Montgomery County Divorce Law Blog

1 common divorce mistake you need to avoid

On behalf of The Law Office of Steven C. Girsky posted in Divorce on Wednesday, September 19, 2018.

Whether you decided to get a divorce, or your spouse decided to divorce, you probably don't feel entirely good about the situation. In fact, you may feel hurtful, shameful and angry. If this sounds like your emotional state, there's a very serious divorce mistake that you'll want to avoid: being deceptive or overly aggressive at the onset of your divorce process.

It's the wisest course of action for spouses to hope for the best at the beginning of their divorce process and -- at the very least -- try to proceed in an amicable, diplomatic and respectful fashion. Even if the marriage did not go as planned, and even if trust between you and your ex has been lost, attempting to divorce respectfully could prove helpful to your stress levels and your pocketbook.

What can my kids and I do during a supervised visitation?

On behalf of The Law Office of Steven C. Girsky posted in spousal and child support on Thursday, September 13, 2018.

Nobody wants to feel restricted by a supervised visitation. Still, if a judge has ordered that all of your contact with your children must be supervised, you might want to focus on the positive fact that at least you can still spend time with your children. This valuable contact will benefit both you and your children in innumerable ways, so why not try to make the most of it?

There are many different, excellent ways you can make the most of supervised visits with your kids. Consider some of the following suggestions for enjoying time with your children.

3 common reasons why military marriages end

On behalf of The Law Office of Steven C. Girsky on Wednesday, September 12, 2018.

Many spouses meet each other and fall in love while working together, and people in the military are no exception. Many troops meet and form relationships with each other when they are enlisted. Military marriages can thrive because both spouses understand the pressure and demands of being enlisted. These same pressures and demands can also cause trouble and even divorce in the marriage.

A number of reasons exist for why military marriages may be more susceptible to divorce. According to Military.com, more than 20,000 military couples divorce in a given year. Consider the following three reasons that are common contributing factors when military spouses decide to divorce.

When does financial trouble cause divorce?

On behalf of The Law Office of Steven C. Girsky posted in Property Division on Thursday, September 6, 2018.

Imagine you are slaving away at your "9-to-5 job," which has actually become a "7-to-8" job as you struggle to connect the financial dots for your family. Meanwhile, your spouse is at home, jobless and perhaps even suffering from a drug problem or psychological issues. The financial reality of this situation is a very difficult one to be in. For many marriages, it's too much to bear and ultimately results in divorce.

The above is just one example of the many kinds of financial conflicts that two spouses can face. Here are three more:

Listen to the needs of your teenage children during divorce

On behalf of The Law Office of Steven C. Girsky posted in Divorce on Friday, August 31, 2018.

While every divorce with children is challenging, parents of teenagers will face different challenges than parents of younger children during and after their divorce process. For one, talking to a teen about your divorce will be different than talking to a younger child because your teenager is more mature and deserves to have a more adult conversation about the breakup. Also, your teen may have valuable feedback in terms of describing his or her needs and wishes as you transition into post-divorce life.

Here are two things to keep in mind while talking with your teen about the divorce process:

Can I have character witnesses for my divorce case?

On behalf of The Law Office of Steven C. Girsky on Tuesday, August 28, 2018.

When it comes to divorce in Clarksville, it helps if you take the time to build your case. Though you may feel eager to rush things along, you could lose any advantage or leverage you have and end up with a less-than-desirable outcome for yourself. Divorces are complicated, and even if you and your spouse agree that your relationship is over and that separation is the only solution, you could find it beneficial to have a witness or two to strengthen your case.

Divorce witnesses are not necessary. If you feel that your partner may try to bad mouth you and make you look bad to prevent you from getting or sharing custody or visitation, you may want to consider the following pieces of information about having character witnesses in divorce:

Be careful when listening to unsolicited divorce advice

On behalf of The Law Office of Steven C. Girsky posted in Divorce on Thursday, August 23, 2018.

As you're preparing for your upcoming divorce process, as the word gets out that your marriage is coming to a close, you'll start to receive unsolicited advice from virtually everyone you encounter. Some of these people will have had their own divorce experience, others will have heard about a friend or family member's and, still others, will have learned about divorce from watching divorce court on television and reading about celebrity breakups.

Whatever you do, take the unsolicited divorce advice you receive with a grain of salt: These people may not know what they're talking about and – unless they're experienced family law attorneys – they are not qualified to lawfully provide you with legal advice.

Keeping a parenting journal could win your custody case

On behalf of The Law Office of Steven C. Girsky posted in Child Custody and Visitation on Friday, August 17, 2018.

Clarksville parents do a lot of heavy lifting for their children – and some parents do a great deal more than others. If you're one of those parents who serves as the primary caretaker of your child, you are shouldering a tremendous amount of work. If you can prove the work that you perform, the family law court that decides your child custody case will give you preference when it comes to making its decisions. For this reason, it's essential that you keep a daily journal of your parenting activities.

Here's what parents should include in their parenting journal to help protect their custody rights:

A dated entry for every day you did something on behalf of or with your child.
Information about entertainment activities with your children.
A notation of work and chores performed on behalf of your kids.
Notations about doctor and dentist appointments
Morning activities like waking your children up, breakfast and lunch preparation, hygienic tasks and transporting the kids to school
Evening activities like picking the children up from school, dinner preparation, bathing, helping with homework, reading bedtime stories and putting the children to bed.
Notes about behavior and anything else you can think of.

Is divorce more frequent at the end of summer?

On behalf of The Law Office of Steven C. Girsky on Tuesday, August 14, 2018.

Although it may seem unusual to consider, research has found that divorce filings tend to follow a seasonal pattern. Researchers from the University of Washington found that divorces tend to spike in the months of March and August each year.

What various factors might play into this seasonal cycle? With the end of summer upon us, examine this information to determine whether you may find yourself in a similar situation if you are currently pondering divorce.

My spouse moved in violation of our child custody agreement

On behalf of The Law Office of Steven C. Girsky posted in Modifications and Relocation on Thursday, August 9, 2018.

A spouse with shared child custody -- in most cases -- cannot simply move away with the child from the other parent without permission. Instead, both parents must agree on important decisions like this, which could negatively affect the relationship between the child and the parent who's left behind.

Since most parents want to continue to have a relationship with their children, the parent who doesn't want to move will usually reject any request to move, and the moving parent will be subject to some limitations. Those limitations could involve not being able to move more than 50 or 100 miles from the parent's current residence, and/or an inability to move across state lines.