There No Such Thing as a “Secondary Parent”
A few years ago, Illinois made a change in terms used in family law cases involving children, replacing “custody” with “parenting time” to describe who the children will be with at any given time, and “parental responsibility” to describe who will have the authority to make major decisions like schooling, health care and religious education. […]
Family Mediation: Building on Common Ground
Family separation creates great emotional stress. Change – even the thought of change — naturally causes conflict. The way these conflicts get resolved can affect the entire family’s adjustment for years to come. As a mediator, I work with people who are often upset, angry, confused and fearful about the future. Mediation provides a safe, […]
Your Privacy During Divorce and Family Law Actions
Do You Get Any Privacy When You Go to Court or is Everything Fair Game? Everyone has an expectation of privacy in their lives. What we share, and with whom, is by design and at our comfort level. When information, of a private or proprietary nature, is shared with another the expectation is that it […]
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE COURTS — AND PARENTS – GET CREATIVE
In the legal world, things rarely happen quickly. But global pandemics don’t take their time, and so when the restrictions to address the spread of COVID-19 were put in place seemingly overnight, the legal system had no choice but to make changes as well. For lawyers handling family law cases, the changes came almost daily […]
We Are All Going To Have To Try A Bit Harder
Many parents are struggling to find answers on how to handle child placement during the COVID-19 crisis. We are sailing in uncharted waters, and the places we most often turn to for answers are not readily available. Recently, one Canadian judge, was assigned the difficult task of deciding which families should have access to the […]
SEVEN GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS WHO ARE DIVORCED/SEPARATED AND SHARING CUSTODY OF CHILDREN DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
From the leaders of groups that deal with families in crisis: American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Susan Myres, President of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) Dr. Matt Sullivan, President of Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) Annette Burns, AAML and Former President of AFCC Yasmine Mehmet, AAML Kim Bonuomo, AAML Nancy Kellman, AAML […]
Grandparent’s Rights
On May 31, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued the latest in a series of cases addressing the complicated issue of grandparent rights to visitation. Family court advocates throughout the state hoped the ruling would bring clarity to the question. They were disappointed. Grandparent visitation cases come about because two well- established principles in the law […]
The Search For A Child’s “Best Interests”
“Best interests of the child.” Wisconsin law is peppered with this phrase, and it is the guiding principle for judges when they make decisions affecting the child’s welfare. However, it is not always clear where “best interests” lie. One recent Wisconsin Court of Appeals case illustrates how hard it can be to protect a child’s […]
Big Money Case Decided on Basic Principles
Relationships, unfortunately, often come to an end. When the relationship involves the founder of one of the most recognizable businesses in the Midwest, and his lawyer/former fiancée, you have the makings of a plot worthy of a primetime soap opera. Such was the case of Dawn Sands v. John Menard & Menard, Inc., which recently […]
Engineering Better Outcomes For Families
I’m the kind of person who will read anything – books and newspapers, cereal boxes, even junk mail – and I’m always on the hunt for new material. When my software developer son told me he was picking up a lot of good ideas from a 20 year old book, I thought I’d give it […]