's Schleicher County compound in early April.

"This is something we've known all along needs to be done," said Tom Green County District Court clerk Vicki Vines. "Nobody had a good enough grasp on it (until now). Everybody's got it a little more under control."

Lesbian's Children To Be Returned To UK

An Ontario judge has ruled that a woman who fled to Canada from the United Kingdom with her two adopted daughters must return with them to allow her former lesbian partner full access to the children under what amounts to a joint custody agreement.

Justice Jennifer Mackinnon, of Ontario Superior Court, ordered Connie Springfield to return to England with her two daughters, 8 and 6, whom she adopted with her long-time partner Sarah Courtney six years ago. Ms. Springfield had spirited the two children to Canada late last year in what the judge called a "long thought out, deceptive method of her removal of the children."

The lesbian couple had broken up five years earlier and had, apparently amicably, continued to share custody of the children until Ms. Springfield took them on what was supposed to be a visit to family members in Ottawa last December, but which she acknowledged planning for some time as a permanent move.

Parents Lose Custody of Girl For Naming Her Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii

A nine-year-old girl whose parents named her Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii was put into court guardianship in New Zealand so that her name could be changed.

A family court judge, Rob Murfitt, gave the order after hearing that the child was embarrassed about her name and had refused to reveal it to friends. "She told people her name was K because she feared being mocked and teased," the child's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.

The judge criticised parents who give their offspring bizarre names, saying it exposed children to ridicule among their peers.

"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment that this child's parents have shown in choosing this name. It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily," he said.

Dad Sold Drugs to Win Child's Custody

A father who agreed to sell over €10,000 worth of cannabis to try and raise a deposit for a flat so that he could get custody of his daughter has been jailed.

Jude Sherlock (36) and his partner lived in their car for two months before Sherlock agreed to sell the drugs in the hope of getting a flat.

He appeared before Judge Desmond Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

"It was not a long-term enterprise. He did it to get himself and his partner on stable ground," defence counsel Laurence Masterson told the court.

Spears, Federline Settle Custody Battle

Pop singer Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline have settled their long and bitter custody battle over their two sons, but terms of the deal remained confidential.

Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan told several media organisations late on Thursday that Federline retained sole custody of Sean Preston, two and a half, and Jayden James, 22 months, but outside a Los Angeles courthouse following a closed hearing on Friday, he declined to discuss custodial issues.

"I'm not going to comment on the terms of an agreement that has not yet been made an order of the court," Kaplan said.

Child Support Spies to Watch Parents

Private investigators will be used by the Child Support Agency (CSA) to spy on parents who are not meeting their child support payments.

The Federal Government says the new measures would help the CSA collect outstanding debts of $1 billion from the current financial year.

Human Services Minister Joe Ludwig said a small proportion of parents was not doing the right thing.

Our View on Protecting Children: Texas Custody Case Collapses, Leaving Damage in its Wake

Imagine that state agents raided your home and seized your children along with more than 400 of your neighbors' kids. The reason, you were told, was suspicion of child abuse, but the authorities produced scant evidence involving your child. Imagine further that after a series of hearings, the children were shipped off to foster families while courts sorted matters out.

That is essentially what has transpired in Texas over the past two months, though outrage was minimal and suspicion high because the parents were members of a reclusive polygamist sect.

Sharing Parents the Best Answer

The North Dakota Legislature held a meeting March 16 to hear issues relating to the child custody study.

The study committee was given a directive by the Legislative Council to only study other states' custody practices. This is not the directive passed by the Legislature, stating that the study was to cover custody, visitation and child support problems in the state of North Dakota.

Family Court Justice Committee Says Wait Times Still Most Pressing Issue

Family court judges could be contributing to the system backlog by not listening to testimony, or reading documents filed with the court, resulting in further delays, a new report by the Family Court Justice Committee suggests.

The six-member committee, comprised of lawyers, family counselors and single mothers, also worries decisions are not being based on all of the facts.

It recommends the province's family court judges be subjected to reviews by an independent judicial commission to ensure the rights of children are protected, due process is adhered to, and that no gender or other biases are present.

Court Staff Overwhelmed in YFZ Child Custody Cases

A task force of volunteer lawyers traveled to San Angelo to assist in the YFZ Ranch child protection cases, the Texas Supreme Court press office reported April 18.

The volunteers were in San Angelo for an April 17 custody hearing concerning the 416 children taken from YFZ Ranch, a polygamist settlement owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The church is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormon Church.

In early April, state agencies entered the ranch near Eldorado in Schleicher County and took the children into custody after an anonymous caller said she had been beaten and sexually abused at the site.

YFZ Ranch Kids to Stay in State Custody

The 416 children removed from the polygamist compound near Eldorado will stay in state custody for now, a judge ruled Friday night following a two-day hearing.

State District Judge Barbara Walther also ordered that the children undergo genetic testing to determine their parents and said the state will send a mobile lab to conduct the tests to the San Angelo Coliseum where the children are being kept.

Documents Showing Abuse Released in West Texas Polygamist Compound Case

Even more new details are emerging about alleged child abuse within the locked gates of the compound, and concerns have been raised for the past four years.

The primary reason being given is because until now everyone says their hands were tied. Rumors and speculation about alleged child physical and sexual abuse, underage marriages and holding people against their will inside the church are nothing new. They were raised four years ago in Eldorado and even more recently at the state capitol.

But until one 16-year old girl cried out officially for help just over a week ago, everyone says the same thing: they did not have probable cause to take action.

Pittsburgh Steelers' Najeh Davenport Acquitted In Domestic Case

Steelers' running back Najeh Davenport has been found by a jury not guilty Wednesday of all criminal charges filed against him in connection with a domestic violence incident stemming from a child custody issue.

A local jury composed of five women and three men has cleared the Steelers backup tailback last night of all three counts of demeanor. Davenport is charged with domestic violence, child endangerment and unlawful restraint stemming from a child custody dispute on Oct 4.