All too often, one parent in a divorce refuses to accept a court’s child custody decision and takes matters into his or her own hands. With marriages between citizens of different countries becoming more common in the 21st century, the problem of international child abduction can present unique problems.
The most common scenario for international child abduction occurs when an American citizen marries a citizen of a foreign country and they have children together, but their marriage ends in divorce. When one of the parents takes the children to a foreign country in violation of a court order, an international child abduction has occurred.
The United States and more than 80 others nations have signed a treaty to prevent international child abduction, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. International law requires countries that signed the Hague Convention to recognize and enforce the child custody orders of other countries that have signed the treaty.
However, many Asian countries have not signed the Hague Convention, including some of America’s closest allies in the region. According to the U.S. State Department, Japan and India account for more than 300 cases of international child abduction, involving more than 400 children.
Once a child has been abducted to a country that has not signed the Hague Convention, a parent who has been left behind has very few remedies. In fact, one American parent recently spent 18 days in a Japanese prison after a failed attempt to bring his children back home.
There has been progress in many Asian countries. South Korea and Singapore have recently announced they will sign the Hague Convention. However, Japan and India have shown little indication that they do likewise. In our next post, we will discuss the phenomenon of international child abduction in more detail and the efforts that are underway to reunite American parents with their children.
Source: The Washington Post, “Japan, India pressed to curb child abductions,” David Crary, 12/7/2010
Divorce on the rise among older couples
Wisconsin residents who are getting on in years may be more likely to get a divorce than previous generations. Statistics show that while overall the divorce rate in the United States is dropping, half of all marriages end in divorce, and the reason that number remains high is because of divorce among baby boomers.
Experts speculate that both longer lifespans and women’s financial independence are among the factors that have lead to a divorce rate among 55-to-64-year-olds that more than doubled between 1990 and 2012. For people 65 and over, the divorce rate tripled during that period.
Among younger generations, people are waiting longer to marry or not marrying at all. From the 1940s through the 1970s, the average age of marriage for women was around 20, but it has now risen to about 27. Younger generations are also more likely to forgo marriage altogether in favor of living together although those relationships are less likely to last than marriages. People are also less likely to remarry after a divorce compared to the past.
What all this means for the stability of millennial marriages remains to be seen. The median amount of time for a first marriage to last is 12 years. However, first marriages are more likely to last than subsequent ones.
As these figures demonstrate, many people will make the decision to divorce. Ending a marriage can be difficult, but it can also mean a fresh start although it may involve some financial worries. Older people in particular may be concerned about their financial security and protecting their retirement accounts. Younger people may have to make decisions about child custody. An attorney might be helpful in discussing these issues as well as spousal support and property division.
The importance of financial planning during marriage
It is very important that Wisconsin couples make certain that they plan financially when they are married. Making certain to save and to learn good financial decision-making skills can help people to be able to survive even if their marriages later come to an end.
One issue that frequently happens is when one spouse takes on all of the financial duties of the marriage. While that person may learn to budget, pay bills on time and keep the debt in check, the other person may simply not learn those skills. If the person who didn’t learn how to take care of themselves financially gets divorced, he or she may be in real financial trouble later on.
It is a good idea for both spouses to make certain they are fully informed about the finances of their marriages. Each spouse should also try to make the maximum contributions to their retirement plans, increasing their contribution amounts as their incomes also increase. Learning how to take care of financial decisions and building a comfortable nest egg can be very helpful later on whether the couple remains together or ends up divorcing.
Property division in a divorce may be quite complex, especially if the marriage has lasted for multiple years, and the couple has accumulated both assets and debts. Wisconsin is a community property state, which means that a divorce court will divide marital assets and debts equally between the estranged spouses unless the parties are able to agree otherwise. In many cases, their respective attorneys are able to negotiate a settlement agreement that their clients are happier with. Negotiations can usually be accomplished in less time than litigating the issue would take as well.
Social media blunders in divorce cases
Divorcing spouses in Wisconsin may wish to think carefully before sending an email message or making a social media post that contradicts what they have said in court or during property division or child custody negotiations. Family law attorneys once had to rely on experts like forensic accountants and private investigators to uncover concealed assets or infidelity. However, many are now able to get all of the evidence they need by simply spending a few minutes online.
Negotiations over alimony and child support can be particularly contentious, and divorcing spouses may claim that they just do not have the funds to pay what is being asked of them. Such pleas of financial hardship are likely to ring hollow if the spouse concerned has posted photographs on social media depicting extravagant new purchases or lavish vacations. Having accounts on dating websites could also cause problems for spouses who have denied allegations of infidelity.
While many spouses understand that what they post on Facebook may be there for all the world to see, they often believe that their email correspondence is private and secure. Attorneys can actually subpoena this information and even use it in court if it benefits their clients. While deleting emails and online posts may seem like a prudent step to take for those wishing to avoid embarrassment, even deleted data can sometimes be recovered.
Family law attorneys will likely understand the damage that ill-advised online posts can do, and they may urge their clients to ensure that social media profiles and emails match what they are saying during divorce negotiations. Attorneys may also scrutinize the social media profiles of the friends and associates of spouses for compromising photographs or other information that could be used in court.
Tumbling Marriage Rates in Wisconsin Raise Family Law Questions
The United State Census Bureau released its statistics on marriage this week. The numbers tell an interesting story. In the 1960s, more than 80 percent of American adults were married. By 2000, the number fell to 57 percent. The recent figure for 2009 is 52 percent nationwide and 53 percent for Wisconsin. In Milwaukee County, only 41 percent of adults were married as of 2009.
The reasons for the decline are unclear. Some would argue that it is a sign of deteriorating family values. Others point out that young adults are waiting longer to get married than previous generations. Still others maintain that women no longer see marriage as a requirement for economic reasons. While the cause for the drop in marriage rates is up for debate, the effects are fairly predictable when it comes to family law.
With fewer marriages there will be less formal arrangements between couples. Many couples are choosing to live together or cohabitate. According to the Population Reference Bureau, the decline in marriage rates “has been accompanied by a rapid increase in the number of cohabitating couples.”
When cohabitating couples break up, they do not divorce. Divorce allows married couples to divide their property, arrange for alimony (maintenance), child custody, visitation and child support. But many cohabitating couples have children and this often raises the issue of paternity, child custody, and child support.
When unmarried couples who have children separate, these issues are often left hanging and they require a court order for final resolution. The process can be complex and confusing. It is important to be fully aware of your rights and responsibilities when it comes to your children. An experienced family law attorney can help you understand your options, rights, and responsibilities.
Source: MilwaukeeNewsBuzz.com: Is Wisconsin losing its taste for wedlock?; Matt Hrodey, 9/30/2010
Evolution in the Law of Child Custody: Part One
The law and family law in particular has a tendency of moving and evolving at glacial pace. But, much like a glacier’s movement has major consequences to the landscape around it; movements in the law can have tremendously important effects on everything around it. There is now a movement in the law to broaden the concept of parenting, and who can be considered a parent.
Recently, Drake Bennet wrote an interesting article in the Boston Globe on the notion of child custody in non-traditional families. With 21st century technology in assisted reproduction and increased acceptance of same-sex couples, many families do not resemble the family that the legal system has in mind. Today, many children are brought up with parent-like relationships with three or more adults.
Our legal system recognizes that a child can be in the custody of one or two people, but no more than that. This presumption exists because a child cannot have more than two biological parents. However, families can often be structured differently, with more than two adults having a parent-like relationship with a child. The law is often slow to adjust to changes in society, and new family arrangements can often seem out of step with the way family law judges deal with child custody issues. Changes in the way the law deals with families and children may come slowly, but such changes have happened in the past and have had dramatic consequences.
In the next part of this article, we will go into more detail about how the law of parentage has evolved in the past and where it may be heading.
Source: Boston Globe (Boston.com): Johnny has two mommies – and four dads; Drake Bennett, 10/24/2010.
Evolution in the Law of Child Custody: Part Two
Some of biggest changes in family law over the last 200 years have dealt with children born to unmarried people. American family law is derived from English common law. According to Nancy Poikoff, a family-law professor at American University, children born out of wedlock before the 19th century had no parents under the law. Children born out of wedlock had very little rights and parents of such children owed very little responsibility to them. In the 19th century, the law changed and mothers were automatically assigned parentage of children. If she were unmarried, she would be considered the sole parent. If she were married, her husband would also be considered the legal father (whether he was the biological father or not.)
In the 20th century, we saw the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children eroded. In the 1960s and 1970s, the United State Supreme Court struck down state laws that penalized children born out of wedlock.
We are now seeing some movement in the law towards recognizing more than two adults as parents of a child. We saw two such cases in 2007. In Canada, a country that also has its laws derived from English common law, the Ontario Court of Appeals divided parental rights between a sperm donor and both members of a lesbian couple. In Pennsylvania, a trial court similarly awarded custody to a sperm donor and a both members of a same sex couple.
Right now, we are on the front end of a trend in family law. Change is happening gradually, but could have major effects on the way courts deal with parental rights. Family relationships can be complex and the breakup of a family can be a traumatic experience. Parental rights and child custody issues tend to be complex, and the courts are still coming to grips as to how to deal with non-traditional families. If you have questions regarding child custody and parents’ rights issues, an experienced family law attorney can help you find answers.
Source: Boston Globe (Boston.com): Johnny has two mommies – and four dads; Drake Bennett, 10/24/2010.
Dwyane Wade Making Child Custody a Priority
Former Marquette All-American and current Miami Heat standout Dwyane Wade is gearing up for another run at the NBA championship. However, he is also fighting an even more important battle for his rights as a father. Wade and his former high school sweetheart have been involved in a lengthy divorce and child custody battle over their two sons, 8 and 3 years of age, that began in 2007.
Wade’s career, wealth and fame are proving to be a bit of a double-edged sword in his child custody fight. He is facing a great deal of pressure from the sports media and from his team to focus on basketball in Miami instead of focusing on a child custody fight in Chicago. Additionally, courts often wonder what sort of life a single father with a demanding career can provide for two young boys. However, his career gives him an advantage that many fathers do not have. With excellent financial resources, there can be no doubt about his ability to provide for his boys.
In October, when the rest of the NBA was in fulltime practice mode, Wade appeared in a Chicago court to answer many questions and state his case for custody of his children. He does not believe they will be safe with their mother, and he would like to be in control of exchanges of the children because his ex-wife has allegedly failed to bring his children to visitation in the past. “This is not just about the next 5 or 10 years of my career. This is about the next 40 or 50 years of my life,” Wade said.
Wade’s devotion to his children is commendable, and we hope the high-pressure sports media understands that his priorities are indeed correct. Children are an incredibly important aspect of a parent’s life and are absolutely worth the time and effort Dwyane Wade is making.
Source: ESPN.com: Wade making good choices off court; Michael Wallace, 10/20/2010
Holiday Child Custody tips for Divorced Parents
For divorced parents, the holidays can be a stressful experience. All too often, divorced parents cannot agree on who will get the kids and where they will spend the holidays. The arguments begin around Thanksgiving, peak at Christmas carry on through New Year’s Day.
This is not just hard on the parents. Holiday arguments can deeply affect children of divorce as well. For children of divorced parents, the childhood holiday memories many of us look back on fondly become filled with arguing and holiday stress. With holiday visitation around the corner, the Huffington Post’s Stacy Schneider wrote an interesting article featuring her tips to ease holiday custody fights. We would like to share of her tips and some additional tips with you.
Planning holiday visitation is incredibly important and is not something to be left until the last minute. This helps to avoid last minute arguments. When planning visitation, do so in detail. Include every detail you can think of, including pick up and drop off times and locations as well as who is spending what part of the holiday where. Putting a plan in writing can help resolve any miscommunication ahead of time.
It is not just important to plan and communicate with your ex-spouse, it is important to communicate with your children as well. Children can deal better with holiday stress when a plan is in place and they understand what is going on, so it is best to include them in your plans. Additionally, some children will feel guilty when leaving a parent behind on a holiday visit. Having a plan for what you will be doing while they are gone and communicating that plan to them will help to alleviate any guilt the children may be experiencing.
Sources: Huffington Post: Avoiding Holiday Custody Tug of Wars; Stacy Schneider, 11/10/2010
Evansville Courier & Press: Planning, new routines can ease holidays for children of divorce; Davi Stein, 11/30/2010
International Problems in Child Custody Disputes
All too often, one parent in a divorce refuses to accept a court’s child custody decision and takes matters into his or her own hands. With marriages between citizens of different countries becoming more common in the 21st century, the problem of international child abduction can present unique problems.
The most common scenario for international child abduction occurs when an American citizen marries a citizen of a foreign country and they have children together, but their marriage ends in divorce. When one of the parents takes the children to a foreign country in violation of a court order, an international child abduction has occurred.
The United States and more than 80 others nations have signed a treaty to prevent international child abduction, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. International law requires countries that signed the Hague Convention to recognize and enforce the child custody orders of other countries that have signed the treaty.
However, many Asian countries have not signed the Hague Convention, including some of America’s closest allies in the region. According to the U.S. State Department, Japan and India account for more than 300 cases of international child abduction, involving more than 400 children.
Once a child has been abducted to a country that has not signed the Hague Convention, a parent who has been left behind has very few remedies. In fact, one American parent recently spent 18 days in a Japanese prison after a failed attempt to bring his children back home.
There has been progress in many Asian countries. South Korea and Singapore have recently announced they will sign the Hague Convention. However, Japan and India have shown little indication that they do likewise. In our next post, we will discuss the phenomenon of international child abduction in more detail and the efforts that are underway to reunite American parents with their children.
Source: The Washington Post, “Japan, India pressed to curb child abductions,” David Crary, 12/7/2010
International Problems in Child Custody Disputes: Part II
The effects of a country’s refusal to sign the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction are profound. When a parent absconds with their children to a country like Japan or India even though there is an American child custody order in place, the foreign courts will ignore the previous child custody order and start over from scratch.
While both India and Japan recognize that child custody matters should be decided by looking to the best interests of the child, they have vastly different criteria than U.S. courts. For example, it is accepted practice in Japan that only one parent, usually the mother, should have sole custody of the child after a divorce.
Even some countries that have signed the Hague Convention will occasionally ignore an American child custody order. Last year, a case involving Brazil made headlines. In 2004, Sean Goldman’s mother took him from New Jersey to Brazil in violation of a New Jersey court order. In 2008, Sean’s mother died in Brazil, leaving the boy in the custody of her family. It was not until December 2009 and not until Brazil’s Supreme Court weighed in, that Sean was returned to his father.
Presently, there is a legislative effort underway to bring more pressure upon countries that ignore American child custody orders. New Jersey Congressman believes that the U.S. State Department’s diplomatic approach is falling short of reuniting parents with their children. Introducing a bill that would create the Office on International Child Abductions within the State Department and create a process for imposing economic sanctions on countries that are havens for international child abduction.
Source: The Washington Post, “Japan, India pressed to curb child abductions,” David Crary, 12/7/2010