tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-137406 2009-11-14T12:39:47-05:00 Jeanne Hannah Traverse City Family Lawyer TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0120a69ede67970b 2009-11-14T12:39:47-05:00 2009-11-14T12:40:34-05:00

Earlier this fall, I wrote about a column printed in the New York Times by Laura Munson - "Those Aren't Fighting Words, Dear." Munson wrote about sticking it out and seeing it through the "rough patch" with her spouse.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0120a65276ac970b 2009-11-04T08:31:00-05:00 2009-11-04T08:31:00-05:00

Last May, Maine's Governor John E. Baldacci signed a same-sex marriage into law without previous action by the courts. He was the first governor to in the United States to do so. Opposition to the law was so swift that not a single couple exchanged vows. Yesterday, voters rejected the law in a referendum election.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0120a6a0a6d5970c 2009-11-03T12:30:00-05:00 2009-11-04T14:02:12-05:00

According to a Detroit News article today, requests for modification of child support orders are flooding Michigan's court system. And many of those requests are being granted. Couple the lowering of child support with a loss of health care benefits where jobs and insurance plans have evaporated . . . and it's clearly creating hardship all around. The article offers parents who have no attorney access to information and resources to help them.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0120a69fac1c970c 2009-11-02T07:58:11-05:00 2009-11-02T23:53:08-05:00

An article published in The Wall Street Journal on October 31, 2009 garnered over emotionally charged 170 online comments over the weekend. The tenor of the article is set at the beginning: "Long viewed as payment for life, divorce settlements are facing strict new limits as some ex-spouses—primarily men—protest the endless support of a former partner. For richer, for poorer, forever?" The article gives many examples of modifications of alimony many years following a divorce and cites the hardships imposed upon the payor. In many instances, the payee looks like a scheming, undeserving individual -- often, but not always a female. Many of the comments warn about getting married and thus risking assumption of liability for the support of another.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0120a644a923970b 2009-10-31T13:56:00-04:00 2009-10-31T14:44:36-04:00

Wonderful news today! Little Lenora Karolys has been returned from China. In January, her father suggested that his wife join him in China with their daughter, then 2 1/2. Once they were there, Rodrigo Karolys allegedly kidnapped the child and...

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0120a69a04f2970c 2009-10-31T13:27:38-04:00 2009-11-01T17:41:17-05:00

Male.female October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Thus, there has been much discussion about DV. Men and their supporters are drawing attention to the fact that many articles and blog posts depict men as the perpetrators and women as the victims. In reality, men also can be victims of domestic violence. Sometimes women are perpetrators, and not the victims, of domestic violence.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0120a67345bc970c 2009-10-26T20:02:00-04:00 2009-10-26T20:02:00-04:00

Ben Stevens, South Carolina Family Law blogger and also a tech blogger [http:themaclawyer.com] suggests the following two services for storing and sharing files online.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0120a66eecf5970c 2009-10-26T08:57:00-04:00 2009-10-26T08:57:00-04:00

I've written previously about Internet safety for those in the middle of a divorce or post-divorce difficulties. In particular, I've warned about use of Facebook and MySpace. These social networking websites can offer a wealth of information that might be used against someone whose battling for custody of children or have other issues (such as spousal support) that can be impacted by disclosure of activities.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0120a6472a4f970c 2009-10-22T00:43:00-04:00 2009-10-24T11:09:25-04:00

Online people search engine enable you to look up information by name, email address, username, or phone number, and pull all of the information together into a nice report. Preview a variety of them here.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0120a60cd945970b 2009-10-21T10:24:34-04:00 2009-10-22T11:14:41-04:00

An interesting Court of Appeals case was released yesterday. Shelly Reynolds filed an action for quiet title to real estate after her former spouse and his mother filed liens against her property. David and Laura Reynolds answered and filed counterclaims of "false liens, slander of title, perjury and harassment." Shelly Reynolds answered the counterclaim and raised several affirmative defenses including resjudicata, collateral estoppel, etc. [That must have been one bitter divorce case they'd been through.]

Jeanne Hannah