It as been released that the federal government spends $99.8 billion dollars every year on programs – such as child support enforcement and anti-poverty efforts – to support father-absent homes.  This is a conservative estimate; it does not include federal benefit programs for communities, indirect costs related to poor outcomes of children from father-absent homes, and long-term costs in reduced tax income from low-earning single-parent families.

Other videos from the National Fatherhood Association include subjects on Father Absence, Government reducing father absence, and more.

Managing Attorney Jeffrey Feulner and the Men’s Divorce Law Firm is proud to stand behind our motto of Fathers, Families and Fairness.  If you or someone you know is in need of family law assistance contact us today to see how we can help.

The homes are part of the reported $75 million Vanessa will be receiving in the divorce settlement — half the couples’ estimated $150 million fortune.

The couple does not have a prenup and as a result of the laws in California (a community property state) Vanessa may be entitled to half of Kobe’s earnings during their 10-year marriage.  According to ESPN, Kobe is expected to make $25,244,493 just this year.

Divorce documents (via TMZ) indicate that Vanessa requested joint custody of the couple’s two daughters, 8-year-old and 5-year-old Giana. She also asked for spousal support, which Kobe agreed to.

Not long after the documents were filed they released a statement via a representative saying that they had resolved all their issues in a settlement out of court with the assistance of counsel.  A judgement ending their marital status was entered at the beginning of the year.

If you or someone you know needs divorce counsel contact managing attorney Jeffrey Feulner and the Men’s Divorce Law Firm today.

Sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide prevention the Out of Darkness Community Walk is designed to raise awareness and funds for the foundation’s work.  In the United States, a person dies by suicide every 15 minutes, claiming more than 34,000 lives each year. It is estimated that an attempt is made every minute; with close to one million people attempting suicide annually.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is at the forefront of research, education and prevention initiatives designed to reduce loss of life from suicide. With the weight of the tragic losses families and friends suffer through the importance of AFSP’s mission has never been greater, nor their work more urgent.

Participating in the Out of Darkness walk is more than just walking, and donors are writing more than checks, it is a sign of everyone coming together to save the lives of those in their community.

Any contribution will help the work of AFSP, and all donations are 100% tax deductible.

If you would like to make a donation go to the Men’s Divorce Law Firm’s walk page and click on a walker to donate.  Every amount makes a difference.

The subject of the interview was current alimony reforms in the state of Florida.

Learn more about these potential changes here.

As a result, alimony payers will often find themselves trapped in very costly payments for the rest of their life, or other drastic situations.  Therefore, two new bills have been proposed and are being pushed through the Florida government to revise out of date alimony laws.

Current Alimony Structure

Currently, in the state of Florida alimony is left to the sole discretion of the judge seeing the case.  This means is that alimony has the potential to vary widely from case to case.  Some variables include the duration of alimony payments, which in some cases is for life, tax treatments and consequences of alimony, the proportion of the person’s net income which alimony can be, cohabitation rules, and more.  As a result, some men (and women) can pay alimony that is a major portion of their net income until the day they die, placing a significant financial and emotional strain on the person that may not always be proportional to the duration of the marriage.

Alimony Revisions

In 2011 two bills were introduced into Florida legislature to revise alimony laws and practices.  These are similar to an alimony reform bill recently passed in the state of Massachusetts to prevent abuse of the system.  The actual bills are House Bill 549 and Senate Bill 748.  Unfortunately, misconceptions about the Florida reforms are resulting in some backlash from groups such as NOW (the National Organization for Women) and headlines in the Orlando Sentinel such as “In new alimony bill, wealthy, cheating men could pay less.”  In this article Scott Maxwell attacks the bill, saying that it is “radical,” “unconstitutional,” and “anti-woman.”

The bill, however, is not aimed to do any of the aforementioned things.  The bill’s sponsor, Ritch Workman, says he is working alongside the group Florida Alimony Reform to make the state of alimony in Florida fair.  The bill seeks to end long-term alimony which prevents payers from retiring at a normal age due to their steep lifetime alimony payments.

Some of the provisions within the bill which will aim do this include, but are not limited to:

• Allow existing alimony payers to modify their judgments through the new law.
• Cap the alimony payment at a certain percentage of the net income of the payer.
• Base the maximum duration of alimony around the length of the marriage.
• Prohibit the use of a payer’s current spouse’s income or assets in a modification.
• Termination of alimony upon full retirement age, barring extreme circumstances.

While some claim that the bills favor men, and it is true that traditionally more men pay alimony than women, the bill will be implemented equally across all alimony payers, men and women.

Other states such as West Virginia and California are considering revising their alimony laws, following suit of Florida and Massachusetts.  Other resources for more information include Alimony Reform websites and websites of the Florida Government.

If you have questions about the reforms, how they can affect you, or anything else relating to alimony now or in the future Managing Attorney Jeffrey Feulner and the Men’s Divorce Law Firm are here to help.  We aggressively represent husbands and fathers in family law cases, including alimony, and are poised to represent you.  Contact our client relations manager today to schedule a consultation.

We recognize the commitment and sacrifices enlisted men and women make to and for our country every day.  These are not to be taken lightly.  Attorney Jeffrey Feulner and the Men’s Divorce Law Firm harbor a deep respect for this dedication and would like to give back to our troops by ensuring price does not prevent them from possessing experienced legal representation.

People with active military I.D.’s will now receive discounts throughout the length of their case.  If it is a divorce, child support, alimony, or other family law military case the Men’s Divorce Law Firm has the skills to aggressively represent our troops.

If you or someone you know is enlisted and in need of assistance with a family law matter contact the Men’s Divorce Law Firm today to see how we can help.

The Men’s Divorce Law Firm was founded by Jeffrey Feulner, Esquire, an Orlando, Florida area family law attorney, to aggressively represent the interests of husbands and fathers involved in divorce and other family law matters.

If you or a friend are in need of legal advice concerning a family law matter click here to contact our Client Relations Manager for a Complimentary Pre-Screening Interview.

The Men’s Divorce Law Firm was founded by Jeffrey Feulner, Esquire, an Orlando, Florida area family law attorney, to aggressively represent the interests of husbands and fathers involved in divorce and other family law matters.

If you or a friend are in need of legal advice concerning a family law matter click here to contact our Client Relations Manager for a Complimentary Pre-Screening Interview.

“Getting ready for trial in a divorce or child custody case can be a stressful time as litigants and litigators attempt to condense the details and documents of a relationship into the hours or days of a trial. If you’re represented by counsel, it is your attorney’s job to prepare you for trial and to deliver a concise and convincing presentation of your case to the court. That said, since judicial determinations are often based upon the behavior a party exhibited in the courtroom rather than the exhibits they offered into evidence, please consider the following helpful hints for your day in divorce or custody court:

1. Do not roll your eyes, mutter under your breath or otherwise gesticulate when your spouse is testifying. Although justice may be blind, most judges are not. To the contrary, they are usually astute observers of body language who rarely appreciate one party’s use of facial expressions to mock the other spouse’s testimony. If your spouse is misrepresenting facts to the court, pass a few brief written comments to your attorney and patiently await their brilliant cross examination.

2. Do not keep referring to your child as “my” son or “my” daughter. More often than not, a parent who consistently uses the singular possessive pronoun with regard to the children is a parent who is singularly possessive about who should raise them.

3. Make sure that you’ve disclosed relevant and potentially embarrassing personal facts to your attorney early on in the case. Many years ago when I was a public defender, I represented “Jordan” who was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. At the first office appointment, Jordan provided me with a detailed description of his performance on the roadside sobriety test, but he neglected to mention that when he exited the vehicle he was wearing a “teddy” negligee and a pair of high heels. Although Jordan’s was a criminal case which was resolved without a trial, his story bears repeating for divorcing spouses whose personal habits are relevant to their case.

4. Don’t bring your entire extended family and ten of your closest friends to your divorce hearing. During a marriage, most spouses would think twice about sharing their income tax returns or the intimate details of their relationship with third parties. When a marriage is ending, some divorcing spouses abandon this rule of privacy and assume that inquiring minds want to know everything about the divorce. If you need a support system to get you through the trial, pick no more than two people to sit quietly in the bleachers of the courtroom.

5. Don’t wear your torn blue jeans, your muscle shirt or your mini skirt to divorce court. Strange but true, months of trial preparation can be undone in an instant by a client who is dressed to tease rather than to testify. A provocative outfit may be great for the weekend after your divorce but it’s a fashion disaster for your custody case. When you select your courtroom attire, pretend you’re heading for a job interview. In some respects, you are.

6. Do not be rendered speechless if you’re asked to describe the positive aspects of your spouse’s parenting. A child custody case can be won or lost with the single question, “Can you describe some of the positive aspects of your spouse’s parenting skills?” On occasion, this question is followed by a pregnant pause as the witness scrambles to identify one favorable aspect of the other party’s parenting. If you can’t say anything positive about your spouse to the court, you’re probably not saying anything positive about your spouse to the kids.

7. Don’t display open hostility toward your spouse’s attorney. Your spouse’s attorney is probably not on your Christmas list. If you’re openly hostile toward opposing counsel during your cross-examination, you’re probably scoring more points for the other team than for yours. Keeping your cool on the witness stand is a great way of saying that you have nothing to hide.

8. Don’t read or receive text messages during the hearing. If you want the Court to pay full attention to the testimony, make sure that you do the same.

9. In a child custody dispute, don’t keep talking about “your” needs and “your” desires. Custody cases are determined based upon “the best interests of the child”. At trial, it is a safe assumption that the court doesn’t particularly care about you or your spouse, but the court cares deeply about the child(ren) you have created together.

10. Don’t tell long winded stories with irrelevant details of your spousal disputes. In divorce court, most judges have full dockets, sore backs and a desire to make it to lunchtime without an emergency hearing. If you’re asking the court for a protection order, describe the alleged spousal abuse and avoid the temptation to explain the minute details of the domestic dispute which precipitated the abuse.

Hopefully, my top ten tips will improve your odds at trial although there are no guarantees of success in the world of litigation.”

Every attorney’s recommendations and guidance will be different, and nothing can replace the hands-on care one receives when retaining an an attorney for their family law needs.  If you are facing a family law matter seek out the Men’s Divorce Law Firm for the aggressive representation of husbands and fathers.

Published in the latest issue of Journal of Marriage and Family, the study proclaims that fatherhood, unlike marriage, can help change men’s bad habits; earlier research had shown that marriage can infuse positive behavioral changes in men but could not state specifically if marriage helped decrease tobacco and alcohol use significantly.