Divorce is hardest on children. Regardless of how young kids are, they know when something is wrong between their parents. However, when a couple uses traditional divorce methods, the process of separating can be even harder on children. In addition to being more cost-effective, mediation enables a family to sustain a divorce in a gentler manner. Mediation is a positive process that focuses on moving forward instead of arguing over mistakes from the past. The process takes place in a comfortable environment agreed upon by each spouse. While this may not seem like a big change, a venue other than a courtroom can significantly reduce hostility between spouses.Continue Reading Mediation: A Better Choice than Divorce if You Have Children
Family Law & Children's Issues
VI Supreme Court Rules Wives Are Not “Property”
In the recent precedent-setting decision of Matthew v. Herman (S. Ct. Civ. No. 2009-0074), the Virgin Islands Supreme Court overturned a $125,000 jury award against a man who was sued for breaking up another man’s marriage, ruling the common law principle cited at trial did not apply, was antiquated, and out of step with a majority of United States states and territories.
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Virgin Islands Family Code Leaves Room For Improvement
As a family law practitioner in the Territory, I have found all too often that when looking to the Virgin Islands Code for specific guidelines, procedures and criteria to assist in proceeding in various domestic matters, that our local family code of laws leaves much room for improvement.Continue Reading Virgin Islands Family Code Leaves Room For Improvement
Beware of Facebook Evidence Being Used Against You
CNN recently ran an article titled “Divorce attorneys catching cheaters on Facebook”, in which it featured several attorneys across the nation who have used information posted on Facebook to discredit a party and win their case. In one divorce case, the wife claimed her alcoholic husband was drinking again, but the husband denied it. Then a mutual friend of the couple found Facebook photos of the husband drinking beer at a party a few weeks earlier. The wife’s attorney presented the photos in Court, and the wife won the case. In another case, after the wife had been blocked from her husband’s Facebook page, she found the profile page of another woman with whom she suspected her husband having an affair. On that woman’s profile page, a public album of photos taken on a romantic getaway with her husband appeared.Continue Reading Beware of Facebook Evidence Being Used Against You
Deadline for Haitians to Apply for Temporary Protected Status Approaching
After the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the U.S. government designated Haiti for temporary protected status (TPS) for a period of 18 months. Under section 244(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary is authorized to designate a foreign state for TPS upon finding that such state is experiencing an ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions. Continue Reading Deadline for Haitians to Apply for Temporary Protected Status Approaching
VI Governor Appoints BoltNagi Attorneys
U.S. Virgin Islands Governor John P. deJongh recently appointed two BoltNagi attorneys to serve on territorial governmental boards. Managing Attorney Tom Bolt has been appointed as a member of the Interagency Council on Homelessness and Laura C. Nagi, Chair of the firm’s Family Law and Children’s Issues Practice Group as a member of the State Advisory Group of the Law Enforcement Planning Commission.Continue Reading VI Governor Appoints BoltNagi Attorneys
Law Firm Expands Practice Into Family Law & Children’s Issues
Tom Bolt, managing partner of Tom Bolt & Associates P.C., a leading Virgin Islands full service law firm, has announced that the firm has expanded its practice to include a family law and children’s issues practice group. Bolt, who serves as chairman of the Children’s Trust of the Virgin Islands, a fund of the Community Foundation of the V.I., which is dedicated to child advocacy in the territory, noted there was a distinct need in the V.I. for legal services in family law and children’s issues. "The law has become more specialized. Our children and families deserve the best representation," he said.
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