Tag Archives: family law
After the holidays, Divorce Day looms
Danielle Braff Chicago Tribune
The Christmas season isn’t always the happiest time of the year for couples, according to a recent survey by the law firm Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, which found that divorce filings jump by nearly one-third following the holidays.
First comes Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas and New Year’s. And then there’s Divorce Day: the Monday after Christmas break, when the flood of divorce emails clogs attorney inboxes, said James McLaren, partner with McLaren & Lee, in South Carolina, and former president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
“It always happens the first Monday that we’re back in the office, back after the holiday,” McLaren said.
Over at the U.K. law firm Slater and Gordon, they’re already preparing to deal with the influx of divorce requests.
They normally experience double the number of inquiries the first few days of the new year, but some years, they’ve seen a threefold increase. It’s most acute over the first few days of January, but the spike remains high throughout the entire month, said Amanda McAlister, head of family law at the firm.
It’s become such a significant time to divorce that the firm recently studied the reasons behind the trend.
Forty percent of married couples had problems in 2014, with 10 percent having severe issues, according to the study, which polled married Brits right before Christmas.
Twenty-five percent said the holiday break could possibly make or break their marriage, according to the survey, and 10 percent said they were definitely going to decide whether to go forward with their marriage depending on how well the holiday went.
Read Full – http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/sc-christmas-divorces-family-1213-20161208-story.html
Sumner Redstone paid millions to mistresses and others who gave him ‘sexual favors,’ legal filing says
That must have been a hell of a flight.
Media titan Sumner Redstone gave out many millions of dollars to multiple women — mistresses, a flight attendant and that attendant’s sister — according to legal documents filed Monday by his 45-year-old ex-girlfriend.
The CBS corporate jet flight attendant alone got $18 million — and her sister, whom Redstone allegedly bedded, received a cool $6 million from the randy billionaire, court filings claim.
The explosive allegations by former Redstone paramour Sydney Holland were accompanied by a warning that she “may be forced” to seek testimony from the 93-year-old mogul’s celebrity friends as well as from executives from Viacom and CBS, whose shares he controls, to substantiate her salacious claims.
Redstone’s legal team, in an emailed statement to CNBC, said, “Ms. Holland’s cross-complaint is a work of fiction punctuated by not-so-subtle threats of extortion and an overwhelming stench of greed.”
In her Los Angeles Superior Court filing, Holland said Redstone “gave tens of millions of dollars to various other women — who he had no intention of marrying and was not in love with — at the time he was engaged to marry” Holland.
Full Article – http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/12/redstone-allegedly-paid-millions-to-mistresses-and-others-while-getting-sexual-favors.html
Dispelling some of the myths of international family law
The laws of the world concerning family relationships are still predominantly national but too often international families face problems, bureaucracy, misunderstandings and simple obstacles in just living as a family in a country.
A decade or so ago, marrying someone from abroad or living and working in another country was a rarity. Now many millions of people are moving across the globe to relocate as families and as individuals to live and work abroad.Living as a family in another country can be difficult at the best of times, but it is even more difficult when there are relationship difficulties. The laws of the world concerning family relationships are still predominantly national but too often international families face problems, bureaucracy, misunderstandings and simple obstacles in just living as a family in a country.England only applies English law but there are many countries, principally within Europe, that apply the law of another country in a process known as ‘applicable law’.Even within the UK there are different laws. England and Wales are one country for family law purposes. Scotland is a very different country in relation to family law matters and regarding the court structure. The Republic of Ireland is a separate sovereign state. The Isle of Man has its own legal system, although much of Manx law is based on the principles of English common law.Some countries like the US and Switzerland have quite different laws between the different states or cantons. Other countries such as Australia have one combined law for the whole country on some aspects regarding international families but different laws in each state on other aspects, whereas India and Israel have different laws dependant on religion. The EU does not include Denmark for some family law legislation. As international family lawyers we are regularly asked to explain what some have described as ‘myths’ about international family law. We have taken a number of the most common questions to try to dispel some of these issues.
I have to divorce in the country where we were married?
No. One can choose in which country to divorce if there is a connection. It does not have to be the country where you were married. When a couple divorce, apart from issues concerning any children which are paramount, the next big issue is to secure the best possible financial outcome. England has been described as the ‘divorce capital of the world’ as we tend to be generous especially to wives in terms of financial settlement. Each case is different.
I can move to another country to live with our children if our marriage is over?
If the other parent does not agree, no move can take place, not even for a short holiday. An application for permission needs to be made to the court before the move takes place. If the other parent agrees, this is fine but we recommend securing permission in writing stating that the move is permanent. If you are a single mother and the father does not have parental responsibility for the child and no contact provisions are in place, you can move but again we never advise this without notifying the other parent. If you take a child abroad, away from his home without consent, you may find yourself facing criminal proceedings for child abduction which may result in a fine or imprisonment. Huge powers are given to the court to track down parents who abduct children. The Data Protection Act has no status in a search for missing children.
Full Read – http://www.relocatemagazine.com/articles/partner-family-dispelling-some-of-the-myths-of-international-family-law
Angelina dumped Brad after private eye uncovered Marion Cotillard affair
Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pittafter learning he was cheating on her with his sexy co-star, a well-placed source told The Post on Tuesday.
“She hired a private eye because she felt that he was fooling around with her on the set, and it turns out, he was. And that was the final straw,’’ the source said.
Pitt, 52, had been rumored to have been cozying up to his “Allied’’ co-star Marion Cotillard, 40, for months during the pair’s filming of the World War II drama in London.
The PI discovered that Pitt was cheating on his wife of two years with Cotillard — while also partying like a single guy on a mission, the source said.
“The atmosphere [off-set] was full of hard drugs and Russian hookers, and Angie was told Brad got caught up in it,’’ the source said.
“He’s in the throes of some insane midlife crisis, and Angie is fed up.”
But a source close to Cotillard denied the Pitt affair rumors and insisted she is still with her long-term partner, French actor and director Guillaume Canet.
“They are still very much together. They have been a couple since 2007 and have one child but have never married,’’ the source said of Cotillard and Canet.
The source could not confirm French reports that Cotillard is pregnant with her second child with Canet.
Read Full – http://pagesix.com/2016/09/20/angelina-dumped-brad-after-private-eye-uncovered-marion-cotillard-affair/