Law & Attorney News

A sensational love affair involving a South Korean starlet, her TV personality husband and her opera singer lover could lead the country to change laws that can send adulterers to jail.

Law and the Child Welfare
 by: Jelly Gupta

Brdo, Slovenia - Sweden on Saturday blocked efforts by the European Union to stop divorce shopping - a practice whereby separating spouses battle for the most favourable settlement in different EU courts. It is mainly Sweden that is opposing (the …

In my family law practice, one of the most common things I hear over and over from clients who have just had the law explained to them is, “I wish I had known that a long time ago!” Or, “If only I had known that before (whatever) happened.”

People entering any form of long-term relationship, whether married, domestic partners, or just living together, are typically unaware that their relationship to each other–and to third parties, like creditors or government agencies–are defined and governed by rules of law, often in ways they did not expect or would not have agreed to had they known. They are not aware of what can happen when events force these rules into play.

Another surprise is that new laws can come along at any time and change your legal relationship in significant ways without you knowing or agreeing to it. And that’s nothing compared to what can happen when you move to another state. Rights and duties that you might or might not have been aware of will suddenly become entirely different. Law books are filled with the cases of unhappy people who found out after the fact that things were not as they had thought or wished.

Here are two more things that couples should know. First, couples can make written agreements that change the rules of their relationship to suit their own needs and preferences. And, second, a relationship agreement can be a positive and constructive thing that reinforces your commitment to one another and creates a foundation for working out problems that might arise in the future, possibly saving your relationship.

It is much better if you do not wait in ignorance for some defining event to spring up and force the rules to your attention. I encourage every couple to know where they stand and learn how and to what extent they can tailor their legal relationship to more closely suit their personal wishes.

Above all, I recommend that every couple enter into a basic Couples Contract and give themselves the invaluable advantages that can be had just for spending a little effort to do it.

Your legal relationships have already been defined

If you are in a long-term relationship and do not have an enforceable written agreement, rules of law define and govern the following important features of your relationship:

Some Somali refugees continued their education in the local legal system Wednesday morning as they attended a workshop at the Fort Morgan Police Department and took a tour of the Fort Morgan Municipal Court.

CyberWar! Not So Much It’s looking more like the distributed denial-of-service attacks that crippled the Web site of the Estonian Reform Party last spring were not the result of grim-faced Russian warriors vigorously clicking their mice. No.

CyberWar! Not So Much It’s looking more like the distributed denial-of-service attacks that crippled the Web site of the Estonian Reform Party last spring were not the result of grim-faced Russian warriors vigorously clicking their mice. No.

The latest and best in smartphones — most with 3G capability — from Nokia, HTC, Research In Motion, Sharp, and more.

In a technical ruling that has anti-gay forces in Iowa panicked about the pending appeal of last year’s same-sex marriage victory in a lower court, the state Supreme Court ruled on January 18 that a trial judge erred in invalidating two second-parent adoptions approved by other trial courts years earlier.

Amid longstanding rumors of a legislative “hit list” linked to the governor’s office and targeting between 15 and 20 state lawmakers for defeat in the upcoming June primaries, members of the General Assembly are now coming forward to say they believe they are being specifically targeted by a network of political advocacy groups and that Gov. Mark Sanford is either directly or indirectly involved …