Custody and Smoking Issues

Custody and Smoking Issues

custodyIf you smoke cigarettes, there’s a good chance that at some time in your past you’ve made a pact with a friend who also smoked that the two of you were going to try to quit smoking together, but you just couldn’t hold up your end of the deal.  In another attempt to quit smoking, maybe you’ve tried one of those “patches” but that didn’t do the trick either.  Perhaps you’ve seen those controversial commercials on T.V. where disfigured long-time smokers describe the major health problems that smoking has caused to their bodies, but today you remain a smoker.  Well, if you’re still a smoker, and you’ve tried repeatedly to give up the habit, the Family Law attorneys at Holzfaster, Cecil, McKnight & Mues may finally be able to provide you with the extra motivation you need to quit, especially if you are in a Custody dispute!  The new method that we are using to help our clients who are in Custody disputes to quit smoking is called the “You’re Going To Lose Custody of Your Kids If You Don’t Stop Smoking TODAY!” method.  This “method” that we are encouraging our clients to follow is … Read More... “Custody and Smoking Issues”

Pet Custody Disputes in Ohio

Pet Custody: Who is Entitled to Keep the Family Pet?

Pet custodyHave you ever wondered what might have happened to Cheeta if Tarzan and Jane had decided to split up? If Fred and Wilma had gone through a nasty divorce, which one would have gotten Dino? Remember Lassie? If Timmy’s parents, Ruth and Paul Martin, had divorced would Lassie’s barking, in an attempt to explain which party she wanted to live with, have even mattered to a judge?

When people divorce, or even when roommates part ways, disputes over what happens to household pets and pet custody can get contentious. Feelings over what is to happen to the family dog, cat, or bird after a split tend to be much more passionate than they are regarding what is to happen to a lawn mower, cappuccino machine, or even to that cool washer/dryer set. That reality is why we at Holzfaster, Cecil, McKnight & Mues are seeing more and more cases involving pets and the right to keep custody of, or visit with, family pets once a split occurs.

Often, pet owners who are facing divorce or a split of some dating or roommate relationship want to treat their household pets as … Read More... “Pet Custody Disputes in Ohio”

Divorce and The Christmas Story

Reconciling Divorce with the Holidays

How The Christmas Story relates to Divorce

divorce and the story of christmasMany of us associate the holidays with certain fond memories or warm feelings. It’s a time of year when many people make an extra effort to get together with family and friends. We often reconnect with relatives, spend extra time with our children, open presents, share great meals, sit around a fireplace, laugh, return gifts, watch football, nap, and hopefully get to see it snow.

Whether we attend church regularly or not, statistics show that the majority of us also make sure to attend a church service at Christmas time. During most Christmas services we sing hymns and carols, light candles, smile and say hello to lots of people we may not know, and we are reminded of the “reason for the season”…the birth of Christ, or The Christmas Story as we sometimes call it.

The Christmas Story.

When we hear those words, I am sure that many images quickly come to mind. First and foremost was the star of the show, baby Jesus himself. We are told that his mother wrapped him in “swaddling clothes” and laid him in a manger because there was no room for … Read More... “Divorce and The Christmas Story”

Viability: The Beginning of Human Life

viability in dayton ohioThe legal concept of viability, or exactly when it is that life begins, is a hot topic both in and out of the courtroom.  In August of 2008, the presidential candidates were attending a forum at the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, when the moderator and church pastor, Rev. Rick Warren, asked the candidates, “At what point does a baby get human rights?”  You may remember that then Senator Barack Obama replied to Warren by saying that determining when life begins, is “above his pay grade.”  Such an “artful dodge” is no longer acceptable in more and more forums, especially in the courtroom, because determining when to grant an unborn fetus human rights can have profound impact on both criminal and civil litigation.

On one end of the scale is thinking similar to that stated by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and pro-choice advocates in an article titled, “What’s Wrong with Fetal Rights”.  In that article, the group stated, “we have serious reservations about legislation designed to protect fetuses, because it can endanger women’s rights by reinforcing claims of ‘fetal rights’ in the law.”  On the other end of the scale would be any embryologist or “pro-life” … Read More... “Viability: The Beginning of Human Life”

Cohabitation: The Greatest Threat to Your Children’s Future

cohabitation_greatest_threat _childrens_future.jpgThink about this statement: “The rise of cohabitating households with children (where parents aren’t married, just living together) is the largest unrecognized threat to the quality and stability of children’s lives in today’s families.”  That’s pretty strong stuff, but it’s exactly what a new research study concludes.  While divorce has been the leading cause of the breakdown of the family and marriage for the last 40 years, the study shows that divorce is no longer the leading cause.  The study shows that cohabitation is now the greatest threat to the welfare of children in the United States!

The August 2011 study was sponsored by the Center on Children and Families at Brookings and is entitled “The Marginalization of Marriage in Middle America”. It was written jointly by two family scholars, one a conservative (W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project) and one a liberal (Andrew J. Cherlin, professor at John Hopkins University).

The study found the following: in affluent neighborhoods where many college-educated Americans live, marriage is alive and well and divorce has declined to levels not seen since the “divorce revolution” of the 1960’s.  In contrast, marriage and family stability have both been in decline in the … Read More... “Cohabitation: The Greatest Threat to Your Children’s Future”

Did You Know that National Stepfamily Day is September 16th?

stepfamily.jpgThere’s a good chance that you yourself are part of a stepfamily.  If you’re not, you almost certainly have close friends or family members who are.  Statistics show that one in three Americans live in a stepfamily and that more than 50% of Americans will live in a stepfamily at some point in their lives.  A term that is now commonly used to describe a family that forms after divorce or re-marriage is a “blended” family.

With so many Americans being a part of a “blended” family these days, it should come as no surprise that there is actually a day to celebrate being in a stepfamily…National Stepfamily Day!  September 16 is the day that has been designated as the day to honor all the “Step Heroes” out there who choose every day to be parents to ALL the children in their lives.

In 1997, Christy Brogeld, who herself was a remarried mother and member of a blended family, decided that it was time to begin a campaign to bring stepfamily support and awareness to the nation’s attention.  That year she got 24 states to officially make the following proclamation:

“Whereas, National Stepfamily Day is enhanced by our strong commitment Read More... “Did You Know that National Stepfamily Day is September 16th?”

Extremely Obese Children…Should Their Parents Lose Custody?

obese_children.jpgWhen parents neglect or fail to provide even basic food, shelter, or medical care for their children, we would all agree that Children’s Services needs to step in and remove a child from their parent’s control.  If a child’s immediate safety and well being are at risk, we would argue that such a situation must not be allowed to continue.

But what about parents who allow their children to become extremely obese over time…obese to the point that a child’s health, or even life, is in danger?  If a child is experiencing medical problems because his or her parent allows them to eat to excess and maintain an inactive lifestyle, should Children’s Services remove a child from that environment?  Doesn’t the situation amount to a form of child abuse that authorities should act upon?  A recent commentary in one of the nation’s most distinguished medical journals, the Journal of the American Medical Association, argues “Yes!”, and it’s causing quite a debate across the country.

The commentary that has generated numerous news stories and blog articles was written by Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Harvard-affiliated Children’s Hospital in Boston, and Lindsey Murtagh, a lawyer and researcher at Harvard’s School … Read More... “Extremely Obese Children…Should Their Parents Lose Custody?”

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