Saturday, July 4, 2009

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer - A jury in a divorce case? Yes, in Georgia

A jury in a divorce case? Yes, in Georgia

By Péralte C. Paul

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, July 03, 2009

The road to wedded bliss usually ends in the couple declaring their undying love before a judge or, in a religious setting, a man — or woman — of the cloth.

In Georgia, the exit ramp to Splitsville brings the now-not-so-happy couple before a judge, too. However, a quirky but little-used right of divorce law in the Peach State allows for a jury of 12 strangers to help decide most aspects of the case.

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In fact, Georgia and Texas are the only states where couples seeking to dissolve a marriage have the right to divorce by jury. (New York juries can’t try such cases but can be called to decide if couples meet the state criteria for divorce.)

A lot more common in the 1970s when Georgia judges were prone to giving lifetime alimony in divorce cases — which the paying ex-spouse usually would contest — it’s a rare occurrence now. They’re also more expensive because preparing for a jury requires a lot more prep work and support materials used to explain various concepts to them that lawyers don’t need to do when arguing a divorce case solely before a judge.

“It is time-consuming and expensive,” said Stephen A. Land, an Atlanta attorney and former Fulton County assistant district attorney. “Most lawyers charge from $300 to $600 an hour. A jury trial could add two extra days and at seven hours a day, two extra days of trial is $5,000.”

There’s also court costs, which include paying jurors for their time.

But despite periodic attempts to scrap it from the Georgia code — including as recently as 2007 — those initiatives have always failed because attorneys say it’s a valuable tool in their arsenal of legal strategies.

So it’s not likely to go away anytime soon, lawyers say, because they and their battling clients have an advantage in keeping that right though it’s often used only as a last resort.

“I really think the jury trial is a basic right for all litigants, and it helps ensure fairness and the right to have the community help when spouses just cannot do it themselves,” said Randall M. Kessler, a family law attorney and founding partner of Kessler, Schwarz & Solomiany in Atlanta.

“It is also perhaps the very best way to ensure that people try their best to settle out of court, since a jury trial is always a risk, for both sides, no matter what the facts are.”

Plus, couples aren’t keen on having details of their private lives displayed before a dozen strangers.

“I’ve had more than one juror on a divorce case say to me afterward, that they would rather die than have that paraded in front of everybody,” Land said.

Kessler recounted a recent case where his client and her prominent doctor husband couldn’t come to an acceptable settlement agreement going back and forth for a year. Kessler’s client asked for a jury trial.

But the day before the trial was to start, Kessler said the husband and his attorney wanted to settle.

“The judge let us stay in the courthouse, and we were there until 3:30 a.m.,” Kessler said. “I think it hit him that everything he expressed to the world was not the side the jury was going to see.”

Still, some, like Terry Thorp of Roswell, believe that a jury of 12 yields a more just result than going up before a judge alone.

Thorp, who owns a drywall and installation business in Woodstock, said he tried to settle with his wife of five years, but the two could not come to an acceptable agreement. They went before a mediator — still no solution.

He opted for a jury trial following a preliminary hearing where he was ordered to pay temporary alimony. Thorp said he decided that because he didn’t believe he was given a full chance to tell his side of the story.

“To give everybody a fair chance, you need to have a trial,” said Thorp, who received his divorce in 2005. “If you go before a judge and the judge has certain pet peeves and you do something they don’t like, you never know. It’s very difficult to let one person make a decision over your life.”

Georgia divorce juries can decide alimony, child support and distribution of assets and debt. Custody of the children, though, is only determined by the judge. Texas has the reverse with juries deciding custody and visitation rights, and the judge determining the division of assets. Texas juries also can hear cases where one parent seeks to terminate the parental rights of another or if a one is trying to prove paternity.

Though the laws differs in both states on what juries can decide, lawyers cite the same benefit: They can serve as a hedge against bias from the bench.

“You might have a rogue judge who has a reputation for not awarding much alimony,” Kessler said.

Lawyers add that because Georgia also is a solid Bible Belt state, certain divorce triggers, such as infidelity, might not resonate as much with a judge who’s heard hundreds of cases, but might with a couple of jurors who might find adultery morally reprehensible. Conversely, it might bring sympathy from a juror for the cheating spouse if the juror has done the same thing.

“It can be used as a safeguard rather than having one person making a decision about it,” said Wilbur Warner an Atlanta divorce attorney and partner in Warner, Mayoue, Bates & Nolen. “With a jury, at least, it’s a composite of the baggage and issues and it’s not one person deciding.”

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer
GA Uncontested Divorce - GA Contested Divorce
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We specialize in: Separation Agreements - Spousal Support - Property Division - Alimony - Military Divorce - Contempt Actions in Divorce Cases - Child Custody / Custody modification - Child Support Modification - Child Visitation - Adoptions - Prenuptial Agreements

Savannah GA, Richmond Hill, GA, Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia Family Law Lawyer - Georgia domestic mediator. Georgia divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Savannah, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Savannah & throughout Coastal Georgia including Savannah, Hinesville, Richmond Hill, Fort Stewart, Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Vernonburg, Bryan County, Liberty County, Long County, Chatham County , and Effingham County.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Savannah GA Child Custody Lawyer - Savannah Georgia Divorce Attorney

Child Custody Lawyer Savannah Georgia - Divorce Attorney

Do we need an attorney in a custody case?

If you and your spouse can’t agree on the terms of custody, you probably both need attorneys. Additionally, in certain cases, the court may appoint an attorney, or guardian ad litem, to
represent your child.

What are custody seminars and do we have to go to one?

Custody seminars are classes designed to help the parents sort out the issues they are going to face regarding their child or children. They are required by the courts in certain counties for all divorces involving children under the age of 18.

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer
GA Uncontested Divorce - GA Contested Divorce
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We specialize in: Separation Agreements - Spousal Support - Property Division - Alimony - Military Divorce - Contempt Actions in Divorce Cases - Child Custody / Custody modification - Child Support Modification - Child Visitation - Adoptions - Prenuptial Agreements

Savannah GA, Richmond Hill, GA, Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia Family Law Lawyer - Georgia domestic mediator. Georgia divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Savannah, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Savannah & throughout Coastal Georgia including Savannah, Hinesville, Richmond Hill, Fort Stewart, Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Vernonburg, Bryan County, Liberty County, Long County, Chatham County , and Effingham County.

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer - Savannah Georgia Child Custody Attorney

Savannah GA Child Custody Lawyer - Attorney

Who will get custody of our children?

Georgia law does not favor the mother or the father and either or both may be given custody of a child. Either your attorneys or the judge will work out a custody plan for the children. The goal of the plan will be the best interests of each child. Until the plan is worked out, the couple usually shares custody, often subject to rules laid out in a temporary plan. A child of 14 or older usually is allowed to choose which parent to live with. Younger children may speak to the judge, but the judge may also consider a variety of other factors before deciding where to place the child or children. The ability of each parent to care for the child or children will be a key factor in determining who will get primary custody.

If the attorneys are able to work out a custody agreement, the judge will have to approve it. The judge may make changes to the plan if he or she deems that would be better for the child.
Grandparents or other relatives may seek custody of a child, but the law tends to favor the parents first and other relatives may have to show that the parents are actually harming the child in order to get custody.

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer
GA Uncontested Divorce - GA Contested Divorce
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We specialize in: Separation Agreements - Spousal Support - Property Division - Alimony - Military Divorce - Contempt Actions in Divorce Cases - Child Custody / Custody modification - Child Support Modification - Child Visitation - Adoptions - Prenuptial Agreements

Savannah GA, Richmond Hill, GA, Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia Family Law Lawyer - Georgia domestic mediator. Georgia divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Savannah, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Savannah & throughout Coastal Georgia including Savannah, Hinesville, Richmond Hill, Fort Stewart, Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Vernonburg, Bryan County, Liberty County, Long County, Chatham County , and Effingham County.

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer - Savannah Georgia Uncontested Divorce Attorney

Savannha GA Divorce Lawyer-

What if my spouse has abused our children?

You should call the police if you suspect your children have been abused by anyone, including your spouse. Child abuse is a crime. Your children’s safety and well-being is foremost and you can be held legally responsible if you allow your children to be abused. Police officers can help you protect your children, and may refer you to social service programs that can help. Additionally, they can provide documentation of the abuse allegation that your attorney or social worker will need to help you and the children going forward.
If you fear for your children’s safety, social service agencies can also help you.

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer
GA Uncontested Divorce - GA Contested Divorce
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We specialize in: Separation Agreements - Spousal Support - Property Division - Alimony - Military Divorce - Contempt Actions in Divorce Cases - Child Custody / Custody modification - Child Support Modification - Child Visitation - Adoptions - Prenuptial Agreements

Savannah GA, Richmond Hill, GA, Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia Family Law Lawyer - Georgia domestic mediator. Georgia divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Savannah, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Savannah & throughout Coastal Georgia including Savannah, Hinesville, Richmond Hill, Fort Stewart, Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Vernonburg, Bryan County, Liberty County, Long County, Chatham County , and Effingham County.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer - Savannah Georgia Uncontested Divorce Attorney - Hulk Hogan Divorce Saga

Brooke in middle of War of the Hogans
BY MIKE MOONEYHAM (CONTACT)
Sunday, June 7, 2009



Is there any end in sight to the dysfunctional Hulk Hogan family saga?

It’s one nasty turn after another, and barely a day seems to go by without one of the family members spewing venom in the media.

One might have hoped that the 2007 car accident involving son Nick, which left friend John Graziano in a permanent vegetative state and the now 18-year-old with an eight-month prison term, would have had a sobering, humbling effect on the Hogan family. Perhaps some good could have come out of such tragedy. Valuable lessons could have been learned.

Life is fragile. Fences can be mended. Families should stick together.

If anything, though, the War of the Hogans has only intensified.

And now 21-year-old daughter Brooke Hogan, whose second season of “Brooke Knows Best” premieres today on VH1, seems to be in the line of fire as her parents’ acrimonious divorce battle plays out before the public, on TV and in the tabloids.

The latest coming out of the Hogan camp is from the Hulkster in response to his estranged wife’s charges that their daughter’s behavior doesn’t match the All-American girl image Hogan has tried to create.

Linda Hogan (Bollea) claimed that Hulk (Terry Bollea) was rolling and smoking joints with Brooke’s boyfriend, rapper Staxx, at her recording sessions. Hogan vehemently denied the allegations, and said that Linda was “lost” and “needs help.”

“Brooke is a clean-cut girl. She’s very open and honest,” Hulk proclaimed in the current issue of Life & Style magazine. “Brooke can’t have a relationship with her mother like this.”


Provided
Hulk and Linda Hogan during happier times.
Hogan, 55, also refuted Linda’s allegations of drug use, and said it’s his 49-year-old, soon-to-be-ex-wife who is engaging in illegal drugs with her 20-year-old “boy toy” Charlie Hill. He even offered to take a legally supervised drug test if Linda would do the same.

“If Linda says she’ll take a drug test, I say bring it, brother. It needs to be done, and she’ll fail it.”

Linda answered the challenge by voluntarily taking tests that came out negative.

“Linda Hogan is clean, clean, clean,” publicist Gary Smith reported last week. He said she took a full medical exam and tested negative for everything including marijuana, cocaine, speed, amphetamines and opiates.

“Linda does not do drugs and never accused her daughter of doing drugs either,” said Smith. “Now the truth is in black and white; all Linda wants is an apology from both of them.”

Brooke told US magazine last week that she tried calling her mother, but to no avail.

“I actually dialed her phone ... but she didn’t answer. I love her no matter what. I’ll forgive her and I’ll pray for her, but I don’t think I can be around her anymore. Ever. She may as well have disowned me. She did in my heart.”

Brooke also said on Howard Stern’s Sirius satellite radio show Wednesday that she can’t say for sure that her mom has done drugs, but that something isn’t right.

“Do I have a gut feeling that she has something to come clean about? Yes,” she said. “But that’s just my gut.”

Smith issued a release claiming Brooke “continues to spew lies on behalf of her father’s lame attempt to distance himself from the reality that he is no different from the homicidal O.J. Simpson.” If Brooke continues, the rep added in an unintentionally humorous statement, “Charlie (Linda’s boyfriend) will be forced to put aside his paramedic/firefighting career path and release an album called Redemption which will easily surpass any of Brooke’s records sales.”

Smith, in the letter to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, also accused Brooke of fabricating claims or misrepresenting the facts about her breast augmentations, her relationship with Staxx and comments about Hill.


AP
Hulk Hogan with daughter Brooke.
“She only judges Charlie because of his long hair and age. Linda doesn’t judge ... Brooke is Hulk’s only remaining mouthpiece and a pawn in his game of control,” said Smith.

“Brooke Hogan has spoken out in support of her father only because of her mother’s repeated fabricated attacks on him,” replied a Hogan attorney. “She is in the unique position of knowing both parties in this litigation and she has only spoken as to what she knows to be the truth based upon her personal experience with each.”

Hogan added that he believes his daughter is more of an adult than her mother.

“I hope one day Linda will grow up and be an adult like Brooke is,” he said. “Linda has to reach to her level. One day, maybe.”

Hogan’s attorney says a mother-daughter relationship appears unlikely at this time because Linda “continues to attempt to throw her family under the bus to gain publicity.”

Linda filed for divorce just a month after the last episode of their popular reality show aired. Hogan later said he was surprised that his wife wanted to end their 24-year marriage, even though the two had visited a marriage counselor on their VHI show.

Hogan told People magazine last year that the couple had experienced marital difficulties for nearly a decade, and that “the reality show just amplified the problems.”


Provided
Jim Cornette's new book is a great read for fans of the Midnight Express era.
- The highly anticipated Jim Cornette book is out, and it’s a must for any serious wrestling fan’s collection.

Don’t expect a behind-the-scenes look at Cornette’s life. “The Midnight Express 25th Anniversary Scrapbook” is not an autobiography, nor is it advertised as such, but it is a fascinating look at one of the greatest managers and tag teams in wrestling history, as told by one of the smartest and funniest guys in the business.

The full-color book is detailed and accurate, with results, clippings, photos and even payoff receipts, along with insightful recollections from Cornette.

The book is available at www.jimcornette.com.

>
Charlotte Observer
NASCAR driver Joey Logano (left) receives a hug from Ric Flair after Logano was voted the fan favorite slot for the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte on May 16. Flair served as honorary race director.
- Ric Flair may be 60 years old. He may be officially retired. Yet he still found himself in a familiar position last week — the main event of Monday Night Raw. And he more than held his own in a street fight with Randy Orton.

Flair got the better of Orton during a show-finishing brawl that started in the parking lot, moved to the backstage area and ended up inside a cage in the ring. Orton got last-minute help from cronies Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes, however, and ended up knocking out the Nature Boy with his trademark stiff kick to the cranium.

Flair, who suffered a head laceration, also badly cut his hand during the backstage segment and had to get 12 stitches.

Flair, bloodied and bruised, was pleased with the performance.

“It was great,” he said the next day. “But I’m sore as hell.”

- Maverick (Dakota) Darsow was among several developmental performers released by WWE last week.

Darsow is the son of former pro star Barry Darsow (Krusher Khruschev, Demolition Smash, Repo Man).
Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer
GA Uncontested Divorce - GA Contested Divorce
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We specialize in: Separation Agreements - Spousal Support - Property Division - Alimony - Military Divorce - Contempt Actions in Divorce Cases - Child Custody / Custody modification - Child Support Modification - Child Visitation - Adoptions - Prenuptial Agreements

Savannah GA, Richmond Hill, GA, Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia Family Law Lawyer - Georgia domestic mediator. Georgia divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Savannah, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Savannah & throughout Coastal Georgia including Savannah, Hinesville, Richmond Hill, Fort Stewart, Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Vernonburg, Bryan County, Liberty County, Long County, Chatham County , and Effingham County.

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer - Savannah Georgia Uncontested Divorce Attorney

Divorce groups finding more support in churches
Dana Clark Felty | Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 12:30 am

Paula Morris is a devout Presbyterian who believes "God hates divorce."

She also believes God doesn't want anyone to stay in a marriage at the expense of their dignity.

"I think if you're in an abusive relationship or your spouse is cheating on you, there's an integrity you have to support," said Morris, who has run "divorce recovery group" at First Presbyterian Church of Savannah.

"When you are at that point, you're in line with the Bible to get a divorce," she said.

Once shunned in church, the topic of divorce is carving out a niche in a growing number of Christian congregations.

Some churches are hosting support groups and Bible study courses aimed at offering encouragement to those who are separated or going through divorce.

The trend presents a theological challenge for some ministers and members who still see the growing acceptance of divorce as a key problem in American society.

Seeing a void

A 2004 study commissioned by Lifeway Research for its "Facts & Trends" magazine showed that 43 percent of Protestant ministers listed divorce as one of the top three issues threatening the traditional family, along with negative influences in the media and materialism.

However, more than half of the ministers said they believed "churches tend to focus so much on traditional families that they do not serve important groups such as singles, childless couples or single parents appropriately."

Christians James and Sherry Wilson saw a void when it came to ministering to the divorced at Bible Baptist Church. So three years ago, they convinced their pastor to let them start a support group for divorcees.

Since then, they've worked with about 60 people using a 13-week seminar called DivorceCare, one of several video-based curricula created and sold by the Christian nonprofit group Church Initiative.

The program addresses topics such as loneliness, anger, depression, child care, financial survival and new relationships and how they relate to the Bible. The 30- to 45-minute video is followed by a discussion period.

According to Church Initiative's Web site, DivorceCare support groups are designed to "focus on the healing that can only come from the Lord."

The Wilsons believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible and that "God doesn't like divorce," Sherry Wilson said.

"He hates it. But he also hates liars and a lot of things that we can do. We need help with all of it, she said. Divorce is "not the unpardonable sin."

The Wilsons have each been divorced themselves and are lifelong Christians.

Sherry Wilson believes more congregations are softening their condemnation on divorce and seeking ways to be supportive.

"We live in a sinful world. Things are going to happen, even to Christians," she said. "If we can't come to the church for God to heal us, then where can we go?"

Other area churches including Savannah Christian Church, Grace Community Church and Rincon First Christian Church in Rincon also use the DivorceCare curriculum.

Program leaders at Rincon First Christian encourage participants to go through the DivorceCare curriculum twice and then join a study group.

"The second time around, they really pick up on the information," said Minister Steve Parker.

The church initially launched the program a few years ago in response to divorcees in their own congregation. When outsiders started showing up, Parker saw an opportunity for community outreach.

"Folks want to go somewhere where people don't know them," he said. "We've been pleased with the outcome."

As a conservative Christian, Parker says he still struggles with his conflicting desires to both comfort those hurt by divorce and to preach that divorce is defying God's wishes.

"This Sunday I'm going to preach on it and I'll tell you, I'm just as nervous as a cat," he said. "I think (Christians) have a tendency overall to ignore it and it'll go away.

"We all were taught growing up that divorce is the unpardonable sin, which it's not. It's a sin, but we're all sinners saved by grace."

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer
GA Uncontested Divorce - GA Contested Divorce
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We specialize in: Separation Agreements - Spousal Support - Property Division - Alimony - Military Divorce - Contempt Actions in Divorce Cases - Child Custody / Custody modification - Child Support Modification - Child Visitation - Adoptions - Prenuptial Agreements

Savannah GA, Richmond Hill, GA, Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia Family Law Lawyer - Georgia domestic mediator. Georgia divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Savannah, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Savannah & throughout Coastal Georgia including Savannah, Hinesville, Richmond Hill, Fort Stewart, Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Vernonburg, Bryan County, Liberty County, Long County, Chatham County , and Effingham County.

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer - Savannah Georgia Uncontested Divorce Attorney

Jon and Kate Gosselin to announce divorce?; who's staying, who's leaving 'Grey's Anatomy'; and more: The Morning After
by Melodie Smith/Plain Dealer Reporter
Friday June 19, 2009, 6:00 AM


Karen Alquist/TLC via AP
A major announcement is planned on a special one-hour "Jon & Kate Plus 8," airing at 9.pm. Monday on TLC.
Jon and Kate Gosselin will have a major announcement Monday, the TLC network says.

"Recently, we've made some life-changing decisions ... ones that we hope will bring each of us some peace," Kate Gosselin says in a video promoting the special one-hour edition of their show "Jon & Kate Plus 8."

TLC wouldn't comment on what the announcement will be. However, an unnamed source told RadarOnline.com that the couple is divorcing.

Rumors of infidelity by both spouses -- Jon with a schoolteacher, Kate with her bodyguard -- have been splashed across magazine covers for months. Both have denied the allegations. But Kate did acknowledge difficulties in the marriage in the show's highly rated season premiere last month.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania's Labor Department is investigating whether the show's production is complying with state child labor laws. (TLC has said it "fully complies" with state regulations, the Associated Press reported.)

TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8," airing 9 p.m. Monday, follows the Gosselins as they raise their 8-year-old twins and 5-year-old sextuplets. According to reports, the couple are under contract for a total of 40 episodes this season.



Dan Steinberg/AP
T.R. Knight
'Grey's' news
[Warning: Spoilers ahead!]

According to reports, Katherine Heigl is returning to "Grey's Anatomy," while co-star T.R. Knight is moving on, possibly to Broadway.

The fifth season of the ABC medical drama ended with Heigl's character, Izzie, and Knight's character, George, appeared headed for greener pastures after medical traumas.

But Entertainment Weekly columnist Michael Ausiello said this week that ABC has granted Knight's request to be released from his contract. Now, the actor is in talks to star in a Broadway revival of "Lend Me a Tenor" in 2010, an Ausiello source said.

Fans go wild ... uh, maybe not
"Twilight" star Robert Pattinson is fine after being clipped by a taxi in downtown Manhattan on Thursday, a publicist says.

Initial reports said the young actor was fleeing a throng of fans, but the representative for Summit Entertainment later said the incident "was not caused by fans."

"Rob Pattinson is fine," the publicist's statement said, adding that the incident had been exaggerated in early reports.

The accident happened near the famous Strand bookstore on Broadway at 12th Street, where Pattinson was filming his latest movie. The film, a romantic drama titled "Remember Me," co-stars Emilie de Ravin ("Lost"), Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper, and is scheduled for release next year.

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer
GA Uncontested Divorce - GA Contested Divorce
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We specialize in: Separation Agreements - Spousal Support - Property Division - Alimony - Military Divorce - Contempt Actions in Divorce Cases - Child Custody / Custody modification - Child Support Modification - Child Visitation - Adoptions - Prenuptial Agreements

Savannah GA, Richmond Hill, GA, Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia Family Law Lawyer - Georgia domestic mediator. Georgia divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Savannah, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Savannah & throughout Coastal Georgia including Savannah, Hinesville, Richmond Hill, Fort Stewart, Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Vernonburg, Bryan County, Liberty County, Long County, Chatham County , and Effingham County.

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer - Savannah Georgia Uncontested Divorce Attorney

Jon & Kate divorce not typical, say parents of multiples

BY SHANNON PROUDFOOT, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE

When Gail Moore heard Kate Gosselin, star of the hit reality show, Jon & Kate Plus 8, bemoan that she and her husband hadn't beaten the marital odds stacked against parents of multiples, she cringed.

"I was listening to it and I went, 'Oh, God,' " says the mother of 16-year-old twin boys and an older son and daughter. "I know why she would say that, because definitely, there is a lot more stress, so it feels like you're two to three times more likely to have marital problems -- but there's nothing that proves that."

Gosselin's comments came during a heavily promoted special episode of TLC's show about her Pennsylvania family, which includes eight-year-old twin girls and five-year-old sextuplets. After months of reported marital struggles, Gosselin, 34, and her husband Jon, 32, announced they were separating, but hours before the show aired Monday night, news broke that she had filed for divorce.

"Parents of multiples have triple the divorce rate," Kate said on the program. "I was thinking we were going to beat that. I don't know if I can say that anymore."

Moore and other Canadian parents of multiples take exception to that.

Moore, the chair of Multiple Births Canada, says the organization was inundated with calls from reporters after the show aired, but they combed through international research and found nothing that showed an elevated divorce rate among parents of multiples.

"She's blaming it on the multiple births," she says of Gosselin. "Maybe it has something to do with having the cameras on you."

According to Statistics Canada, there were 11,034 children born as multiples in 2006, the most recent year for which data is available, up from 9,118 in 2000. The agency doesn't break those numbers down into twins, triplets and so on.

Moore, who lives in New Liskeard, Ont., argues the teamwork required to parent multiples brings many couples closer together.

"It makes them a stronger unit, because they realize the children need them, and they work as a team to be able to handle all of the physical things that need to be done for the children," she says.

Lynda Haddon of Perth has been teaching pre-natal classes to parents expecting multiples for 20 years, and she encourages her students to tend to their marriages as carefully as they do to parenting. "You're doomed" is the last thing they need to hear, she says, but people are often only too eager to share horror stories.

Haddon is about to celebrate her 30th anniversary with her husband, and she says raising their 28-year-old daughter and 26-year-old twin girls strengthened their bond.

"I'm very saddened, because it's very hard on the rest of us when this is out there," she says.

TLC announced on Tuesday that a "retrospective of Jon and Kate's first 10 years" will air on June 29, then the show will go on hiatus until August, giving the Gosselins time to "regroup" before resuming a modified schedule.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer
GA Uncontested Divorce - GA Contested Divorce
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We specialize in: Separation Agreements - Spousal Support - Property Division - Alimony - Military Divorce - Contempt Actions in Divorce Cases - Child Custody / Custody modification - Child Support Modification - Child Visitation - Adoptions - Prenuptial Agreements

Savannah GA, Richmond Hill, GA, Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia Family Law Lawyer - Georgia domestic mediator. Georgia divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Savannah, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Savannah & throughout Coastal Georgia including Savannah, Hinesville, Richmond Hill, Fort Stewart, Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Vernonburg, Bryan County, Liberty County, Long County, Chatham County , and Effingham County.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Divorce Lawyer Savannah GA - Savannah Family Lawyer

Foreword from GA Bar
Divorce affects, directly or indirectly, virtually every family in the country. The following information is designed to briefly summarize Georgia's divorce laws.

Marriage is a civil contract that the state has an interest in preserving. Accordingly, the marriage relationship may be dissolved only as provided by law through (1) a divorce or (2) an annulment; or altered by (3) a decree of separate maintenance granted by our courts. In any case, there must be a proceeding in the superior court of the county in which the defendant resides (or the county where the parties resided during the marriage if the defendant left the county within six months before filing) and the person seeking the divorce must prove grounds for divorce (valid reasons prescribed by law).

Savannah GA Divorce Lawyer
GA Uncontested Divorce - GA Contested Divorce
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We specialize in: Separation Agreements - Spousal Support - Property Division - Alimony - Military Divorce - Contempt Actions in Divorce Cases - Child Custody / Custody modification - Child Support Modification - Child Visitation - Adoptions - Prenuptial Agreements

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What happens after the Jon and Kate Gosselin divorce?
The stars of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" are separating, and staying on the air

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https://www.theweek.com/article/index/97930/What_happens_after_the_Jon_and_Kate_Gosselin_divorce#

Jon and Kate Gosselin are getting divorced, said Yvonne Villarreal in the Los Angeles Times, but "the show, apparently, will go on." (watch the Gosselins' divorce announcement) Jon and Kate—stars of the TLC reality TV show Jon & Kate Plus 8—announced in Monday's episode that they are separating after weeks of infidelity rumors. But the Gosselins have committed to a full 40 episodes, and the new season is just getting started (although the couple will go on hiatus until August).

It's safe to say that Jon & Kate Plus 8 will never be the same, said Brian Stelter in The New York Times. Jon and Kate Gosselin's divorce means that each parent will be filmed interacting with their sextuplets and twins separately. So the show, which has been about how parents handle eight kids over the past two years, could "become the most intimate look at an American family’s divorce since An American Family, the groundbreaking PBS documentary about the Loud family in the 1970s."

Plenty of American families are touched by divorce, said Margaret Lyons in Entertainment Weekly, and a thoughtful reality show about the process could help others cope. The Jon and Kate Gosselin divorce should certainly "reground" Jon & Kate Plus 8 in real-life issues. The trick will be handling the separation—and how it affects the children—in a way that doesn't seem exploitative, so you won't feel like a "morbid voyeur" for tuning in.

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We specialize in: Separation Agreements - Spousal Support - Property Division - Alimony - Military Divorce - Contempt Actions in Divorce Cases - Child Custody / Custody modification - Child Support Modification - Child Visitation - Adoptions - Prenuptial Agreements

Savannah GA, Richmond Hill, GA, Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia Family Law Lawyer - Georgia domestic mediator. Georgia divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Savannah, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Savannah & throughout Coastal Georgia including Savannah, Hinesville, Richmond Hill, Fort Stewart, Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Vernonburg, Bryan County, Liberty County, Long County, Chatham County , and Effingham County.