tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-137406 2009-07-13T19:59:59-04:00 Jeanne Hannah Traverse City Family Lawyer TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0115710adbbf970c 2009-07-13T19:59:59-04:00 2009-07-13T23:03:27-04:00

"The recently retired Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, Leah Ward Sears, wrote a compelling article for CNN.com in which she called for the end of 'disposable marriage.' Her brother committed suicide, and she suspected that his bitter divorce at least partially contributed to it. Some of key quotes from her commentary are listed below, but I highly recommend that everyone read the whole article:

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef011571f589c7970b 2009-07-11T17:29:54-04:00 2009-07-11T17:29:54-04:00

On July 11, 2009, the New York Times reports that tight mortgage rules exclude even good risks. This is not good news for family lawyers and their clients, no matter where they reside. Michigan, of course, has been hit hard by the worsening economy because of the dependence upon the auto industry. This impacts child custody issues (re-locations because of availability of work in another area), child support issues and also property distribution.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef011571ec07f4970b 2009-07-10T09:10:31-04:00 2009-07-10T09:10:31-04:00

Family lawyers often need public records. Sometimes there are police reports or protective service worker's reports that can be helpful or harmful to a client. Either way, to be fully prepared for a custody or parenting time hearing, you've got to have them. Here's a very easy tool to use to get these reports.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-65373631 2009-06-28T08:23:37-04:00 2009-06-28T11:45:38-04:00

Mail Tampering. Here's a situation family lawyers deal with from time to time. A husband opens mail that is specifically addressed to his wife. He sees something she very much wishes he had not seen. Or a husband finds some mail addressed to him that his wife has opened and has hidden from him. Is a spouse lawfully allowed to open the other spouse's mail? Does the offended spouse have any legal recourse where the husband and wife live together? If so, what recourse? Is it different if the parties have separated, divorce has been filed, and mail forwarding hasn't yet occurred?

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef01157084f355970c 2009-06-28T07:38:51-04:00 2009-06-28T07:38:51-04:00

NPR explores "Hooking Up," the trend that began with high school and college kids. According to the report, sex without intimacy is becoming popular in 20-somethings as well. All I have to say is: I wish that more of these young folks are using some form of birth control and I hope that they are getting vaccinated against the HPV virus. What is known is that non-marital birthrates are up for young-20s and down for teenagers.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef01157171f470970b 2009-06-27T14:51:04-04:00 2009-06-28T00:46:12-04:00

The Associated Press announced today that a federal judge in Brazil overturned Judge Rafael Pinto's June 8th decision that Sean Goldman's biological father, U.S. citizen David Goldman, should have custody of his son six days a week whenever Goldman is in Brazil. The new ruling is that Sean must remain with, Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, his Brazilian stepfather until a federal court reaches a final decision on Sean's permanent custody.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef01157159f1ef970b 2009-06-25T15:25:05-04:00 2009-06-26T08:55:04-04:00

David Goldman who has been trying to recover his son from Brazil for over five years, appeared with his lawyer Patricia Apy on the Today Show today with Meredith Viera. It was a powerful interview and a fitting exclusive rebuttal of the highly objectionable CBS Morning Show interview with Sean's stepfather and maternal grandmother earlier this week. You'll find this interview below. Happily, Viera is willing to do her homework, unlike the coverage earlier this week on CBS' The Morning Show. It was obvious that no one at CBS has a clue about the real issues here. Must be that sensationalizing a story means more to CBS than getting a hard news story right.

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68489833 2009-06-25T13:15:49-04:00 2009-06-25T13:15:49-04:00

Tough economic times may be making it harder for women to breastfeed? Yes! According to a recent ABC news story, one of the fall-outs from the recession is that some new mothers are feeling forced to take shorter maternity leaves due to concerns about finances and job stability.1

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68370909 2009-06-22T13:22:29-04:00 2009-06-23T11:21:09-04:00

Several new reports about Sean Goldman: According to the Latin American Herald Tribune, the Brazil federal court in Rio de Janeiro has authorized Sean's father, David Goldman, to live in Brazil with Sean while it reaches a definitive Sean and David Goldman verdict in the custody battle with the boy’s Brazilian stepfather. This decision in favor of David Goldman holds that pending a final verdict in the case, nine-year-old Sean, will stay on 6 days a week with his father and weekends with his stepfather. Since Sean's abduction by his mother in 2004, who died in child-birth last

Jeanne Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-68367541 2009-06-22T11:54:36-04:00 2009-06-28T01:08:14-04:00

Many of my readers know that from time to time I write about children's health issues. This is in an effort to keep parents abreast of the latest information in child health care. When appropriate, I send these blog articles out to one or more of my clients because their children are at risk or have already been diagnosed with a disease or condition (autism spectrum disorder). We all know that from time to time, children get bitten by animals . . . family pets or neighbors' roaming animals. We worry more about this in the summertime when children are outside playing. But what most people don't know is that, if not properly treated, an animal bite can be fatal. I'm going to share this information with my clients who have minor children, and I hope that you will share it with yours. If you are a lay reader, please share this information with your family, friends and neighbors. You could save a life.

Jeanne Hannah