Parental Relocation Can Be Killer

By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Relocation on Thursday, June 9, 2016.

Relocations are stressful. After one contentious parent/child relocation, the Miami Herald reports a Father may have been murdered over his children’s relocation. Suspects are in custody.

I’ve lectured and written about relocations before. Florida relocations are defined as:

moving your principal residence – as it was at the time of the last order establishing or modifying timesharing, or at the time of filing the pending action to establish or modify timesharing – at least 50 miles for at least 60 consecutive days – not including a temporary absence for vacation, education, or health care for your children.

Ask a family lawyer or judge to name the most difficult type of family case to handle, and most likely he or she will say child relocation cases. If a Court grants the move, the non-moving parent will no longer be able to participate in the day-to-day life of her or his child.

On the other hand, if the Court denies relocation, and the moving parent has no choice but to move away, then the child will be separated from the parent with whom the child may have the closest bond. In either situation, the child loses.

The Miami Herald is reporting that in a newly unsealed probable-cause affidavit, police said that “a desperate desire” by the family of FSU law professor Daniel Markel’s ex-wife to move the couple’s two children from Tallahassee to Miami was the motive of murder suspect Sigfredo Garcia, arrested last week for Markel’s murder.

The unsealed affidavit says police used a combination of video surveillance, eyewitness accounts, cell phone records, emails and court records pertaining to Markel and his contentious divorce from Wendi Adelson to place Garcia and alleged accomplice Luis Rivera near the crime scene and establish the Adelson family’s motive to put out the hit.

Wendi Adelson, who was a clinical professor at Florida State University’s law school, filed for divorce in 2012 after six years of marriage. Investigators described the divorce as “bitter,” with Adelson taking their two sons to her parents’ Miami home without Markel’s consent before she returned.

“E-mail evidence indicates Wendi’s parents, especially her mother, wanted Wendi to coerce Markel into allowing the relocation to South Florida,” the affidavit says. “Additionally, Wendi’s brother, Charles Adelson (Charlie), reportedly did not like Markel and did not get along with him.

The affidavit does not allege that Wendi Adelson knew about Dan Markel’s killing in advance or had any involvement in it.

Raising the interest factor, Wendi told the story of her ex-husband, Dan Markel’s murder as a student in the Writing Class Radio Podcast.

The podcast is fascinating.

The Miami Herald article is here.

Wendi’s podcast is here.