On Friday, a Texas court officially ended the marriage between Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria and San Antonia Spurs star Tony Parker. The two, who married in 2007, separated last November amid rumors of Parker's infidelity.
In her November filing, Longoria, 35, sought post separation support from Parker, 28. The couple signed a prenuptial agreement a few weeks before they married, which they updated two years later.
When some states began granting same-sex marriages, many legislators didn't consider the headaches that could result. Specifically, the Fair Faith and Credit Clause of the US Constitution guarantees that every state recognizes legal marriages made in other jurisdictions. But when the federal government passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1994, it allowed states to define marriage as between a man and a woman, and therefore, states didn't have to recognize these same-sex marriages. In 2003, when a Nebraska City, Nebraska same-sex couple married in Vermont, which recognizes gay marriage, the two women didn't consider DOMA.
Seven years later, one of the women, who gave birth to their daughter four years ago, petitioned the court for a divorce. District Judge Randall Rehmeier denied the two women a divorce on the grounds that the Nebraska Constitution provides that "only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in Nebraska." Because Nebraska doesn't recognize same-sex marriage, he didn't have the power to dissolve their union.
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Top Chef star, Padma Lakshmi, received quite a surprise earlier this week - the father of her 11-month old daughter filed for custody in New York. Adam Dell, a venture capitalist and brother of Dell Computer founder Michael Dell, receives about nine days of visitation per month under terms of the agreement they reached after a paternity test proved Dell was the father.
In his complaint, Dell argues that Lakshmi doesn't prioritize their daughter, Krishna, over her career. "[Lakshmi's] career as a television personality and her commitment to celebrity status involve a hectic, irregular schedule and requires frequent and distant travel." He also claims they broke up after dating for two years because she found him "unambitious"" and his career as a technology firm investor was "uninteresting."
Out of all family law claims, Equitable Distribution is by far the most complex to deal with. In Charlotte, North Carolina as well as surrounding jurisdictions, Family Law Attorneys are bound to file an Equitable Distribution Financial Affidavit within 60 days from the initial filing of a complaint that prays for Equitable Distribution. The opposing party must then serve a response within 30 days.
Most jurisdictions within North Carolina use a different affidavit for Equitable Distribution cases; however, most are very similar in context. During an Equitable Distribution trial, a court must Identify, Classify, Value and Divide/Distribute all marital assets and debt. The Affidavit, usually 30 to 40 pages in length, allows each party to identify property thought to be marital or separate; classify whether a piece of property is separate, marital or divisible; value the property; and inform the court on how he or she would like the property to be distributed.
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In November, the Pennsylvania legislature passed updates the the state's child custody laws that, among other things, now requires a judge to list his reasoning for making a custody decision, something not required before. Before the law was passed, it wasn't mandated that judges do anything other than state who would get custody.
The changes are designed to improve fairness and transparency in the custody process. Norristown attorney Cheryl L. Young, who chairs the state bar association's family law section says, "Hopefully some of this will allow more parents to settle."
Other changes include rewording the statute so that neither the father nor the mother is automatically assumed to be the more appropriate custodial parent; requiring guardian ad litems to submit written reports to the court; and the potential for the judge to order that both parents to submit parenting plans.
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When Windell Pittman, a resident of Enfield, North Carolina, got into an argument with his live-in girlfriend, he probably never figured he would end up with multiple stab wounds. According to reports, Mary Ann Whitaker, his girlfriend, stabbed the man during an alcohol-fueled fight.
The woman, who was being held on a $50,000 bond, has a history of domestic-violence related behavior, according to a detective with the Enfield Police Department. "He was stabbed all over, in the upper and lower torso," said Detective Randy White. "There was one would that was potentially fatal. He was a lucky man."
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Elisa Baker, the 42-year-old stepmother of Zahra Baker, the 10-year-old cancer survivor who disappeared in October 2010, has been indicted for bigamy by a Catawba County, North Carolina grand jury. Already, Ms, Baker is being held for obstruction of justice in connection with the disappearance of Zahra.
The grand jury heard testimony that Ms. Baker, who married her first husband in 1998 and separated from him in 2008, didn't obtain a divorce until August 2009, more than a year after she married Zahra's father in Australia.
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When Steven Simkin and Laura Blank divorced in 2006 in New York, she received $6.2 million as part of their divorce settlement. But the settlement was made on the reliance that Mr. Simkin's investment account was worth $5.4 million. The couple based the figure on filings made by Bernie Madoff's Ponzi-scheme.
Turns out, there wasn't an account to be divvied, and $2.7 million of the $6.2 million award didn't exist. Simkin wants his ex-wife to refund that money to him. In court filings, Simkin argued that the two made a "mutual mistake" when they divided their estate. A state appeals court, in a 3-2 decision, agreed with Simkin.
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With tax season just around the corner, people required to pay alimony or child support, as well as those receiving, may not be aware of the tax consequences of such payments. Providing the Order's language complies with Internal Revenue Code Sections 71 & 215, a payor may be able to deduct the alimony payments on his taxes. The payee would be required to declare the payments as income (and pay taxes on the income).
If you plan on deducting alimony payments made (line 31 on your 1040), IRC 71 requires eight factors must be met:
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Last month, the North Carolina Supreme Court handed down a decision that potentially invalidates all second-parent adoptions by gay parents. In Boseman v. Jarrell, the Court negated the 2006 adoption of Ms. Jarrell's son by Ms. Boseman. In this instance, as with most gay adoptions in North Carolina, one parent was artificially inseminated, making her the sole legal parent upon the child's birth. Unlike conventional adoptions in which one parent gives up all parental rights, a second-parent adoption preserves the first parent's parental rights while adding the second parent.
Many states, like North Carolina, lack specific legislation on the issue. As a result, many judges have granted the adoptions because of existing familial bonds. But Boseman now prevents North Carolina judges from granting such adoptions, of which there could be thousands already.
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