How We Can Help

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  Dissolution of Marriage

  Issues Involved

  Dissolution, Child Custody, Parenting Plan, Asset Agreement

  Methods Applied

  Negotiation & Mediation

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  Theo and Jean were married for 7 years and have 2 children ages 3 and 5. During that time, Theo purchased rental property with funds owned prior to the marriage and with the names of both parties on the property and a family home with a down payment from funds owned by him prior to the marriage and a loan from his parents in place of a mortgage. The payments to his parents were made with income during the marriage. Jean worked off and on.

  Theo was a realtor and developer and had very flexible work hours. He provided most of the day to day care for the children during the marriage. When the parties separated, they agreed to a 50/50 parenting plan. A year later, the wife filed for a divorce and asked for the majority of time with the children and sole decision making authority. She also demanded 60% of the residence and of the rental property. The husband's primary goal was to have a 50/50 parenting plan.

  After lengthy negotiation and mediation, the parties agreed to a 50/50 parenting plan with joint decision making. Each party received 50% of the equity in the residence after crediting the husband with the down payment and 50% of the equity in the rental property. The wife also paid the husband 50% of her accumulated retirement, which she had failed to list in the dissolution petition. We represented the husband.

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  Child Custody & Parenting Plan

  Issues Involved

  Child Custody, Parenting Plan

  Methods Applied

  Negotiation, Mediation

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  Ginger and Scott had briefly lived together and had a 5 year-old boy at the beginning of the case (6and a half at the end). Scott was approximately 35 years older than Ginger. Scott moved out shortly after the child was born and saw the child periodically, usually with little notice to the mother that he wanted to see the boy. The boy did not know Scott was his father. At these visits, Scott usually brought an overabundance of toys (gifts) and was very impatient with the boy. The boy had been thrown out of three pre-schools for behavior issues. He also acted out extensively at home. Scott repeatedly harassed the mother with irrational demands but not at a level rising to a basis for an anti-harassment order.

  We represented the mother. We got a temporary parenting plan and child support order to explain to the child that Scott was his father. We also encouraged the mother to enroll the boy in the Big Brother program to provide him with an appropriate role model. We went to trial and obtained a parenting plan giving the father graduated visits starting with supervised visitation. The father was required to exercise 80% of the visits at each of the graduated levels (3 months each) before moving on to the next. Failure to do so meant he would stay at the first level.

  We arranged for DCS to collect child support for the mother. The child thrived with therapy and with his Big Brother. His conduct changed dramatically. He started excelling in school and joined a sports team. The mother received regular child support payments (garnished by DCS) and the father chose not to see the child (which the therapist thought was positive for the child).

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  Wills & Trusts

  Issues Involved

  Wills & Trusts,

  Methods Applied

  N/A

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  John and Angela are a couple in their 50s. They have three children ranging from 15 to 25. The older two children are both in college. The oldest has been in and out of college, but is now close to graduating. The 15 year old is on the autism spectrum and will likely not be able to be self supporting when he reaches adulthood.

  The parents want to be fair to the children but also want to make sure that the youngest boy will be taken care of. Initially the parents wanted to put all of their money into trust for their youngest when they died. We discussed the appropriateness of such a plan and the likelihood that the older two would resent receiving no inheritance and would therefore be less likely to care for their brother.

  Ultimately, the parents agreed to a will that divided all their assets equally among the children, with everything in a testamentary trust for the older two until they reached the age of thirty and a special needs trust for the youngest child that would allow him to be eligible for social security and other public benefits, but would allow the trustee to provide those things (such as a condo owned by the trust, vacations, special treats) allowed by law. The parents were relieved to know that each child would receive his fair share and that their disabled child would always be cared for.

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  Prenuptial Agreement

  Issues Involved

  Prenuptial Agreement, Asset Agreements, Child Support

  Methods Applied

  Negotiation

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  Josh is a 42 year-old divorced father of two. His children live with him 50% of the time. He has a high paying job and is about to marry Linda. The couple plan to live in his house which still has a mortgage. Linda has one child who lives with her the majority of the time. She receives child support from the father. Josh wanted a prenuptial agreement that would clarify how mutual expenses were to be paid, how he could protect certain assets for his children to inherit, how child support and college would be paid and what would happen if the parties got divorced in the future or one of them died.

  We devised a prenuptial agreement that made all assets earned prior to the marriage separate property, including funds in the parties respective retirement plans. They agreed that all income during the marriage would be placed in a joint account and all expenses, including child support and future college expenses, would be paid from their joint incomes. It allowed each party to set aside funds from current income into education savings accounts or trusts. The house would remain Josh's separate property with the mortgage paid from joint income. If Linda chose to become a co-owner, she was required to put down 20% of the current value for a down payment and would then own 20% of the equity. Any equity earned thereafter would be divided equally.

  Each party also agreed to purchase sufficient life insurance with their respective children as beneficiaries, to cover future child support and college cost obligations. We represented Josh and Linda's attorney advised her to agree to the proposal.

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  Adoption

  Issues Involved

  Adoption

  Methods Applied

  N/A

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  Bill and Harold are a married couple who married two years ago. Bill had adopted a child from China prior to meeting Harold. The parties wanted both to be legal fathers to the child. The child was clearly attached to both of them and liked the fact that Harold was Chinese-American. Both men spoke fluent Chinese and the child was being raised bi-lingually. We filed a second parent adoption, brought in a social worker to do the home study. No relinquishments were necessary as Bill was the only legal parent. The adoption took approximately six months and went through easily.

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  Modification of Parenting Plan & Relocation

  Issues Involved

  Child Custody, Parenting Plan

  Methods Applied

  Negotiation

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  Marcia and David had a parenting plan in which the father saw the child every other weekend and for half of the vacations. He did not always exercise his residential time on the weekends, because he had to work. Marcia wants to move back to Michigan where her family lives and she will have better social support. We advised her that she needed to secure employment in which her earnings would be approximately the same as her earnings here. She found an equivalent job with slightly lower earnings, but a much lower cost of living. She gave notice of relocation as required, and David objected on the basis that he would see the child less because of the distance.

  We submitted a parenting plan that provided for David to see the child in Michigan once a month including on all the secular holidays that fall on a Monday. We also gave David 7 weeks over the summer and alternating school vacations. The court approved the plan and Marcia was allowed to relocate with the child.

*The names of the clients in these case studies have been changed in accordance with client confidentiality.