Jacksonville Divorce Lawyer Blog

Mildred Muhammad, ex-wife of DC Sniper John Allan Muhammad, gave an interview to Larry King the night before her husband was to be executed for his crimes at a Virginia state prison. Muhammad left 10 dead in a shooting spree that his ex-wife believes was destined to end with her as its final victim.

Ms. Muhammad said she felt very guilty about the victims of her ex-husband’s rampage, which left millions of DC residents fearful of going out in public. She claims that she had done “everything I knew how to do” to bring Mohammad’s violent and abusive nature to the attention of authorities, but it wasn’t enough. And she feels ashamed for not realizing that his violent behavior would extend beyond her, to affect other people.

Ms. Muhammad had divorced her husband because of his allegedly abusive behavior towards her. Authorities maintain that Muhammad started killing random strangers as a cover up, with the ultimate goal of shooting his wife the same way, so that he could take custody of their three children. Muhammad has always claimed that he is innocent of the charges.

Ms. Muhammad has worked through her guilty feelings and is concentrating on caring for her three children during this emotional time. Muhammad’s first wife, Carol Williams, was also interviewed by King, and said she planned to visit Muhammad in prison with their son before the execution. You can read more about the interviews at Ex-wife of infamous 'D.C. Sniper' felt guilty about shootings.

Domestic violence is very dangerous behavior, and it this case is a tragic example of how far it can go if left unchecked. People who are in reasonable fear of being in imminent danger of domestic violence should take very action to protect themselves, including calling the police and taking out an injunction.

If you are a victim of domestic abuse, please contact our firm to explore your legal options.

Alaska governor and 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was forced to admit during her campaign that her fifteen-year-old daughter, Bristol, was pregnant. At the time the young girl and her teenage boyfriend, Levi Johnston, said they planned to marry. But they broke off their engagement earlier this year.

Now Johnston is pursuing legal action to obtain joint custody of the couple’s 10-month-old son, Tripp. He alleges that the Palin family is making it difficult for him to see his son. Sarah Palin is reportedly upset with Johnston for his upcoming appearance in Playgirl magazine. The two have had a publically strained relationship for some time. The Palin family attorney has stated publically that, according to the Palins, Johnston is always welcome to visit his son. You can read much more of the back and forth between Sarah Palin and her former potential son-in-law at Levi Johnston to Sue for Joint Custody of Son Tripp.

For unmarried or divorced parents in Florida, this case brings up some issues related to joint custody in Florida. Many Florida parents are seeking either joint custody or 50/50 rotating custody. The courts in North Florida do not really prefer this type of custody arrangement because some courts believe that the arrangement just isn't practical for the children once they start school unless the parents live within a few miles of one another and demonstrate that they can operate as a real team. If you need help with a custody issue, please contact our firm for legal counsel.

TV cooking show host Mary Jo Eustace was not very well known until her husband, actor Dean McDermott, divorced her to marry heiress and famous Hollywood actress Tori Spelling in 2006. McDermott and Spelling met on the set of a lifetime movie they were working on together. Ms. Eustace has said she was taken by surprise when her divorce garnered major media attention.

Ms. Eustace has said that her divorce was a shocking surprise as well as very public and humiliating. One of the insults the newly married couple heaped on Ms. Eustace included offering to produce a reality show where Ms. Eustace looks for a new husband. Ms. Eustace declined, and instead is launching her own reality show, which will help women in midlife reinvent themselves after divorce. And she has written a book to tell the world about the pains of her divorce; the book is entitled Divorce Sucks: What to Do When Irreconcilable Differences, Lawyer Fees and Your Ex's Hollywood Wife Make you Miserable.

In the book she talks about the divorce and her reaction to it, which has included getting over the betrayal of her husband and making more time for herself. You can read more about the new book at Life after divorce: Mary Jo Eustace enjoys her second act.

Divorce is very hard emotionally for all parties. Many people going through a divorce , especially those left for another person, are filled with anger and sadness caused by the actions of their former partner. Ms. Eustace’s book shows that, while divorce is difficult, it may the answer to a happier life. If you are considering divorce, please contact our firm for expert, compassionate legal counsel.

Bert and Jesse Wood had been married for 36 years when they filed for divorce last year in Great Britain. The marriage was the second for both of them, and at the time of the decree of divorce they were both 98 years old – making them the oldest couple on record to divorce. They have not publically stated the reason for their divorce, and their children are not making comments to the press. Wood died shortly after the decree was issued, and Ms. Wood now lives in a nursing home.

In the next county over, Les Atwell and Sheila Walsh recently became the oldest newlyweds on record when they married at the ages of 94 and 87, respectively. Atwell and Ms. Walsh had been introduced four years earlier. Ms. Walsh was at first hesitant to even meet Atwell, due to his age, but she says that when they did meet it was love at first sight. The couple took a two week honeymoon cruise through the Mediterranean, visiting Athens, Rome, and Barcelona.

The stories about these two couples just show that it is never too late for divorce, and never too late to find love again. If you are considering divorce, please contact our firm for legal counsel.

Find out more about these couples at British couple are oldest in the world to divorce at age 98 - but man dies before he can enjoy the single life.

According to Murrieta, Georgia Police Sargeant, Jon Flavin, police were called to respond to a fight taking place late one morning. When they arrived at the scene, they found a woman, bleeding from a cut near her right ear. She reportedly told police that she had been attacked with a knife by an acquaintance of hers, during a heated exchange over a child custody issue. Apparently there were children present during the fight. They allegedly witnessed the attack and were put in danger because of it. The suspect, Terri F. Scott, was not at the scene when police arrived. They found the woman at her home and arrested her sometime later. Ms. Scott has been charged with attempted murder and child endangerment, and is being held on $1 million bail. Find out more about the fight at Woman who knifed another woman during child custody exchange held on one million dollars bail.

Divorce and subsequent child custody battles can raise very heated emotions. While people sometimes feel that they can’t control their emotions, it is never appropriate to use violence. At the least it will harm that person’s case, and at the worst someone could be injured or killed and the attacker will be sent to prison instead of awarded custody.

If you going through a child custody battle, please contact our firm for expert, compassionate legal counsel.

Australian actor Mel Gibson and his girlfriend, Russian musician Oksana Grigorieva, have welcomed a baby girl named Lucia into the world. While Lucia is Gibson’s eighth child, it is the couple’s first child together. Gibson has seven children with his former wife, Robyn Gibson. They divorced in April of this year after twenty-eight years of marriage. Gibson and Grigorieva met while filming “Edge of Reason.”

Gibson’s daughter was born in California, but if the child had been born in Florida, the new girlfriend would definitely need to file for a paternity action so that a judge could determine Mel to be the LEGAL father of the child and to have a support obligation for her. Until a judge signs an Order making Mel the legal father, the child would not be considered to be an heir at law to Mel Gibson. In sum, people who have babies out of wedlock in Florida need a paternity action even though they may be listed on the birth certificate. Until a Judge says that the father is the father, the child will not be legally recognized as the legal heir.

If you are unmarried and expecting a child, please contact our firm for family legal counsel.

Find out more about Mel Gibson's daughter, Lucia, at Mel Gibson and his girlfriend welcome a baby girl.

According to the Florida Department of Revenue, the bad economy is creating especially hard times for those paying child support. They report that the number of requests for modified child support payments has increased, mirroring the state’s rising unemployment rate. Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties (Florida) have already received 831 requests this year, compared to 648 in 2006. Requests haven’t been this high since Hurricane Ivan.

Many of the applicants are reporting that they can’t find work, or that the work they can find pays a lot less than their former employment. Others are giving up looking for work altogether, some living on food stamps welfare, while still others are going back to school to improve their chances for higher paying work. The court looks favorably on payers who seek out more education, because in the long term it will have a positive effect on the children. Unfortunately, while they are in school they usually have to lower their child support payments during that time.

Requests for lowered payments aren’t the only thing increasing along with the unemployment rate; uncollected child support is climbing as well. Almost $29 million has gone uncollected in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties this year, and there’s still one month to go before the end of the year. The number of disputes that lead to litigation are climbing as well, as people become more desperate.

If you believe you will not be able to continue making child support payments as required, it is important to file for a modification to your child support responsibility as soon as possible. Contact our firm for expert legal counsel.

You can find out more about the effects of the economy on child support payments in Florida at Economy hits Pensacola area child support.

David Swain of Jamestown, Rhode Island, nearly got away with murdering his wife, Shelley Tyre, during a scuba diving trip to the British Virgin Islands ten years ago. Prosecutors called it a “near perfect” murder, but this month a jury has convicted him of murder – and he may spend the rest of his life in a Caribbean prison.

Even though Ms. Tyre was an experienced diver, police had written her death off as a tragic drowning accident. But Tyre’s parents were convinced that Swain had killed their daughter, and they filed a civil suit against Swain in Rhode Island. In 2006 the state of Rhode Island found that Swain was responsible for his wife’s death and awarded the Tyres $3.5 Million; that judgment convinced the British Virgin Islands to charge Swain with murder. During the trial, the prosecution claimed that Swain had found a new girlfriend, and killed his wife for her inheritance of $630,000. The jury convicted Swain unanimously. Swain’s attorney plans to appeal.

It is unfortunate that time after time, men choose to kill their wives to pursue an affair or another romance instead of just divorcing the wife. They always get caught. No matter what the circumstances, people should consider getting a divorce and dividing the assets; violence is never the answer. Even a lengthy divorce is better than going to prison. You can find out more details about this case at US man convicted of scuba death of wife in BVI.

If you are having trouble in your relationship, and would like to find out more about the option of divorce, please contact our firm for expert legal counsel.

Recently, a married Scottish couple lost custody of two of their children after failing to comply with Scottish social services’ warnings to reduce the children’s weight. A woman in South Carolina has also lost custody of her son and is facing criminal child neglect charges after the child’s doctor reported concerns about his weight to social services. There have been several other similar cases in the US and Canada. The public may not have heard about the growing number of cases because of child privacy laws.

Many states are now considering the obesity of the children post divorce in modification actions. A modification is a change to any final divorce judgment and is based on a substantial change in circumstances of either party since the entry of the final judgment. If the final judgment grants custody to the wife and two years later the kids are 300 pounds, the courts COULD change the custody to the father if the court finds that it is in the best interests of the children to change the custody and if the courts find that the weight of the children is now a substantial change in circumstance. Now, obesity of the children could be one of the considerations in a change of custody issue and is an interesting legal argument to keep an eye on.

If you are engaged in a child custody battle, please contact our firm for expert, compassionate legal counsel.

Find out more on the issue of childhood obesity at Should Parents of Obese Kids Lose Custody?

Clinical psychologist Judith Sills recently published a book entitled Getting Naked Again: Dating, Romance, Sex, and Love When You've been Divorced, Widowed, Dumped, or Distracted. She is determined to help women get back into dating after the end of a relationship. She addresses the fact that many women are uncertain about getting into dating and romance because it has been awhile since they were in that situation. She also discusses the difference between being widowed and being divorced, saying that divorce is usually accompanied by a lot of anger, and can feel like a public failure, even though the loss is just as real. She says that getting back into dating requires a new mindset that welcomes the possibility of a relationship and that women and men should both be prepared for changes in relationships with family and friends as they begin dating again.

Many people going through a divorce are filled with rage and sadness that makes them feel as though life is over for them. While divorce is difficult, it is not the end of the world – for many it is the beginning of a new and happier life. Getting back into the mix of things and dating after divorce can be the first step.

If you are considering divorce, please contact our firm for expert, compassionate legal counsel.

Find out more about the book at Getting Naked Again — Dating After Divorce or Widowhood.

Kate Gosselin, mother of the eight children featured in the TLC reality show, “Jon & Kate Plus 8” has been going through a very public divorce from her husband, Jon Gosselin. On a recent episode of the show, she answered questions from viewers, including whether or not she feels she would like to marry again in the future. Her answer was “I don't know, I really don't want to be married again, but I don't want to be alone. The alone-ness is really alone.”

Many people who go through a divorce feel the same way as Ms. Gosselin. Divorce is very hard emotionally for all parties. A divorce can feel very similar to the death of a loved one, and people need to allow themselves time to heal emotionally. But for many people, divorce is not the end but the beginning of their new, healthier life. And that may very well include a new romance.

If you are considering divorce, please contact our firm for expert, compassionate legal counsel.

A Nevada couple recently woke up with a car on top of them in their own bedroom. After an hour of being pinned down to the bed with motor fluid raining into their faces, the two college students, Kristin Palmer and Trent Wood, were rescued by emergency workers. They suffered remarkably minor injuries. The man driving the car, Eric Cross, allegedly slammed into the house not only because he was drunk but also because he thought the house was that of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. Cross has been charged with battery with a deadly weapon, possession of a stolen vehicle, driving without a license, and careless driving. According to the Washoe County Sheriff’s office, Cross was also drunk at the time of the accident.

The end of a relationship is a difficult time, and people often let their emotions and pain get the best of them during the dissolution process and do things to harm their own case, especially when child custody is involved.

If you are having marital or criminal problems, and would like to find out about your options, please contact our firm for expert, compassionate legal counsel.

Find out more about this horrific accident and the couple’s ordeal at Couple alive after car pins them to bed for almost an hour.

Movie stars, millionaires and other VIPs work very hard to keep their personal details private – especially when it comes to divorce. They claim they have a greater need for concern about identity theft. For business executives, the business itself can intervene to protect confidential company information that might come out in the divorce. Of course, news organizations are fighting to keep everything in the public domain. The controversy pits privacy against the first amendment.

Certainly the same concerns exist for non-famous wealthy couples, who may want to keep their financial documents and dirty laundry out of the public domain. There are ways to keep the divorce settlement confidential in Florida, and we are a law firm that knows the ins and outs of accomplishing the goal of confidentiality in Florida for high end divorce settlements.

If you are considering divorce, and want to keep the details private, contact our firm for expert legal counsel.

Find out more about this topic at Rich, famous push for secrecy in divorce.

In Florida, the courts in Miami overturned the ban on gay adoptions in August 2009. Judge Cindy S. Lederman wrote in her opinion that excluding gay couples defeats Florida’s mission to provide all children permanent families. The state has claimed that gays are more likely to suffer from psychological imbalances and substance abuse than heterosexual couples, although several well-respected organizations have said that gay parents do not negatively affect a child’s upbringing.

A statewide resolution must be determined by an appellate court before the ban is officially lifted. Florida is the only state to ban homosexuals from adopting children. A few other states prevent unmarried persons from adopting children, which effectively bans gays, who are not legally allowed to marry in those states. Mississippi allows single people to adopt, no matter what their sexual orientation, but prohibits same-sex partners from adopting jointly.

The state attorney general's office has appealed the decision so the gay and lesbian community in Florida await the decision to see if they will have the "right" to adopt in Florida.

If you are considering adoption or another family matter that may require legal guidance, please contact our firm.

Find out more about this topic at Judge overturns Florida ban on adoption by gays.

Many clients need immediate help when they first start going through a divorce. The idea that a divorce can take many months to finalize is very upsetting for most people. But there are temporary motions that can be filed to address issues such as temporary child support, custody, possession and occupancy of the marital home and the like. Temporary orders are legally binding guidelines that both parties must follow until the divorce is finalized.

Some common items covered in a temporary divorce order include:
- An agreement not to use the other party’s credit or make a large purchase without advance written notice
- Jointly owned property cannot be sold or used for collateral
- Insurance policies must remain in effect
- A child visitation and child support agreement
- No changes should be made to retirement accounts
- Agreement as to who will remain in the family home

If you are considering divorce, please contact our firm for expert, compassionate legal counsel.

Find out more about temporary divorce orders at Temporary Divorce Orders .

John Marcotte, the backer of a California ballot initiative that would ban divorce in California was authorized to begin collecting the signatures required to put the constitutional amendment on the ballot. He will need to collect the signatures of 694,354 registered voters before March 22, 2010.

The amendment would eliminate the current California law that allows married couples to divorce. Couples would still be allowed to annul their marriages. The initiative claims that the amendment would save the state of California “hundreds of millions” of dollars spent on divorce proceedings in California courts.

While an interesting approach to fiscal responsibility in California, the move begs the question of why Marcotte wouldn’t initiate an amendment asking divorcing couples to pay their court costs, rather than denying them the right to a divorce.

If you are considering divorce, please contact our firm for expert, compassionate legal counsel.

Find out more about the proposed divorce ban in California at Ban Divorce? Ballot effort gets OK to gather signatures.

Military divorces are subject to certain laws that are not applicable to civilian divorces. As an example, those active in the military are entitled under federal legislation in some cases to delay a divorce or to take advantage of court-appointed counsel. Additionally, military pensions are subject to different rules than private retirement accounts or other types of pensions. Calculating alimony and child support is also affected by federal regulations, as is the location of the actual divorce proceedings.

As a Jacksonville, Florida law firm, Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A., specializes in military divorces and is well prepared to deal with the unique issues that a military family has to deal with, such as child custody as a result of deployment as well as how to divide and calculate military pay and pension.

If you are an active service member who is considering divorce, please contact our firm for expert, compassionate legal counsel.

Find out more about this topic at Military Law and Divorce.