Posted on March 18, 2013 in Divorce

Your social media activity can affect your divorce proceedings.

Clicking those blue “like” buttons all across the internet may do more than marking you as a fan of a product. It could out you as gay, reveal how you vote, or even suggest that you are “an unmarried introvert with a high IQ and a weakness for nicotine,” according to The Whig.

A newly published study from the National Academy of Sciences concluded this in its findings. Researchers analyzed the likes of over 58,000 American Facebook users to make guesses about their personalities and behavior, even including whether they smoked, drank, or did drugs.

One author of the study, Cambridge University researcher David Stillwell, said the results may come as a surprise. “Your likes may be saying more about you than you realize.”

Facebook added its like button in 2009 and the thumbs up sign has become universal on social networks and common across the web as well. Facebook reported roughly 2.7 billion new likes are added to the internet every day. That means an increasing pool of data for marketers, managers, and anyone else interested, especially from people who aren’t careful with their privacy settings.

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 Posted on March 15, 2013 in Divorce

Many people think that controversy and politics go hand in hand. A story recently reported by Think Progress Justice, proves that train of thought just may be true.

Earlier this week, the Iowa state House presented a bill to that would deem a no fault divorce illegal and no longer a viable option for divorcing couples. State Representative Tedd Gassman (R) took the podium to support the bill. Under this new law, parents who have children under the age of 18 would have to prove that there was a crime committed against the family. These crimes could include adultery, abandonment or criminal activity that puts the family in danger.

He stated that the continued break up of families would lead to the eventual break down of America. He also stated that divorce puts young people, especially girls, at risk. He stated that a teenage girl from a divorced family is more apt to become promiscuous. It was later reported that there are no plans to have the bill heard before the committee.  It is speculated that this decision was made because of the statements that were made in connection with this bill.

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 Posted on March 12, 2013 in Divorce

Infidelity is one of the most commonly cited reasons for divorce.  Social media is not helping to keep people honest in their relationships.  Relationship expert Logan Levkoff said that “the Internet lends itself to secret behaviors. It just offers more avenues [to cheat].”  There are also other dangers presented to divorce by the internet and specifically social media.

A recent study decided to ask cheaters questions about their behaviors.  They surveyed 2,400 American adults to find common behaviors of cheaters.  One third of them had created a social media or email account that was unknown to their spouses.  The most commonly used site to cheat on was Facebook.

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 Posted on March 09, 2013 in Divorce

On February 6^th, Pamela Smith filed a paternity suit against the NBA legend Michael Jordan.  She claimed that the two had an extramarital relationship in 1995, which resulted in a pregnancy.  At that time, Jordan was married to his wife Juanita, who he divorced in 2006.

The Georgia woman requested to change her son, Grant Pierce Jordan Reynolds’ last name to Jordan.  She also wants child support and assistance in paying for medical bills that are not covered by insurance. This comes on the heels of “Taj” posting a confessional video on YouTube in December of last year that confesses that MJ is his father and that they should have a better relationship.

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 Posted on March 06, 2013 in Divorce

Kim Kardashian already had a due date for her baby; she now has a trial date for her divorce from NBA player Kris Humphries, according to a recent post by the Quincy Herald-Whig.

A May 6 trial was set for the reality TV star by a judge on Friday.  Kardashian wants to end her marriage before July, which is when her child with Kanye West is due to be born.

Kardashian and Humphries had been married for only 72 days when she filed for divorce on October 31, 2011.

Their trial is predicted to last three to five days and has the potential to reveal details about Kardashians reality show empire, which includes “Keeping up with the Kardashians” and a few other spinoff shows as well.

It was determined Friday that Humphries’ lawyers will have adequate time to prepare for the trial.  Humphries would prefer to have the marriage annulled, stating that Kardashian only married him for the sake of her show.  She, however, denies that allegation and wants what would be her second divorce.

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 Posted on March 02, 2013 in Child Custody and Support

The Louisiana Department of Children’s and Family Services (DCYF) recently announced the success of a pilot program the agency launched in September 2011, intercepting more than $806,000 in casino winnings  from 599 parents to cover back child support payments. Currently there is more than $1.2 billions in child support that is owed by non-custodial parents.

The program was introduced and passed in 2010 to deal with the growing problem of child support evasion. Any gambling winnings over $1200 are seized and applied to the back child support. There are currently 18 casinos in the state participating in the program. Two days after it went into effect, $1995.40 was collected from a non-custodial father. Other states that have enacted similar casino winning laws are Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico and West Virginia.

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 Posted on February 28, 2013 in Child Custody and Support

Much has been written about couples who are in the midst of a divorce using each other’s social media networking sites against each other. The New York Daily News recently reported about the case of a New York mother who lost custody of her ten year old son because of the disparaging remarks she make about him on her Facebook page, in what some are referring to as a form of “cyber-bullying”.

According to court documents, the parents separated in 2006 and entered into a joint custody agreement for their three children. In 2009, the parents agreed to joint legal custody, with the father having primary physical custody. The mother was to have parenting time one evening per week and every other weekend. The following year, the mother filed a modification to increase her parenting time, which the father objected to. The father also requested sole legal custody of the three children.

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 Posted on February 26, 2013 in Adoption

It’s no longer a secret that Kim Kardashian, whose marriage to Kris Humphries lasted less than three months, is now pregnant with her boyfriend Kanye West’s baby. Humphries has acknowledged that lengthening the time of the divorce could cause stress that may be harmful to the baby, he seems to be in no rush. It is clear, however, that Kim is.

Humphries attorney has claimed that Kim is only using her pregnancy as an “opportunity to gain a litigation advantage,” or she is simply using her pregnancy as an excuse to speed up the divorce since there is a clear due date.

Kim, however, says it’s much simpler than that. “I do not want to be married to [Humphries] when I have my baby,” stated the reality star in a declaration that was filed Jan. 24 in the Los Angeles Superior Court, reported E! News.

As directly quoted by E!, Kim’s declaration states, “Immediately upon it becoming known to the public I was pregnant…I began to see articles in the media with quotes attributed to [Humphries] stating that now that I am pregnant he has ‘got all the power,’ ‘that he is in control of my misery,’ and that is not going ‘to allow’ me to be divorced by the time that I have my baby.”

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 Posted on February 22, 2013 in Adoption

International adoptions by U.S. parents fell 7 percent in 2012, continuing a multi-year decline caused partially by stricter adoption laws, the Chicago Tribune reported on January 24. The number of internationally adopted children dropped from 9,320 to 8,668, with most of the children coming from China than from any other country.

"This is a continuation of a trend," said Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. "There's no lack of, if you will, demand in this country," he said. "People would like to adopt more children; the issue is whether those children are available. And they're becoming less and less available, and that's what the numbers show."

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 Posted on February 20, 2013 in Family Law

Married couples who share similar drinking habits may get along better than couples where one partner is a heavy drinker but the other is not, according to a new study from Norway. In general, divorce is much more likely to happen in relationships where the usage of alcohol is high. The study suggests that especially in marriages where the wife is a heavy drinker, the relationship is more likely to end in divorce. In marriages where only the wife consumed considerable amounts of alcohol, the divorce rate was 26.8%. But in marriages where only the husband was a heavy drinker, the divorce rate was not nearly as high, only 13.1%.

The researchers speculate that drinking in women upended marriages for gender and cultural reasons. Women are generally more strongly affected by alcohol than men are which may impair them, and add risk in a marriage, more than a husband’s drinking might. In addition, drinking “may be judged as incompatible with female roles.”

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