Saturday, January 31, 2015

Philip Greenspun asks if "Gender equity should be measured by consumption, not income?"

Philip Greenspun on his blog asks if Gender equity should be measured by consumption, not income?  As usual Greenspun is thought provoking. His basic premise is that statistics on how much money you earn is not directly related to how much money you have available to spend. Receiving alimony, child support, gifts or having off-books income all tend to make it seem that you are less wealthy than you really are compared to just looking at income. This is true whether you are a man or woman but the reality today is that women are more likely to have greater money to spend relative to their income than men, although it does work both ways.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Evolving Family Law blog

Evolving Family Law is a blog by Jana Aune Deach and James J. Vedder, two Minnesota family law attorneys who work at Moss and Barnett. It is a good site for information on family law developments in Minnesota. 

Of note is a podcast they have on spousal support and retirement. Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here. Although I don't think it was their intent, the programs do highlight how much gaming has become a part of the family law. Permanent spousal support favors those who are irresponsible because if the receiver of spousal support can show they have little money at the time the person paying reaches retirement age it is much more likely that support will continue. Likewise if the payer saves for retirement then it increases the odds the payer will have to continue to pay spousal support after retirement.  Or more likely never be able to retire. The laws need to be changed so that spousal support ends at retirement in all but the most unusual of cases. 

I have added a link to the site in the Reform and News Links section. 

Saturday, January 24, 2015

National Parents Organization

National Parents Organization (NPO) is a society whose goal is to make shared parenting the norm. Their core principles are:
  • Shared Parenting: Shared parenting protects children's best interests and the loving bonds children share with both parents after separation or divorce.
  • Parental Equality: Equality between genders has been extended to every corner of American society, with one huge exception: family courts and the related agencies.
  • Respect for Human and Property Rights: The Supreme Court of the United States has found that "the interest of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children… is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court."
Recently Steve Hitner, the force behind the successful effort to reform alimony laws in Massachusetts joined NPO.  

NPO has a Minnesota chapter that I will be contacting. 

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Minnesota Alimony Reform site?

I ran across what appears to be a Minnesota Alimony Reform (http://www.mnalimonyreform.org/) site that was stared last November. I say appears because the content is currently pretty thin.  I'll drop them a note and see what is up. Hope spring eternal.

Monday, January 12, 2015

The Love and Iron Project - The Alarming Rise Of False Allegations Of Abuse

There is an excellent article on The Love and Iron Project titled, The Alarming Rise Of False Allegations Of Abuse.

The article details, with supporting references, the growing trend of false allegations in divorce cases. Despite the fact that false allegations are a criminal offence they are rarely prosecuted. Many lawyers encourage their clients to make false allegations in order to gain more money. They do this because it is effective and there is virtually no downside. Well, no downside if you lack a conscious or care about the long-term relationship with your children. 

Excerpt:
And as much as child predators are the lowest forms of life, those who manipulate these laws for personal gain in a divorce action are no better – they are disgustingly selfish, vile, and ruthless human beings.  
The comments are a very worthwhile read as well.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

askmen - Why Do Divorce Laws Marginalize Men?

Although askmen's article, "Why Do Divorce Laws Marginalize Men?"  has a bit of man vs. woman tone that I don't really care for, it does have some interesting points that make it a worthwhile read. 

From the article:
In America, men are forced to pay around 40% of their income to ex-wives, regardless of wrongdoing on the woman's parts (often called "no-fault" alimony). She could commit adultery and beat her husband or kids, and none of it will influence the court's decision.
More shockingly still, a woman can simply accuse her husband of sexual or physical abuse (or simply express a fear of it) and instantly win a restraining order forcing him away from his home and children, without so much as a hearing. In fact, most divorce lawyers will advise a woman to do this, and those who do not can be sued for legal malpractice.
And once she has the kids, the family court will be loath to enforce visitation rights for the father. All the mother has to do is ask.
is sadly very common. Although Spring wasn't able to take the children from me, she tried her best. And what she did manage to take is unconscionable

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

"A Terroristic Divorce" Blog

A Terroristic Divorce is a blog by man who went through many of the same experiences as me. Possibly worse.  Although I suspect most of what he wrote is true, the tone is, well, not quite as moderate as mine. But then again, if I wasn't able to at least keep my kids I might well be a bit more frank in my writings as well. Because of the tone I have hesitated to provide a link to the site but I think the content is too important to ignore. Note that the site provides extensive corroborating documentation.

Much of what happened in the case described in a Terroristic Divorce is sadly all too familiar. An ex-spouse who commits perjury and makes false accusations. An unethical lawyer. A judge who ignores the law and any since of decency.

The Corruption FAQ is especially informative.

Note that I do think there are many ethical lawyers, judges and law enforcement officials. But there are a lot of bad ones as well and the system itself is institutionally corrupt. By this I mean that even those that are good tolerate the bad because unethical and criminal behavior is so common it isn't vewed as "really" wrong. I have had lawyers personally tell me that my assessment of how the divorce system works is spot on but there is nothing that can be done because that is just how the system works. This is similar to bribery in countries where it endemic.This needs to change.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

It's A New Year

Happy new year. As I have indicated in earlier posts, going forward I will be focusing my efforts and DivorceInjustice.org more on enacting divorce reform legislation rather than documenting the injustices that I and others have experienced. A legislative approach seems to be what has worked best in other states.

As part of this effort,  I have added a section on Fraud Upon the Court to the Legislation section. Fraud upon the Court is probably the most serious crime there is that is commonly ignored.

I have also written a letter to my Representative in the Minnesota House regarding my case and asked him to take a lead role in sponsoring divorce reform legislation.