#1 – Rush back to the altar too soon

#2 – Become the town playboy now that you are single

#3 – Introduce your children to the new woman in your life way too soon.

Read more.

1.  No Easy Answer.

“There is no litmus paper test that provides a quick and relatively easy answer to custody matters.”

2.  Ambiguous Factors.

“Present methods for determining a child’s best interests are time-consuming, involve a multitude of intangible factors that ofttimes are ambiguous.”

3.  Judge as Fortune Teller.

“The fact finder is called upon to evaluate the child’s life chances in each of the homes competing for custody and then to predict with whom the child will be better off in the future.”

4.  Best Interests = Best Guess.

“At the bottom line, what is in the child’s best interests equals the fact finder’s best guess.”

All the quotes are from Montgomery County v. Sanders, 38 Md. App. 406, 381 A.2d 1154 (1977)

The screen shot shows Goals and articles on Advice, Child Custody, Finances, Parental Alienation, Child Support and Alimony.

GizMagazine.Com has a description and screen shots of other handy divorce apps that, for a nominal cost, can help with your divorce.

I might have stumbled upon a system that works.  Ten minutes before we leave, I call an “Inspection”.  The boys stand in formation at attention.  I go through the checklist: Teeth brushed?  Check.  Hair combed?  Check.  Book bags packed?  Check.  And so on.

The penalty for missing something is 5 pushups.  Get down and count them out, mister.

They can also get pushup credits for doing something extra.  The first day one of the boys made his bed.  The next day they were fighting over who was going to make the beds.  One of them gave his brother five of his pushup credits.  So I gave him five more for being so generous.

This is working out well so far.  Both boys completed inspection perfectly this morning.  We’ll see how long it lasts.  Let me know in the comments if you try it and what success you have.

Divorce reform advocates are arguing that making divorce less easy can save the government billions of dollars in an era of mounting debt and deficits.  Reformers cite these studies:

– A Pew Charitable Trust Study in 2010 found that children of divorced parents often are hindered economically and unable to reach higher-income levels.

-– W. Bradford Wilcox wrote in a 2009 paper, citing research by professors Paul Amato and Alan Booth of Pennsylvania State University, that if America “enjoyed the same level of family stability today as it did in 1960,” there would be 70,000 fewer suicides, 600,000 fewer children undergoing therapy, 500,000 fewer acts of teenage delinquency, 750,000 fewer children repeating grades, and 1.2 million fewer school suspensions each year.

-– A new study by Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin says children of divorced parents live an average of five years less than children whose parents stayed together.

Source:  OpposingViews.com

Family Court Judge Diane Gibbons, however, took a dim view of the blog, especially since the couple has two sons, ages 10 and 12.  She ordered Morelli to shut down the site.

In its place, Morelli has set up Savethepyschoexwife.com, to raise legal fees to challenge the judge’s ruling on freedom of speech grounds.  He has already received over $5,000 in contributions.

Source:  Maggie Flecknoe, fox26medford.com

I know they did this for our own good, but sometimes I think it might have been helpful for me to actually see people arguing and fighting and resolving conflicts as I was growing up.  That way it wouldn’t have come as such a shock to me when I encountered it later in the real world.

As it turns out, a 2009 study by University of Notre Dame psychologists, cited in this article, showed that children can actually learn something good from parents fights, as long as the fight is resolved properly. The researchers found that children were stressed if they witnessed part of a fight but never saw or heard about the resolution.

The pleadings may not make much difference if the couple settles out of court.

Both parties are asking the court for joint custody of their sons, age 17 and 13.  Child support will also have to be addressed in the settlement.

Source:  Bakersfieldnow.com

In 2008, Dorene filed an action to obtain sole custody of the children.  She lost and the court amended her visitation to provide that she “shall not have any overnight male guests while the minor children are present.”

Dorene appealed contending that this provision was overbroad, because on its face it prohibits her from having her father, a brother, a new spouse, or even the children’s father spend the night at her house while the minor children are present.

The appeals court agreed.  It said a trial court has discretion to place restrictions on custodial parents’ behavior that will harm their children.  While the trial court could limit visitation if it finds that the children would be adversely affected if any boyfriends of Dorene spent the night with her, the restriction against “any overnight male guests” would prohibit Dorene from having visitors with whom she has no romantic relationship and for whom the record does not support a finding of any harmful effect on her children.

Ward v. Ward, No. S11A0437 (Georgia Supreme Court, May 31, 2011)