While the U.S. has been clashing with Japan on this issue for years, America has decided to turn up the heat recently, with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell warning, “The situation has to be resolved in order to ensure that the U.S.-Japan relations continue on such a positive course.”

Japan is the only country of seven major industrial nations that has so far refused to sign the Hague Convention treaty that would ban child abductions involving other countries. While many have tried to defend the nation by explaining that its culture does not litigate divorce in the same manner that the U.S. does, many, including San Francisco family lawyers, say this is not an acceptable reason to ignore the problem.

To read more on the issue, see the article in the Washington Post. Image via futureatlas.com [Flickr].

In 2008, Phillip’s wife Karen had filed for divorce and friends of the couple claim Charles had been claiming to be single since 2003. In the last year though, the couple has since reconciled. In recent months, Charles has even been publicly sucking up to her, going so far to say he “owes everything to his wife” in a speech he gave during an award acceptance.

Not surprisingly, YaVaughnie felt spurned, but her next move was much more shocking than anyone would expect. The estranged girlfriend spent $250,000 to post billboards in San Francisco, New York, and Atlanta depicting herself and Charles together, a quote from Charles claiming YaVaughnie was his solemate, and a web address for her website, charlesphillipsandyavaughniewilkins.com. The website has since been taken down, but a copy can be seen on the designer’s website.

Since the billboards went up, the story became public and was posted across the web. Now Charles has come forward and confessed his affair with YaVaughnie. Unfortunately, this public embarrassment may not be the only way Charles will suffer. It seems YaVaughnie decided to put the billboards up right as Oracle was announcing a major merger with Sun Microsystems. Some believe the billboards may drastically affect the cost of the company’s stocks right during this crucial time.

Details are still unknown as to how this will affect Charles and Karen’s marriage, but it would not be surprising if Karen contacts her San Francisco family lawyer and refiles for divorce.

To read more about the story, see the articles in Cnet or Gawker.

The lowest divorce rate in the nation is in Massachussetts, which was also one of the first states to legalize same sex unions. The seven states with the highest divorce rates have constitutional bans on gay marriage. San Francisco family attorneys are hoping this may affect the major federal court case on the matter this month.

While the person who conducted the research has said the results are statistically significant, he is also quick to point out that the results do not necessarily imply causation.

To read more about the findings, see the article on Newser. Image Via laverrue [Flickr]

While living together before marriage was once considered scandalous, it is now a widely accepted practice –in fact, over 70% of couples do co-habitate before getting hitched.

Researchers believe the increased divorce rate could be a result of couples getting married for the wrong reasons. “We think that some couples who move in together without a clear commitment to marriage may wind up sliding into marriage partly because they are already cohabiting,” said University of Denver researcher Galena Rhoades. San Francisco family attorneys say other reasons couples may opt to get married include a joint lease, mutual ownership of a pet, or an unexpected pregnancy.

Of subsets of the couples who moved in before marriage, the study found that the reason the couple moved in also affected the happiness of the couple. Those who claimed financial reasons and a desire to spend more time together had overall happier marriages and fewer divorces than those who wanted to test out living together before marriage. “Cohabiting to test a relationship turns out to be associated with the most problems in relationships,” Rhoades said. “Perhaps if a person is feeling a need to test the relationship, he or she already knows some important information about how a relationship may go over time.”

To read more about these findings, see the article on Livescience.com. Image Via dsearls [Flickr].

“I heard there were a lot of people saying they had found out things about their partners on Facebook and I decided to see how prevalent it was,” Mark Keenan, Managing Director of Divorce-Online tells the Telegraph. “I was really surprised to see 20 per cent of all the petitions containing references to Facebook.”

Keenan says the most common reason Facebook was mentioned in the divorce petitions was due to married persons having sexual chats with people outside of their marriages.

While these numbers come from across the pond, San Francisco divorce attorneys agree that the site leads many spouses to be tempted to cheat on their husbands or wives.

To read more about the issue, see the article in the New York Daily News. Image Via pmarkham [Flickr].

Now the Catholic Church has brought the issue before a federal appeals court, claiming the city unconstitutionally attacked the church by enacting the resolution. The church’s attorney claims the Constitution forbids official hostility to a religion or its doctrines, just as it forbids official endorsement of any religion. The church aims to have the resolution repealed.

The city’s attorney said the supervisors have the responsibility to support equal rights for all citizens, regardless of orientation, and thus, were entitled to criticize any group that was opposed to this goal.

While appeals Judge kozinski seemed inclined to take the city’s side on the case, the decision will not be announced until later.

Most attorneys support the constitution’s freedom of religion, but San Francisco family lawyers still seem to largely support the city’s decision in supporting adoption by same-sex parents.

To read more on the case, see the article in the SF Gate. Image Via Dimitry B [Flickr]

“In the current economic recession, these children are suffering more than ever -reports of child abuse have skyrocketed while resources to help them have been placed in jeopardy.” said Amy Harfeld, Executive Director of First Star, one of the organizations performing the study. Herald deplores the fact that the alleged abusive parents are given an attorney, but the children are herded through the system without ever having their voices heard.

This is the second report of its kind. The first report, issued in 2007, prompted 17 states, including California, to issue new laws on the matter.  Additionally, the federal government has recently funded a $5 million grant to study the effect of providing legal council to these children, up until this point, there has been little research on the subject. The effect will be interesting, as many of the children will likely urge their San Francisco family attorneys to keep their family together, while those experiencing serious abuse will likely be thankful for the protection and ensure that they are kept away from their abusive homes.

To read more on the issue, see the article in Rueters. Image originally via D Sharron Pruitt [Flickr]

“That can be a terrific strain on any relationship,” says Tara Beaumont, a clinical nurse specialist for the charity Breast Cancer Care. “The person who is well may find themselves asking why their life has changed so drastically and yearning for what they had before.”

A new study has revealed that men are seven times as likely to call it quits after their wife becomes sick. The reasons for this gender-related discrepancy are as of yet unknown, but an interesting article in The Times Online examines this phenomenon.

Image via Tim Samoff [Flickr]

Chris Savoie was arrested in Japan after taking his children back from his ex-wife, Noriko Savoie, who illegally abducted them. He attempted to enter the U.S. constable, but Japanese police blocked him and eventually arrested him.

A while ago in Tennessee, Chris was given full-custody in the courts after his wife fled to Japan with her children illegally. Tennessee authorities have also issued a warrant for Noriko’s arrest. Unfortunately, these legal decisions matter little to Japanese authorities, who almost always awarded custody to mothers and do not recognize U.S. family court orders.

Chris’s current wife, Amy, has been informed that he will be formally charged with a crime, but was not told about what the specific charges are.

His story has highlighted one of the largest problems with family law, the enforcement of court rulings. It also underscores the need for greater cooperation between foreign countries in matters of family law. San Francisco family attorneys are faced with these issues on a regular basis. In fact, given our city’s number of non-natives, Bay Area residents have to deal with the issue much more than people living in other areas. If you are worried your ex may abduct your children, call Randall Richmond immediately.

To read more about Chris and his tragic tale, read the article on CBS News.

On September 4, 1969, Governor Ronald Reagan signed into effect the country’s first law permitting divorces on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. The change was drastic. Prior to the no-fault law, a couple would need to prove fault on one or both of the parties in order to receive a divorce. Many husbands and wives would turn to a private detective to help uncover evidence of adultery, abandonment or abuse -the only three legal reasons for a divorce proceeding.

Many couples who mutually agreed on the need for a divorce would have to fake one of the three reasons in order to get the court to agree to their legal separation. Attorneys and judges were bogged down with false accusations and excruciating arguments between couples. In many cases, divorces were refused, regardless of how unhappy one or both of the partners was.

The change has made a world of difference for spouses suffering in unhappy marriages and for their San Francisco divorce attorneys, who no longer have to gather evidence to help ease the pain of a bad marriage. This is one anniversary that has affected the lives of millions of Americans and should be remembered for the drastic change it brought to our country.

To read more about the effect of this law, view the article in Mars Venus Living. Image Via Ed Yourdon [Flickr]