Blast From The Past: I Want to Keep the House, But Should I?

Blast from the past 13 years Ohio Family Law Blog

PUBLISHER’S UPDATE: Here is one of my favorites posts from back on March 29th, 2008! The advice rings as true now as it did then…We have a ton of interesting articles in our archives of the Ohio Family Law Blog. Use our Search tool and enjoy a few oldie but goodies!

divorce mortgageThis is one of the questions I am asked all of the time. Of course, the correct answer is “It depends.” The home often accounts for a large percentage of the entire marital estate. Whether to retain the home after a divorce is often a very emotional issue, especially if there are children involved. It is natural that parents want to maintain as much stability for their kids as possible when going through a break up. One would assume that keeping the kids in the marital residence after the divorce is important. But interestingly, the psychological studies show that divorced children are not really affected by the retention of the marital home. The key factor is the stability of their parents, not what house they live in.

Is It Feasible To Pay The Mortgage, Taxes, And Utilities After Divorce?

It is important to realize that unlike spousal and child … Read More... “Blast From The Past: I Want to Keep the House, But Should I?”

Divorce Cases Can Cause Emotional Explosions

emot.jpgDivorce cases can be emotionally devastating to the parties. As a family law attorney, I not only have to evaluate the facts and give sound advice to my client, but I need to use my best set of skills to assess the client’s emotional stability, support network, and anxiety level. Sometimes this is relatively easy and in other cases it is extremely tough.

I am writing about this topic after reflecting about the Dayton Daily News article on August 28, 2008, about the local Trotwood police detective who survived two gunshot wounds inflicted by his wife because she was upset that he was divorcing her. It is so sad that apparently her anger led her to take such an irrational and violent act. I have learned that reaction to a divorce can run the entire gamut, ranging from happiness, paralysis, anger, depression, revenge; and yes, even to murder or suicide. I often spend as much time in a client conference considering the emotional aspects of the client as the legal aspects. While lawyers may be well trained in the law, we are not psychologists or experts in evaluating a client’s mental health. But the more experience we gain as family … Read More... “Divorce Cases Can Cause Emotional Explosions”