Total Divorce Blog

In the divorce articles section here at Total Divorce, we recently posted a two part story that discusses women who have gone to jail for protecting their kids from the real or perceived danger of abuse. These mothers have hidden their children from their fathers and the courts, in order to avoid having to share custody or allow the dads to have visitation with the children.

In part 1 of the article about jail time for custody concerns, we discuss the case of April Griffin. Griffin has hidden her son and is currently in jail. She refuses to tell the court where her son is because she believes that if his father is allowed visitation, he will abuse him. She claims that her child’s father abused her while she was pregnant and she is not willing to take any risks with her son.

In part 2 of the article about mothers in jail for custody concerns, we discuss the famous case of Dr. Elizabeth Morgan. Dr. Morgan spent two years in jail while she hid her daughter from her ex-husband Dr. Eric Foretich, who she accused of sexually abusing the child. Dr. Morgan was eventually released from jail by a special act of Congress which limited the time that a person can be held in prison for civil contempt.

Both cases are very interesting, but they are far from the only cases of mothers who have served time in jail over their custody concerns.

Yesterday Commissioner Scott Gordon released his ruling on the pending custody matter between Britney Spears and Kevin Federline.

Spears had wanted to resume the original 50/50 custody split and have the two children come back to live with her.  Federline was reportedly fighting for a 70/30  custody split with the children in his primary care.

Commissioner Gordon reviewed the report that was submitted by the parenting coach in making his decision.  The coach reportedly had less than glowing remarks about Spears’ interaction with the children and said that she lacks focus.  The report did note that the coach didn’t notice any signs of the traditional types of abuse going on in Spears’ home.  The coach had visited Spears’ home on three occasions.

Taking all things into consideration, Gordon decided that it would be best for the children to reside with Federline for now.

Spears was ordered to child proof her pool area by Friday.  Also according to the order she will be allowed three monitored visits with the children each week.  That will include two daytime visits and one overnight.

The custody battle between Spears and Federline is scheduled to resume in April.  While their divorce is final, it seems that the custody dispute may never really be resolved

Jermaine Jackson and his ex-wife Alejandra were in family court today to settle matters of child support and custody of their children.

Things didn’t go so well for Jermaine. The judge ordered him to begin paying child and spousal support and refused to give him the 50/50 custody arrangement he had wanted.

Jermaine reportedly only sees his sons, Jaffar and Jermajesty, on alternating weekends. Alejandra says that he is an unfit parent because he does no help them with homework, give them lunch money and forgets to pick them up from school. It seems that those would all be difficult and unnecessary tasks for every other weekend visitation though.

The judge did not grant Jermaine’s request for 50/50 custody, but instead ordered the pair to work on their custody arrangement through mediation.

Jermaine got another smack down in court when the judge ordered him to catch up on child and spousal support payments. He now must pay Alejandra $11,511 per month in support, retroactive to July 1.

According to Forbes Magazine, a businessman, living in China, was required to pay $311,491 in back child support to obtain a United States passport; a musician seeking to perform overseas had to pay $46,000; and a man simply planning a vacation in the Dominican Republic paid $45,849.

The U.S. State Department denies passports to any non-custodial parent more than $2,500 behind in child support. This year, the Government started requiring passports for travel to and form Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and South America. States have collect at least $22.5 million thus far this year.

A spokesman for Washington’s Department of Child Support Enforcement said “it’s been amazing to see how people who owe back child support seem to be able to come up with good chunks of money when it involves needing their passport. Folks will do anything to get that passport, so it is a good collection tool”

Jeanette Dean, interviewed on CNN, said she was surprised to have just received $36,000 in unpaid child support. She said she expects to get another payment ten years from now, when her ex-husband needs to renew his passport. Actually, he’s been paying for a couple of months now, but we’ll have to wait and see if he continues to meet his commitments.

Well, we knew this wouldn’t take long given the recent antics and seemingly unstable mental state of Britney Spears that is being portrayed in the media.

With the ink on the final divorce decree barely dry, today Kevin Federline has officially asked the court to award him more custody of his two sons with Britney Spears.  The documents are sealed, so it is not certain what he is asking the court to do.  The current arrangement is a 50/50 custody split between Federline and Spears. 

We will post more information on this custody battle when it becomes available.

Micheal Lohan, who is Lindsay Lohan’s dad, has temporarily suspended all his legal wrangling over child custody and visitation with ex-wife Dina Lohan in order to concentrate now on helping Lindsay with her drug, alcohol and mounting legal problems.

Lindsay Lohan was arrested in the early hours of this morning for her second DUI and cocaine possession after she was seen by police chasing another vehicle in her GMC Denali SUV.  Lohan was formally booked just 5 days ago for DUI in connection with a Memorial Day weekend crash.

Micheal Lohan is on parole and has been barred from having any contact with Lindsay or her lawyer, so details are unclear on how he plans to help her.  If he attempts to contact her it will be a violation of the terms of his parole.  Micheal Lohan was recently released from prison after spending two years behind bars after a DUI conviction.

A father who took his 10-year-old son to the “running of the bulls” in Pamplona, Spain was stripped of his visitation rights by a Spanish judge. CNN International showed video of Luis Miguel Gomez and his son running in front a pack of charging steers. Photos were published in several news magazines.

When Gomez’ ex-wife saw the video, she went to the police. The International Herald Tribune reports that Pamplona city officials were just as mad as the boy’s mother. They fined Gomez €150 ($200) for allowing a minor to participate in the event.

Der Spiegel Magazine says Gomez is defiant, though. He has told Spanish media that he would let the boy run the bulls again.

The state of Tennessee is seeking to prevent a couple from adopting another couple’s child. Jerry and Louise Baker want to adopt eight-year-old Anna Mae He, who they have raised since she was a month old. Shaoqiangm He and his wife are seeking to reunite with their daughter.

Anna Mae was put into foster care in 1999 after her father lost his graduate school scholarship at the University of Memphis and went unemployed. Their child custody fight has now dragged through the Tennessee courts for over seven years.

The State Supreme Court recently ruled Anna Mae must be returned to her birth parents. The Bakers have filed a petition with the federal district court to have the Tennessee decision reversed.

Child custody can be a very emotional issue during divorce to say the least. With that said, most parents are able to balance these considerations with the important need of doing what’s in the best interests of their child or children. Unfortunately, in some instances, a parent may make a terrible decision during a custody dispute and flee with his or her child or children, a very such possibility that Louisiana legislation would aim to prevent. Recently approved by a House Committee, Senate Bill 23 would allow an estranged parent to get a court order against the other parent suspected of wanting to flee from Louisiana with the child. This legislation would also create the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act, which would streamline the process of returning the child to Louisiana by cutting through the red tape and difficulties of courts which follow different rules.

Naturally, this legislation drew opposition from people who worried that judges would issue warrants based on irrational and unfound parental fears that the other parent was an “imminent flight risk.” While her legislation originally would have given judges the power to issue warrants for parents who were potential flight risks to international or other U.S. locations, Senator Sharon Broome agreed to amend the legislation to just international abductions. Broome added in an online WBRZ story that while this amendment takes away from original intention of her legislation, she would rather see something rather than nothing on the state law books. We’ll keep you updated on any more developments with this important Louisiana child custody legislation.

Earlier this month, The Divorce Blog detailed the unfortunate circumstances involving military personnel who have been deployed to duty and consequently lost child custody rights that were granted to them during divorce. Specifically, that story detailed how noncustodial parents were coming in and requesting custody of their children after their ex-spouses were sent to duty, and how many judges have ruled in favor of these requests out of the “best interests of the child.” With that said, a North Carolina bill would aim to protect military personnel from losing custody of their children while fulfilling their duty. Specifically, this bill would prevent an automatic “change of circumstance” regarding child custody and visitation upon military deployment and rather equip these service members with the option of delegating their visitation rights to another family member for the duration of the deployment.

A recent Charlotte Observer story provided more details on this proposed North Carolina child custody law for deployed military personnel. This legislation would ensure that service members regain custody when they arrive back home, expedite custody or visitation hearings prior to deployment, and allow deployed personnel to appear at court hearings over the telephone, teleconference or the Internet.

The Charlotte Observer story added that similar legislation is being considered in Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas. We’ll keep you updated with any more developments on this North Carolina legislation and similar proposals in these other states.