Fort Lauderdale Divorce Lawyer Blog

Recently, I posted a blog titled "Stay-At-Home Dads Are More Likely To Divorce In Miami." However, Al Watts, President of Daddyshome, Inc., the national At-Home Dad Network and home to the 16th Annual At-Home Dads Convention in Washington DC on October 8, 201, does not believe it is accurate that stay-at-home dads are more likely to divorce.

Time's Healthland was the first to report that "stay-at-home dads are more likely to divorce." There report was based on a study led by Dr. Liana Sayer of Ohio State University. Published in the American Journal of Sociology, the study found that married men who are unemployed are more likely to divorce than men who are working.

After reading the summary of the study, Watts found it strange that the study did not mention stay-at-home dads or even whether any of the men were fathers. He decided to contact Dr. Sayer.

"The study doesn't include a measure of 'stay-at-home' dads," Dr. Sayer replied in an email originally sent by Watts. She further stated, "All we know is if the husband is unemployed and the (lagged) number of months unemployed."

Watts then spoke to Bonnie Rochman who wrote the article for Time's Healthland. He found out that she believes all stay-at-home dads are unemployed so she concluded that the study was about stay-at-home dads.

She was wrong.

First of all, the study was about married men. They never asked if any of them were fathers. If you do not have any kids, Watts does not think you would be considered an "at-home dad" when you get laid off.

Secondly, not all married dads have young children at home to take care of. Some of them surely have high school or college-aged children. Some may even be married to a stay-at-home mother who remains at home with the kids while the husband looks for a job, and apparently, a Broward divorce attorney.

Third, it is a complete myth that stay-at-home dads are unemployed. Most men who are the primary caregivers of their children are, in fact employed. The latest U.S. Census reports that 154,000 men are stay-at-home fathers but that only includes men who earn no income for one year or go to school while caring for the kids. Most demographers put the real number around 2 million which means up to 90% of at-home dads work, at least part-time and some full time.

Finally, men become stay-at-home dads for many reasons. Watts started staying home because he and his wife wanted one of them at home with the kids. His wife had better career options. Some dads choose to stay home because they do not want to miss out on their children's lives. Some are forced into it when they lose their job. Watts believes that to say "Stay-at-home dads are more likely to divorce" is saying that all stay-at-home dads, regardless of why they chose to stay home, are more likely to divorce. To him, that just doesn't make sense.

"I do think (based some on my research) that of course men who become stay at home dads purely based on job loss and not other reasons have their challenges," says Dr. Aaron Rochlen, associate professor of counseling psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and author of two recent extensive studies on stay-at-home fathers. However, after reviewing Dr. Sayer's research, Dr. Rochlen concluded that "it is ridiculous the connection they (Time) are making" between stay-at-home fathers and divorce.

And Time agreed.

The headline of the Time article now accurately states "Unemployed Men are More Likely to Divorce."

So, if your husband is, or becomes, a stay-at-home dad, it is not any more likely you will end up divorced.

If your husband loses his job, however, there is a slightly higher chance you may end up retaining a divorce attorney in Fort Lauderdale to address your child support, alimony and parenting plan matters.

A Broward divorce lawyer and his client received promising news last week which may help him regain custody of his child. Christopher Dahm was advised by the United States Department of State that his former wife, Leslie Delbecq, was detained at the Abu Dhabi airport when she attempted to depart the United Arab Emirates.

Dahm has been engaged in a global search for his two year old child for approximately one year. The United States Federal government has indicted his former wife with the crime of parental kidnapping, a violation of the laws of the United States of America.

The court in Abu Dhabi has requested information and documentation about the federal charges which are pending against Ms. Debeq who, along with her mother and father, were recently indicted by a federal grand jury.

Today, Broward marital and family law Circuit Judge Susan Greenhawt appointed a guardian ad litem for two girls and ordered an expedited study to determine if a relative is capable of having temporary child custody of the minor children. While the court waits to learn whether or not the young girls, ages 6 months and 5 years old, have a relative who they can reside with they have been placed in foster care. The court also ordered supervised time-sharing between the mother and the minor children when she is released from jail.

On Tuesday, an anonymous tip led Broward Sherrif's officers to a home where they discovered roaches in three rooms, trash and mold in the living room, foul odors in the kitchen and piles of garbage on the floor. The two minor children were sleeping in a roach infested bedroom without sheets on their bed. An animal control officer also discovered filthy and malnourished pitbulls in the back yard.

When child protective services investigators arrived at the home, they were unable to locate any responsible adults to watch the two children. The children were immediately placed in protective child custody.

The mother of the two children pictured above, 22 year old Lindsay Wallin, has been charged with cruelty towards a child, child neglect without great harm, animal abandonment and violation of probation. She is being held without bond at the Broward County Jail.

Fifty-seven percent of Florida families go through a divorce. Divorce rates in Florida tend to exceed national averages. While the statistics show that many couples are getting married in Florida, just as many are retaining a Broward divorce attorney to end their marriage.

Many people move to Florida and leave their families. Some blame the economy for the recent increase in divorce filings. While financial pressure is often a cause of divorce, the cost of divorce can make unhappy couples continue to remain married.

When you hire a Miami divorce lawyer, he or she will often require a retainer of $4,000 to $7,500. The clerk of court requires a $409 filing fee and a $10 summons fee. In the event that a couple cannot resolve their case at mediation, they are also required to pay their lawyer a trial retainer which can often be between $5,000 to $10,000.

If you want to try and save your marriage, you should consider the level of communication amongst you and your spouse. You both should learn how to talk to each other. Couples who are contemplating saving their marriage find that the problems in the marriage often deal with the level of communication. If the goal to save your marriage is not shared and one spouse is not commited to recovery of the marriage, this process will fail and you will most likely wind up in divorce court.

Information from the US Census indicates that couples who live together before they marry are two times more likely to get divorced. Insofar as many couples in Florida reside together before their marriage, this may explain the higher number of divorces in this state.

Another reason for the high divorce rate may be because Florida is a no-fault divorce state. If one party has been a resident for 6 months before the filing of the complaint and the marriage is irretrievably broken, the Court will generally grant the divorce. While the value of marriage may be lost in our society, one thing for sure is that it is very easy to get divorced in the Sunshine State.

Congratulations to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ivan Fernandez for being elevated to the Third District Court of Appeal. The Third District Court of Appeal and Daily Business Review are reporting that Judge Fernandez was appointed by Governor Rick Scott to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge David Gersten.

After the military, Judge Fernandez became a City of Miami police officer. He was a member of the K-9 unit, handled homicide cases, worked in narcotics and eventually was promoted to the rank of a major.

While working as a police officer, Judge Fernandez enrolled in the University of Miami School of Law. He graduated law school in 1992 but remained a law enforcement officer with the City of Miami Police Department until 1995. In 1995, he retired and opened his own law office.

While in private practice, Judge Fernandez handled business, personal injury and divorce cases in Miami. In 1999, he left private practice to become a prosecutor for the state attorney's office. As a prosecutor, Judge Fernandez dealt with misdemeanors, juvenile, felony and public prosecution cases.

As a Circuit Judge in Miami-Dade County, Judge Fernandez presently presides in the family division. Miami divorce attorney's who regularly appear before the Court will remember him for being well prepared, professional, fair, having a great ability to listen and the courage to make difficult decisions in marital and family cases involving alimony, child support, paternity, domestic violence and child custody.

Prior to presiding in the family division, Judge Fernandez heard cases in the circuit civil and criminal divisions. Judge Fernandez is the second family court judge to be appointed to the Third District Court of Appeal in the past year.