Child Custody under SB 668

The child-custody provisions of SB 668 put parents on equal footing during child-custody determinations. Existing law declares a vague public policy that each minor child have “frequent and continuing contact” with both parents after they separate or divorce. What this public policy means can vary from judge to judge.

The bill replaces the vague policy, with a requirement that courts begin a custody determination with the premise that a child should spend “approximately equal time” with each parent. The court must then take into account a child’s best interest by considering 20 statutory factors that are based on current law. Finally, the bill requires courts to explain their child-custody determinations in writing.

The changes to the child-custody law are driven by well-known societal changes. For example, there are more two income households than ever.[1] Women are more likely than men to have a college degree, and women are pursuing more graduate degrees than men.[2] Forty percent of households with children have a female breadwinner, a dramatic increase since 1960.[3] Additionally, fathers have become more active in raising their children.[4]

Unfortunately, many incorrect statements and specious arguments have been made about what SB 668 says and how the bill will affect children and custody litigation. The remainder of this document identifies and responds to the common misstatements and specious arguments.

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[1] Kim Parker, Pew Research Center, 5 Facts About Today’s Fathers (June 18, 2015) available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/18/5-facts-about-todays-fathers/.

[2] Executive Office of the President of the United States, Eleven Facts About American Families and Work 10-11 (Oct. 2014), available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/eleven_facts_about_family_and_work_final.pdf .

[3] Wendy Wang, Kim Parker, and Paul Taylor, Pew Research Center, Breadwinner Moms (May 29, 2013) available at: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/29/breadwinner-moms/.

[4] Parker, supra note 1.

Did Jupiter Police have a choice?

Thanks to Joe Biden and the funds that have been channeled through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Jupiter police had little choice but to charge Corey Lewandowski with battery.

Under Florida Statute 784.03, the crime of misdemeanor battery is committed when a person either:

1.     Intentionally touches or strikes another person against their will; or

2.     Intentionally causes bodily harm to another person.

The video is highly suggestive that Corey Lewandowski touched Michelle Fields against her will.

Florida Family Law is badly in need of reform.  SB 668 has not yet been signed into law by Rick Scott.  Two years ago, Rick Scott did not sign a related bill.

Tort reform was in fashion until the lawyers got hold of Barack Obama.  Our criminal justice system needs reform.  Our Family Law system needs reform.

I don’t think a jury of Corey Lewandowski’s peers would convict him of even simple battery.  I recommend to Corey and to Mr. Trump that they not waive the right to trial by jury.

The web describes defenses against battery.  These include implied consent as in athletic contests.

Mandatory Stuff

In a purported effort to save victims money, Florida made Mediation Mandatory for Dissolution of Marriage about the end of 2009.

On May 18, 2010, my lawyer signed a TEMPORARY AND PARTIAL PROPERTY/ASSET SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.

It was my clear understanding that we did not agree on anything during the Mandatory Mediation session.

The signed agreement said that I would pay the three mortgages on the marital home from my employers 401K.  In addition, I will also pay the homeowners insurance and taxes from the same 401K.

"They agree that this will occur until the court rules on this issue."

"Any tax consequences which result from the withdrawals will be shared equitably by the parties.  The Court shave have the authority to give credits to either side in the equitable distribution scheme for these payments."

A year later the account was exhausted and the court had not ruled on the issue.

Be advised that Judge Charles J. Roberts of Florida is not a good Financial Manager/Advisor.

"The Road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions."

The Petitioner in my case still has not complied with Florida's Mandatory Disclosure List.

 

No Fault -- No Alimony

Florida became a "no fault" state in Dissolution of Marriage proceedings in 1971.

A truly no fault dissolution of marriage should only address a  Fair and Equitable distribution of assets (and liabilities).

I am a victim of Domestic Abuse and Elder Abuse.

My partner made unilateral decisions concerning the religiously oriented activities our two daughters should receive.  That is classic Male Privilege.

My partner has Master's Degree from an out-of-state private university.  Her three skills that I have observed are:

1.  She is good at obtaining volunteers
2.  She's very generous with someone else's money
3.  She is good at church history.

These are appropriate skills for a Director of Christian Education (DCE).

Women are no longer limited to a DCE role; they can now compete in and for the pulpits.

Following advice that she later regretted, my partner filed for divorce in April 2009.  The matter has not been settled.

I have seen and been victimized by the best divorce lawyer in Brevard County, Diane Baccus-Horsley.  She President Obama look like a truth teller.

Perception is Key

Perception was more important than reality in the Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) strategic nuclear policy of the Cold War.  If a party was perceived as weak enough to be attacked, it would be of little consequence to the millions of dead that the attacking party was wrong.  On the other hand, would one expect to be able to achieve savings by focusing on perception rather than reality?

In the good old days, the US could retaliate against a terrorist country for a terrorist act against the US or a US citizen.  If we got it wrong, nobody knew except for the real perpetrator and, possibly, us.  If someone credible spoke out, we would have a new target.

While thinking about the War on Terror, I realized that, if we have a list of “bad guys/countries”, we can pick a (deserving) target and punish them.  Everybody will think that crime does not pay except for the real perpetrator.

I can see an analogy with local law enforcement.  Now, with DNA evidence, the innocent of the particular crime is being set free but no replacement is being found.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott Vetoes Family Law Reform

I watched the hearings for SB 718 and the companion bill in the Florida House.  There was very moving testimony about how a mother had achieved independence.

Government Rick Scott needs to be more pro-Family and less pro-Florida Family Law Bar Section.

(DR)2H

Arithmetic is not an Opinion

Facts are not opinions.  Assertions have to do with what is.  Assessments have to do with what is possible.  Does CNN present both sides when discussing “two plus two equals four”?

The fact that scientists have not proven an assertion to be incorrect does not warrant the assessment that it (the assertion) is possible/true.

Florida is currently “in the News” because of the Trayvon Martin homicide.  Several members of the national media are “searching for the truth.”

I began my search for the truth about 1957.  A couple of young-looking Chinese Americans were pictured on the front of Parade Magazine.  T. D. Lee and C. N. Yang had been awarded the Nobel Prize for predicting non-conservation of Parity.   See http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1957/.

I learned quickly that chemistry was not my path to the truth.   In the calculation of pH (a measure of the acidity/alkalinity of a solution), a term of the order of 10**(-14) was ignored in the denominator.  The other term was 10**0 (which is 1).  It was clear that the social sciences were not my path to the truth.

Pure mathematics was my favorite area but it was divorced from the Real World.  My search for the truth (and funding) led me into Physics.   Although I was searching for the truth, there was no question about the criterion for truth.  It had to be reasonable, self-consistent, and coherent.  To be “reasonable,” it had to be consistent with all the facts.  In 1957, I did not have any questions about what is a fact.  I had no conscious awareness of truth needing any criteria.

About 1970, I bought two paperback books by W. S. Sahakian and M.L.  Sahakian.  One described 17 theories/conceptions of Truth.  Authority, revelation, intuition, correspondence, coherence, and pragmatism are the ones I can recall.

A few years ago, I discovered the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.  I learned that Realism is controversial. [ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/realism/]  Neophytes should start with  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism.  [As of April 2, 2012, the Wikipedia entry is short, informative, and, probably, accurate.  It would be helpful if it addressed whether “common sense” is related to Thomas Reid.]

If Realism is controversial, does that imply that Arithmetic IS an Opinion?

I am involved in a domestic dispute in Florida.  The facts can be rather accurately described in numbers.  A Motion for Rehearing has been granted.  There is reason to believe that Justice will prevail.  However, the current Final Judgment of the Court is incredulous to those of us who know the truth.

I, a male who was removed from the State of Florida by concerned relatives, have been Profiled as a Male who left the State, abused his wife, and made Big Bucks at Harris.   The case is backwards.  My wife engaged in occasional Male Perogative, she was never a stay-at-home wife; she always did whatever she wanted to within the limits imposed upon her by others.  She did not get a job appropriate for her.  She took the best job she could get and went back to school nights and weekends to get a second Master’s degree.  She completed residency requirements in minimal time (making it impossible to be at home).  In March of 2007, my wife and I had a difference of opinion about taxes.  The State of Florida diverted me into a Domestic Violence Program.  The only support for my wife was from a Domestic Violence Victims support group.

My wife’s first master’s degree qualified her to be a Director of Christian Education (DCE) in the United Methodist Church.  A skill/talent for recruiting unpaid volunteers is appropriate for that type of work.  I began to see my wife as abusing that talent/skill as we moved into the era of Knowledge Worker as an occupation.  My former wife got a church member to set up a budget for her and “process” her data for her tax input.  She had 11 bank accounts, most of them with Bank of America.

Because my former wife received help from people knowledgeable with Domestic Violence and Florida Family Law, I “have a history of Domestic Violence.”  There are no forms identifying the person/persons who helped her prepare her reports.  I do not deserve a history of Domestic Violence.  My former wife does not have a history of Contempt of Court.  She deserves such a history.

In a reasonable world, women would ostracize my former wife for her abuse of the system they worked to establish.  In this world, I have to acknowledge that whatever the male says, “May be true.”

Proverbs makes various statements about the value of a reputation.  If Arithmetic is an Opinion, how much should one spend on an Appeal?