Blog Posts in July, 2014

Health Insurance After Divorce

A 2011 University of Michigan National Poverty Center study, Divorce and Women’s Risk of Health Insurance Loss in the U.S. , concluded that approximately 115,000 women lost their insurance each year following divorce. Some of these women worked full time in the home or held only part-time jobs in order to focus on raising their children. Sadly, under the previous system, private insurers charged ...

Divorce Terminology - Speaking the Language Can Help You Understand the Process

As you prepare to file for divorce, you may feel like the judges, clerks and lawyers are speaking a foreign language. In a sense they are. By familiarizing yourself with the legal terminology, you can better understand the marriage dissolution process. The Florida courts use the following terms throughout the divorce process: Petition starts the divorce proceedings by naming the filer’s demands ...

Tax Issues to Consider in a Divorce Settlement

The convoluted, cumbersome process of calculating your taxes may become more complicated following your divorce. The decisions you make at the settlement table could impact the amount of taxes you pay for many years into the future, and most certainly can affect you the first year you file as a single person. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) applies the following divorce-related tax rules: Child ...

Genetic Paternity Testing

When Anna Nicole Smith gave birth to Dannielynn Hope, the model’s companion Howard K. Stern was listed as father on the birth certificate. Ms. Smith’s former boyfriend Larry Birkhead insisted that he was Dannielynn’s biological father, as did another former love interest, Prince Frederic Von Anhalt. Thus began a contentious and much publicized paternity lawsuit. Ms. Smith’s tragic death four ...

Immigration Protection for Battered Spouses

Michael Dunn was tried this year for shooting into a car of boisterous teenagers in Jacksonville, Florida, and killing a 17-year-old boy, Jordan Davis. The case drew national attention because he used the stand your ground defense, a repeat of recent cases in which a white man claimed self-defense in the shooting of an unarmed black teen. The investigation into Mr. Dunn revealed a horrific past of ...

Parole in Place Policy for Military Service Members and Their Families

Many armed service members leave spouses, children and parents behind when they are stationed overseas. While fighting for our country, military personnel still worry about their loved ones’ well-being back home. For a spouse, parent or child of an illegal immigrant, general concern is often compounded by the fear that family members will be deported, with the service member stuck in a foreign ...