Tag: Family Law

Comity and International Divorce

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

A foreign couple that married and lived in Indiana received an international divorce from their home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After they returned to the U.S., the Wife filed for divorce a second time in Indiana. An appellate court in Indiana now has to determine if the one divorce is enough for a couple.

Comity Property

Comity of Errors

In the Indiana case, the Husband and Wife are citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country on the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. The country is home to medieval villages and the Ottoman-era bridge where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, igniting World War I.

In 2017, the couple were married in Indianapolis, where they both lived. In 2022, after the couple returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina, they jointly filed a petition to dissolve their marriage in a court in Tuzla, a small town in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Their divorce petition did not mention they owned marital property in Indiana. The Bosnian court granted them a dissolution of their marriage, returning them to being single.

But then on 2023, the Wife filed a new petition for dissolution of marriage, this time in and Indiana Superior Court requesting the court to divide their real estate in Indiana. The Husband moved the court in Indiana to dismiss the case under principles of comity, citing the Bosnian proceeding which had already dissolved their marriage.

The trial court granted Husband’s motion to dismiss because of the previous divorce in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But then the trial court reversed itself, and granted the Wife’s Motion to Correct Errors, finding that the foreign final judgment did not address the couple’s property in Indiana.

Florida Comity

I have written about comity and international divorce before. As a general rule, the final judgments of courts in foreign countries are subject to recognition and enforcement in this country.

Any foreign divorce decree should be recognized in Florida as a valid judgment, and should be entitled to comity, where the parties have been given notice and the opportunity to be heard, where the foreign court had original jurisdiction and where the foreign decree does not offend the public policy of the State of Florida.

Comity does not require Florida public policy to be supplanted by foreign law. That’s because comity is not technically a law, but a practice for convenience and expediency. If it would be contrary to Florida law or contravene some established and important Florida policy, comity would not be applied. So, before enforcing a foreign judgment, a Florida court has to review the foreign judgment to make sure it complies with the rule of comity.

Additionally, foreign courts generally do not have the jurisdiction to decide issues relating to real property located in Florida. Accordingly, Florida courts have consistently held that foreign judgments affecting Florida real property are not entitled to comity or enforcement.

Comity Genius

Back in Indiana, the Husband argued res judicata prevented the Wife from filing a divorce petition in Indiana after receiving a divorce in Bosnia. The Wife countered that res judicata did not apply because the Bosnian judgment was not rendered on the merits regarding the marital property located in Indiana.

The appellate court agreed. While the Bosnian court dissolved the parties’ marriage, it is undisputed that it did not address the division of marital property in Indiana. As such, res judicata did not apply.

Next, the Husband argued the trial court erred in declining to dismiss the case under principles of comity. Comity was found to be important in avoiding conflicting results and in discouraging repeated litigation of the same question.

Generally, where a divorce action concerns the same parties and the same subject matter, comity should require dismissing a subsequent divorce filed in a different jurisdiction. However, in the Indiana case there was no danger the parties would be subject to multiple or inconsistent judgments, since the real estate disposition was not at issue in the Bosnian proceeding.

The Indiana Appellate Court opinion is here.

This is Your MenoDivorce

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Do you really want a divorce, or do you have a case of MenoDivorce? These are questions many women reaching their midlife are asking. Hormones are changing, they are becoming empty nesters, and careers are often at their peak. The hot new term in family law has become: the Meno-Divorce.

Menodivorce

No tears and no hearts breakin’ . . .

As of last year, marriage rates were up and divorce numbers were down. But, there’s a specific type of divorce that’s now seems to be on the rise. This is something known as “menodivorce” and, it’s linked to women, in particular, being perimenopausal or going through menopause.

The divorce rate for middle aged and older men has been increasing significantly too. For men, the second half of life is a big change in terms of  your physical shape, changing work roles, and different sexual appetites and abilities. Then there’s the fact children are grown, there’s more free time, and more disposable income.

It is no different for women. According to the Mayo Clinic, perimenopause is the time before menopause when your body is getting ready to stop having periods. And, more women approaching menopause are leaving their husbands. Some women view leaving their spouses as an awakening instead of a midlife crisis.

According to a UK-based survey conducted by the Family Law Menopause Project and Newsom Health Research and Education, seven in 10 women blamed perimenopause or menopause for the breakdown of their marriage.

Another study by Bowling Green State University’s National Center for Family and Marriage Research found that, as of 2019, divorce rates in adults 50 and older accounted for one in four divorces, up from this age bracket making up one in ten divorces in the US in 1990.

Florida MenoDivorce

I’ve written about midlife divorces and gray divorces before. The legal nuances of gray divorce can be different than what other couples might encounter. In a gray divorce, the financial considerations take on more importance than the children’s issues – because the children are emancipated or nearly so.

When couples choose to divorce in their 30s or 40s, they still have time to recover financially, because adults at that age have several years, if not decades, left in their careers.

But when divorce occurs when a couple is in their 50s or later, the so-called “MenoDivorce” years, careers may either be coming to a close or are completed, and spouses are often living on fixed incomes provided through Social Security or retirement benefits.

Here are some things to consider:

  • By the time a couple enters the golden years, there may be gold to divide, including businesses, retirement funds, and vacation homes. Valuing these assets can be difficult. A financial advisor may be an important component in the divorce.
  • Health insurance is often tied to the employment of a spouse. Courts may need to intervene if one party has dwindling capacity to handle their own affairs.
  • Wills and trusts need to be reviewed to make sure they reflect post-divorce wishes. The same is true for long-term care, such as medical directives, living wills and trusts.
  • Retirement plans can be substantial and complex. Retirement plans vary, and they all have different restrictions, tax consequences, distribution and vesting rules.
  • There are special concerns involved in a gray divorce. As always, information is power, so make a point to seek out experts for guidance.

Many MenoDivorces involve marriages that have lasted for several decades, which makes it difficult to disentangle the spouses from each other. However, couples who divorce after many years together should receive a close-to-even split of assets, legally putting each spouse on an equal playing field for the future.

No Remorse

The average age a woman reaches menopause in America is 51, according to the Mayo Clinic. One OB-GYN and menopause specialist broke down why women are divorcing their husbands when they hit this stage of their lives.

Perimenopausal and menopausal women experience a whole range of symptoms, like a loss of libido, at the same time, life begins to get more stressful, which eventually takes its toll on them. Experts advise couples to seek additional help, like therapy, to improve communication and support, as well as treatment to help with menopausal symptoms.

The USA Today article is here.

The Scientific Causes of Divorce

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Even though the numbers of divorce cases are increasing, the cause of divorces has avoided scientific examination. Most people look at who gets divorced: their age, financial status, parenthood, past divorces, and their emotional stability. But two researchers from Israel are examining the lesser known subject of why people get divorced.

Divorce cause

Divorce and Statistics

Divorce, the legal dissolution of marriage, can be driven by a variety of factors, ranging from changes in the economic status or health conditions of spouses to contrasting values. The end of a marriage can often be challenging to process. Divorce can impact your personal well-being and even your mental health.

Sari Mentser and Lilach Sagiv, two researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, recently carried out a study specifically exploring the relationship between people’s values and divorce. Their findings, published in Communications Psychology, suggest that interaction between spouses’ cultural and personal values can predict divorce.

On average, the rates of divorce worldwide have increased over the past century. But it is difficult to obtain or analyze public data on divorces.

In order to compute divorce-to-marriage ratios, the researchers in Israel created an average of all divorce-to-marriage ratios available for a country over the years, and compared it to the most recent divorce-to-marriage ratio available for that country.

People all over the world have a variety of cultural and personal values, i.e. shared beliefs connected to societal norms, which can emphasize autonomy, or social stability and tradition for example. Personal values, on the other hand, are beliefs influencing the behavior of specific people. For example, one spouse could value their independence, or new experiences, or pleasure. While the other spouse could instead be more driven by a respect for traditions and social conformity.

The researchers crunched the data they collected which involved over 100,000 participants residing in more than 55 different countries worldwide.

Florida Divorce

I’ve written about the reasons for divorce before. The Israeli study is not the first study done about who has the highest divorce rates, or which jobs are the most likely to lead to a divorce. Although the statistics are interesting, from a legal perspective, the causes for a divorce are not always relevant in a court. For example, Florida is a no-fault state. No-fault laws are the result of trying to change the way divorces play out in court.

In Florida no fault laws have reduced the number of feuding couples who felt the need to resort to distorted facts, lies, and the need to focus the trial on who did what to whom.

Florida abolished fault as grounds for filing a divorce. Gone are the days when you had to prove adultery, desertion or unreasonable behavior. The only ground you need to file for divorce in Florida is to prove your marriage is “irretrievably broken.” Additionally, the mental incapacity of one of the parties, where the party was adjudged incapacitated for the prior three year, is another avenue.

Scientific Explanations

As a result of this study, the researchers found that divorce was more justifiable and likely in nations emphasizing autonomy values and among individuals ascribing importance to self-direction, stimulation, and hedonism values.

Divorce was less justifiable and likely in nations emphasizing embeddedness values, and among individuals ascribing importance to tradition and conformity values.

The results of the team’s analysis suggest that cultural and personal values interact to predict divorce. Specifically, they show that cultural values prioritizing autonomy (i.e., individual freedom) are linked to higher divorce rates, while those prioritizing social stability and tradition are linked to lower divorce rates.

They also found that people who placed a greater value on independence, new stimuli and pleasure were more likely to divorce while those who valued tradition and social harmony more were less likely to dissolve their marriage. Interestingly, the effect of these personal values on divorce appeared to be stronger in countries with a culture that emphasizes autonomy, which hints at an interaction between cultural and personal values.

The researchers conclude that divorce is sometimes the solution to an undesirable situation. Whether or not a spouse will file for divorce may depend on their personal and cultural values. Some people would rather avoid divorce at all costs while others who value change may be more open to considering divorce.

The Phys.Org article is here.

Three Men Family Law Case Update 2024

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Not even a hurricane could stop the popular Three Men and a Family Law Case Update webinar. The La Niña, high sea surface temperatures, and new appellate opinions have made 2024 an active season in Florida  family law. So, for anyone interested in discussing the latest developments in Florida family law, and hasn’t already registered, it is time again to register for the Three Men and a Family Law Case Update 2024 on Friday, November 1, 2024 starting at 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM

Case Update

Join me and AAML fellows/board certified lawyers, Reuben Doupé and Cash A. Eaton, for an active discussion on some of the major Florida marital and family law changes that have changed the family law landscape in 2024.

The course is an online webinar, and we will be reviewing many of the most important recent appellate opinions within Florida Marital and Family Law. Reuben, Cash and I will cover a wide range of topics from Florida’s newest family law cases.

Sponsored by the Florida Bar Family Law Section, attendees will be eligible for 1.5 CLE credits.

Registration is still open so register here.

Cryptocurrencies are now Marital Property in South Korea

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

The South Korean Supreme Court, and now South Korea’s legislature, have made it clear that cryptocurrencies are marital property which are subject to property division during a divorce. Under the new law, South Korean spouses can claim a right to distribute cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin holdings, during divorce proceedings.

South Korea Bitcoin

Bitcoin and Bibimbap

South Korean divorces can be different from Florida divorces. For example, Florida is a no-fault state. But unless a married couple agrees to divorce by mutual consent, South Korea is strictly fault-based. This means that a party must prove adultery, desertion, extreme maltreatment or the whereabouts of the spouse have been unknown for three years to obtain a divorce.

South Korean divorces have been different from Florida divorces for another reason until recently, such as how to treat cryptocurrencies.  Most Americans are familiar with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. They are virtual currencies that use cryptography for security and operate on decentralized networks known as blockchains.

Cryptocurrency and other blockchain technologies have grown in recent years. Bitcoin is the most well-known cryptocurrency, and is currently valued at around $63,126. Under a new South Korean law, both tangible and intangible assets can be divided during a divorce:

Article 839-2 of the Korean Civil Act provides that a spouse may request a division of marital assets accumulated during the marriage upon the divorce in Korea.

This provision encompasses any “property” acquired during the marriage, including both tangible and intangible assets. Additionally, a recent Korean Supreme Court decision confirmed that cryptocurrency and other virtual assets, including Bitcoin, constitute “property” due to the recognized economic value as an intangible asset. Accordingly, any form of cryptocurrency held by a spouse during the marriage may be considered part of the marital estate if acquired during marriage in South Korean.

If a party is aware of cryptocurrency exchange was utilized, a Korean court can issue a fact-finding investigation or an order to obtain financial transaction records to verify the amount of cryptocurrency. In cases where a party is unaware of which exchange is being utilized, analyzing a spouse’s bank withdrawal records and other creative means of forensic investigations can trace transactions related to cryptocurrency exchanges.

Florida and Cryptocurrency

I have written about property division in Florida before. In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, in addition to all other remedies available to a court to do equity between the parties, a court must set apart to each spouse that spouse’s non-marital assets and liabilities.

When distributing the marital assets between spouses, a family court must begin with the premise that the distribution should be equal, unless there is a justification for an unequal distribution based on all relevant factors.

While there is no specific case addressing the topic, under Florida’s equitable distribution statute, marital assets include as those acquired during the marriage, regardless of which party holds title. Additionally, a Florida appellate court last year approved a trial court’s equitable distribution of bitcoins and further authorized deducting Bitcoins from a Former Husband’s original share of Bitcoins, to reimburse the Wife for the cost of recovering the Bitcoin hard drive.

A Cryptocurrency Armistice

Under South Korean law, when it comes to the actual division of cryptocurrency during a divorce, you may have the option to sell the holdings at the market value at an agreed time and divide the proceeds between the parties, or alternatively, simply divide the cryptocurrency holdings between the spouses, retain your interest and hope it appreciates. However, you should always consider the volatility of cryptocurrencies -meaning the price can change quickly in a very short time, making it possible for you to experience big gains or losses.

In some respects, tracking cryptocurrencies may be easier than keeping track of cash. That’s because you may be able to trace trades. blockchain technology preserves all transactions and does not allow external factors to modify or delete entries. Bank withdrawal records and other forensic investigations may allow for the discovery of unknown sources of crypto holdings.

The Korean Law Blog article is here.

Right to Parenting and Gender Transition

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Does the right to parenting to direct the moral or religious training of a child end when gender transition is at issue? In a recent family law case, that question was put to the test after a trial judge’s comments to the child led one father to try and disqualify the judge.

Gender Parent rights

Gender Transition and Parental Rights

The father is a Christian minister and youth pastor. He opposed, on moral and religious grounds, gender transitions for his minor child a biological male – before adulthood.

In 2016, the child was removed from the mother’s custody because of her substance abuse issues. The father was not an offending parent, and the child was not adjudicated dependent as to the father.

After a reunification with the mother, the child later ran away from the mother after the mother had relapsed. Importantly, the mother had given the child sex-reassignment hormones which she had bought on the internet without a lawful prescription.

The child then moved in with the father. However, the father refused to seek any sex-reassignment treatment, and opposed any form of gender transition before adulthood.

The Department of Children and Families (“DCF”) moved for an emergency modification of placement for the child, seeking to remove the child from the custody of both the mother and the nonoffending father.

The only grounds that DCF provided for why the child should be removed from the father’s custody was not allowing the child to live and dress as a female or pursue gender transition.

The trial judge removed the child from the custody of the father because the father: seemed to be unaware and unaccepting of the child’s current emotional situation and ensuing needs based on the father’s opposition to gender transition for the child before adulthood.

The father asked for the child to be returned to his custody on the grounds that it is unlawful to infringe on parental rights in the absence of any findings of actual or prospective abuse, abandonment, or neglect.

The day before the hearing, the trial judge interviewed the child in-camera. The trial judge referred to the child by female pseudonyms, as well as “sister” and “young lady.” The trial judge also told the child that she could order the child’s father to submit to “professional help,” as a way to change the father’s moral or religious beliefs. As a parting remark, the trial judge told the child, “Chin up, sister.”

The father moved to disqualify the trial judge. The trial judge promptly entered a written order denying the motion to disqualify as “legally insufficient.” The father then petitioned the appellate court to disqualify the trial judge.

Parental Rights v. Right to a New Judge

In Florida, a party in a lawsuit may move to disqualify a trial judge if “the party reasonably fears that he or she will not receive a fair trial or hearing because of specifically described prejudice or bias of the judge.

In Florida, children do not belong equally to parents and the state. Rather, their protection is first entrusted to the parents, extended family next, and then, if necessary, the state.

On appeal, the panel found the father had a right to rely on his moral or religious beliefs to direct his child’s upbringing. The father was also found to have a right to refuse to allow the child to further the child’s gender transition before adulthood under Florida law. Moreover, the father’s opposition to gender transition before adulthood is not prohibited by Florida law.

The trial judge’s pre-hearing remarks — referring to the child by female pseudonyms, telling the child “you are one smart, strong[,] [t]ogether, young lady,” and to “[c]hin up, sister”— implied a foregone conclusion, before hearing the father’s motion, that the trial judge was supportive of the child’s gender transition before adulthood and opposed to the father’s reliance upon his moral or religious beliefs to otherwise direct the child’s upbringing.

The trial judge’s in-camera interaction with the child went beyond mere attempts to establish a rapport with the child. The trial judge verbally expressed an inclination to order the father to submit to “professional help,” in an effort to change his moral or religious beliefs.

However, one judge on the panel dissented. While the dissenter had no quarrel with the father’s parental right to direct his child’s upbringing, or with Florida’s statutory protection of that right, the dissenting judge felt the trial judge was simply attempting to relate to the child on the child’s terms. To the dissent, the trial judge’s comments were completely appropriate.

The opinion is here.

Divorce Capital of the World

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

London has become known as the ‘divorce capital of the world’, proving that where you file your divorce can be of extreme importance. File in the wrong jurisdiction, like Afghanistan, and your divorce can be deemed a nullity. But file in the right jurisdiction, and you could get a windfall.

Divorce Capital

London Calling

Russian tycoon Vladimir Potanin, is currently making a legal challenge in the UK Supreme Court next week over a $6b marital settlement sought by his ex-wife, Natalia Potanina, which helped to make London’s reputation as the “divorce capital” of the world.

The couple married in 1983 in Russia. During the 1990s, Potanin had a reputed $20bn fortune, including shares in companies or other business entities that were not registered in his name – though Potanin was their beneficial owner, according to information contained in a 2021 Court of Appeal ruling.

Potanina was initially awarded roughly $41.5mn in 2014 by Russia’s courts but has claimed she is entitled to a far larger share of her husband’s fortune.

Potanina, who is Russian but who also has had a home in England since 2014, is now seeking half of the assets beneficially owned by her former husband. The case has prompted what one recent Court of Appeal ruling described as a “blizzard of litigation”.

In 2019, Potanina turned to the High Court in London, citing Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, legislation that gives the English courts the power to make financial orders if a marriage has been annulled outside the UK.

Potanina alleged in proceedings at the High Court that she had “made exhaustive efforts to obtain justice in Russia” but that the sum awarded in Moscow “does not even begin to meet my reasonable needs”. Her attempt to bring a claim in England was initially blocked by the High Court in 2019 on the grounds that the couple had little connection with Britain.

In the 2019 ruling, Mr Justice Jonathan Cohen said that if her claim went ahead, “there is effectively no limit to divorce tourism”. However, the Court of Appeal reversed the decision in 2021 paving the way for Potanina to bring the action in England.

Potanin is seeking to overturn that Court of Appeal ruling at the Supreme Court in a two-day hearing this month. If he loses the appeal, the battle is expected to move to the family courts.

Florida Divorce Jurisdiction

International divorces often bring up the issue of jurisdiction. Who sues whom, how do you sue for divorce, and in what country are problems in an international divorce case. The answers are more difficult than people think as I have written before.

A British divorce might give more money because British courts can disregard prenuptial agreements, and the cost of living is high in London. However, in Florida, the outcome could be different still.

Rules about children and hiding assets is a problem in every divorce, especially in international cases. The problem of discovery of hidden wealth is even bigger in an international divorce because multiple countries, and multiple rules on discovery, can be involved. The problems in an international divorce are more complicated because hiding assets from a spouse is much easier in some countries than in others.

Florida, at one extreme, requires complete disclosure of assets and liabilities. In fact, in Florida certain financial disclosure is mandatory. At the other extreme, there are countries which require very little disclosure from people going through divorce.

Choosing possible countries to file your divorce in can be construed as “forum shopping”. The European Union introduced a reform which tried to prevent “forum shopping”, with a rule that the first court to be approached decides the divorce. But the stakes are high: ending up in the wrong legal system, or with the wrong approach, may mean not just poverty but misery.

Residency for divorce is a very important jurisdictional requirement in every case. Generally, the non-filing party need not be a resident in the state in order for the court to divorce the parties under the divisible divorce doctrine. The court’s personal jurisdiction over the non-filing spouse is necessary only if the court enters personal orders regarding the spouse.

The durational domicile or residency requirement goes to the heart of the court’s ability to divorce the parties, because the residency of a party to a divorce creates a relationship with the state to justify its exercise of power over the marriage.

Rudie Can’t Fail

Potanin’s appeal of the order granting permission for Potanina to bring her claim in England, could become one of the biggest settlement cases recorded in the country. Potanin, who was hit with sanctions by the British government in 2022 because of his support for the Kremlin after Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is due to begin on October 31st.

London’s reputation as the “divorce capital of the world” was earned because of a perception that courts there were awarding large financial settlements to financially weaker spouses.

The ruling on appeal is expected to have significant ramifications for other cases, particularly in relation to whether ex-partners can turn to the English courts to obtain a more favorable payouts.

The Financial Times article is here.

Divorce, Family Law and Constitutional Rights

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Today is September 17th: Constitution Day. For anyone involved in divorce and family law cases, your Constitutional rights are always at risk. In New Jersey that was recently proved when a family judge restrained a woman from posting a video about her husband’s refusal to give her a religious divorce.

Divorce Constitution

Gotta Get a Get

On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they created. Written 236 years ago, the U.S. Constitution is still the country’s most important legal instrument – even impacting people going through a simple divorce today.

For many Americans, religion plays an important part of finalizing their divorce. All three major monotheistic religions require a religious divorce to remarry within the faith. Without a religious divorce, a second marriage will not be recognized.

Agunot refers to Jewish women who are separated from their husbands but unable to obtain a legal Jewish divorce, leaving them barred from remarriage under Judaism’s adultery laws. One New Jersey woman denied a “Get” – a jewish divorce – decided to take matters into her own hands. She posted a video accusing her estranged husband of improperly withholding a get, and asking community members to “press” her husband to give the get.

After the video was made, the husband obtained a restraining order based on a domestic violence complaint alleging harassment. He testified that he received numerous phone calls from unknown numbers, a photograph of himself identifying him as a “get refuser” and calling on others to “tell him to free his wife.” Additionally, he was adamant that he was not a get refuser.

The trial judge found that the communication was “invasive” of the husband’s privacy, holding:

“one cannot hide behind the First Amendment when that communication is invasive of the recipient’s privacy.”

The trial judge entered a temporary restraining order against the Wife’s video and she appealed.

Florida and Constitutional Rights

I’ve written about the intersection of the U.S. Constitution and divorce cases before. This Constitution Day it is important to understand that family courts have a lot of power which can impact your constitutional rights.

Unlike the U.S. Constitution, the Florida Constitution has an express right of privacy clause in it. Florida courts have interpreted the Florida Constitution to afford even greater privacy rights than those in the U.S. Constitution.

Accordingly, Florida courts have to carefully balance a parent’s constitutional right against the state’s interests. When the matter involves religious beliefs, family courts generally do not make decisions in favor of a specific religion over the objection of the other parent. The court should also avoid interference with the right of a parent to practice their own religion and avoid imposing an obligation to enforce the religious beliefs of the other parent.

First Amendment Gets Going

On appeal, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division held that the wife’s video was constitutionally protected speech. The appellate court vacated the temporary restraining order holding: a “general history” of violence was insufficient to vitiate First Amendment protections.

The video, whether viewed on its own or in the context in which it was disseminated, does not fall outside the First Amendment’s protection. Recall that the trial judge had concluded that the video was not protected by the First Amendment because members of the Jewish community would respond violently to plaintiff being identified as a get refuser.

However, the trial judge’s reliance on an unspecified general history of violent treatment to which get refusers were subjected was insufficient to render the wife’s video a true threat or an imminent danger to satisfy the incitement requirement.

To qualify as incitement and lose First Amendment protection a communication must be both “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and . . . likely to incite or produce such action.”

The New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division opinion is here.

Beautiful No Fault Divorce

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Divorce lawyers hear many reasons for filing for divorce. “My spouse is too beautiful”, however, is a new one. But it does not matter as most states abolished fault as a ground for divorce. But in some state legislatures there is an effort to overturn our system of no-fault divorce.

beauty no fault divorce

In the eye of the beholder

A prominent right-wing commentator, Steven Crowder, is making waves this month after he complained his ex-wife started the divorce process on her own. Crowder emphasized the divorce was against his will, and is blaming the no-fault system of divorce:

“Since 2021, I’ve been living through what has become a horrendous divorce. . . This was not my choice. My then wife decided she didn’t want to be married anymore. And, in the state of Texas, that is completely permitted.”

Crowder’s comments come on the back of recent proposals by state legislatures to overturn no-fault divorce laws on the books in Texas, Nebraska, and Louisiana. The repeal of no-fault divorce would hit Zambian husband, Arnold Masuka, hard.

Masuka has taken the extraordinary step of seeking the dissolution of his marriage because his wife is exceptionally beautiful.

This surprising revelation left officials and witnesses in awe at a local court in the Zambian capital city of Lusaka. The newspaper, Zambian Observer, reported that during the divorce proceedings, Masuka shocked those present in court when he candidly expressed to the judge that his wife, Hilda Muleya, possessed a beauty that had caused him countless sleepless nights.

The sheer allure of his wife had become an overwhelming source of anxiety for him, leading him to make this unconventional request. Masuka explained to the court that he lived in a state of perpetual fear, constantly worried about the possibility of losing his wife to another man.

Florida No-Fault Divorce

The official term for divorce in Florida is “dissolution of marriage”, and you don’t need fault as a ground for divorce. Florida abolished fault as a ground for divorce. Interestingly, given the recent attack on no-fault divorce, it was former Governor Ronald Reagan of California who signed the nation’s first no-fault divorce bill.

The no fault divorce law eliminated the need for couples to fabricate spousal wrongdoing in pursuit of a divorce; indeed, one likely reason for Reagan’s decision to sign the bill was that his first wife, Jane Wyman, had unfairly accused him of “mental cruelty” to obtain a divorce in 1948.

I’ve written about divorce and infidelity issues before. The no-fault concept in Florida means you no longer have to prove a reason for the divorce, like your wife’s exceptional beauty. Instead, you just need to state under oath that your marriage is “irretrievably broken.”

Before the no-fault divorce era, people who wanted to get divorce either had to reach agreement in advance with the other spouse that the marriage was over or throw mud at each other and prove wrongdoing like adultery or abuse.

No-fault laws were the result of trying to change the way divorces played out in court. No fault laws have reduced the number of feuding couples who felt the need to resort to distorted facts, lies, and the need to focus the trial on who did what to whom.

Lost in Lusaka

Masuka’s increasing fear of his wife’s beauty had grown so intense, that he found himself hesitating to leave his wife Hilda unattended. He stopped going to work, and was totally consumed by the nagging thought that his wife might be lured away by other suitors.

In Masuka’s eyes, Hilda, originally from Gokwe, Zimbabwe, was the epitome of beauty. Among all the women he had encountered in his life, none had captivated him quite like her. This powerful attraction had become both a blessing and a burden, fueling his insecurity and prompting him to take this unusual legal recourse.

As the court listened attentively to Masuka’s heartfelt plea, it became evident that his intentions were driven by genuine concern for his wife’s well-being. However, whether the dissolution of their marriage was a viable solution remained to be seen.

Ultimately, the fate of Arnold Masuka’s marriage rests in the hands of the court, which will consider the implications of his request for dissolution.

The Nigeria World article is here.

Divorce May be Coming to the Philippines

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

While most of the world has legalized absolute divorce, the Philippines have not. But legalalized divorce may be coming to the Philippines after the House Committee on Population and Family Relations approved, in principle, several bills on divorce and dissolution of marriage.

Philippines Divorce

A Thrilla in Manila

Going much further to modernize its family laws, in fact, the House committee on population and family relations has approved in principle eight bills on divorce. The bills will be consolidated into a substitute measure by a technical working group.

According to Representatives:

The Philippines is now the only country that has not legalized absolute divorce. Till death do us part, is wonderful. Marriage is beautiful. But only for those who get it right.

Currently, the only legal ways for a married couple to separate are separation in the Philippines. Even by the standards of former Spanish colonies, the Philippines has very socially conservative laws. It is the only country in world, bar the Vatican City, to outlaw divorce.

Historically, the only way of ending a marriage in the Philippines, short of dying, is to have it annulled, but that can be done only on narrow grounds and at great expense. Abortion is illegal, too, and anyone undergoing or performing one risks up to six years in prison.

Florida Divorce

The official term for divorce in Florida is “dissolution of marriage”, and you don’t need fault as a ground for divorce. Florida abolished fault as a ground for divorce.

I’ve written about international divorce issues before. The no-fault concept in Florida means you no longer have to prove a reason for the divorce, like your husband’s alleged infidelity. Instead, you just need to state under oath that your marriage is “irretrievably broken.”

Before the no-fault divorce era, people who wanted to get divorce either had to reach agreement in advance with the other spouse that the marriage was over, or throw mud at each other and prove wrongdoing like adultery or abuse.

No-fault laws were the result of trying to change the way divorces played out in court. No fault laws have reduced the number of feuding couples who felt the need to resort to distorted facts, lies, and the need to focus the trial on who did what to whom.

Philippines Divorce2

Possibilities in the Philippines

In the Philippines, more modern laws have replaced older Spanish civil laws, which only referred to relative divorce or legal separation. The laws have allowed divorce on the ground of criminal conviction for adultery or concubinage. However, most couples filed for dissolution of marriage from 2009 to 2022, records show.

But apart from the expensive and long process of annulment and dissolution of marriage, annulments and dissolutions of marriage for cause are also complicated in the Philippines:

“Unlike in a divorce proceeding which it is mandated to be inexpensive, affordable and expeditious poor women are left without options, but we surprisingly see rich personalities able to expedite annulment they have the money.”

In annulments – and dissolutions of marriage based on psychological incapacity, – causes must exist before or contemporaneous with the celebration of the marriage.

Some groups have expressed opposition to the divorce bills. Many argue the bills are contrary to the constitutional mandate to strengthen and protect the family as a basic autonomous social institution and marriage as an inviolable social institution.

Another group, however, countered that having divorce is important, especially if the husband or wife is in an abusive relationship. Allowing married spouses trapped in irremediably broken marriages to break free and start anew.

The Philippine Catholic Church has strongly opposed the measure, calling it “anti-marriage and anti-family.” The catechism of the Catholic Church considers divorce a “grave offense” against natural law as “it claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other ’till death.”

However, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, meanwhile, said it is supportive of the bill recognizing church annulment:

“We are not supportive of the bill on absolute divorce but we are actually supportive of the bill recognizing church annulments. It’s going to be cheaper than the usual one.”

It is claimed that the bill legalizing divorce in the Philippines will ease the burden on separated or irreconcilable couples. They can go on their separate way and be free to remarry a new spouse. Broken homes are prevalent anyway among families, even without divorce.

The CNN Philippines article is here.