Dissolution In Ohio: The Conciliation Process in Warren and Montgomery County Explained. How A Dissolution Can End Up In Mediation
This was a novel question that was recently asked me by a client a week or so before their scheduled final dissolution hearing. Conciliation proceedings are not all that common even in divorce actions. I asked my paralegal, Robin Lovins, to investigate the answer for me. That answer was interesting I thought. Always looking for a new blog article topic, I asked Robin to help incorporate that information into a blog article about dissolution. Here it is:
Section 3117.05 of the Ohio Revised Code states that “Prior to or during pendency of any action for divorce, annulment, or legal separation, one or both spouses may file in the court of common pleas a petition for conciliation…”. The question becomes: Does conciliation apply in dissolution cases? Although it is unusual for parties participating in a dissolution proceeding to request a conciliation through the courts, if a petition is filed, the courts will accept it.
Grandparents who help out with childcare or provide support to others in their community tend to live longer than seniors who do not care for other people, according to a 
A perfect example of the benefits of reviewing your estate planning documents on, at least, an occasional level, can be seen with the marital revocable living trust, also sometimes known as an “A-B” trust. Should you have such a document, and if it was prepared long ago and never updated, it is probably set up to accomplish exactly the OPPOSITE of what you want it to do.
A recent article in Psychology & Sexuality, studied the effects that having an LGT (lesbian, gay, transexual) parent has on adult children. Because most research to date has centered on younger children and their well-being at the time, the authors of the article wanted to look at how these children feel now that they are adults and have families of their own. Entitled, “‘Not a big deal’? exploring the accounts of adult children of lesbian, gay and trans parents,” authors Victoria Clarke and Eleni Demetriou surveyed 14 adults. Thirteen of the subjects were born to a heterosexual couple where one partner was later outed as gay, lesbian or trans.
Divorces can be messy – potentially even more so when children are involved. Emotions run high and often cause rational thinking and behavior to be thrown out the window. Because of this, the court system has different “tools” to help it determine what is in the best interest of the children when custody is at stake.
Should an individual with special needs receive a large sum of money, it is often wise to have the individual or his/her fiduciary establish a special needs trust in order to not jeopardize assistance already being received such as Medicaid or SSI. Should a parent or grandparent wish to provide funds to a special needs individual and not jeopardize assistance being received, a special needs trust may also be a good idea. However, before embarking on such an endeavor, it is critical to understand the different types of special needs trusts and their requirements or else risk losing the benefits already being received.
Some weeks ago, I tuned into an NPR radio interview with Penn and Teller, those amazing magicians/entertainers who have for decades defied logic and fooled us with their brilliant illusions.