Give the Gift of Divorce

Posted by Daniel Clement on December 17, 2009

Nothing says I hate your spouse better than a gift certificate to consult with a divorce attorney.

Bruce Carton in the Law Blog Watch, reports that one London law firm, Lloyd Platt & Company, is offering a gift voucher that entitles the bearer to a consultation with a divorce lawyer. The consultation touches upon "all the practical options available to them -- divorce being only one of the options.”

While this is an ingenious marketing ploy, I can only imagine the fireworks at the family gathering when this gift is eventually opened. At a minimum, it will make for a holiday dinner no one will soon forget.
 

Can You Insure Against Divorce?

Posted by Daniel Clement on December 15, 2009

The success or lack of success of a marriage is apparently now statistically predictable. Since is it predictable, it may soon be possible to insure a marriage against divorce.

MyNewMarkets.com reports that J. Christopher Westland, a professor of information and decision sciences, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, through an analysis of census data, has identified several factors that influence the likelihood of divorce. According to Professor Westland, the factors that put a marriage at risk include:

“Age (younger is riskier); race (Asian is the lowest risk); whether a woman had forced premarital sex (a woman who has been raped has about a 50 percent higher risk of divorcing in the first five years of marriage), and income and education (those with more have less risk).

Divorce insurance would cover the costs of divorce, presumably the legal fees and related expenses. It would not cover the terms of the settlement or the judgment.

With 50% of marriages ending in divorce, insurance companies would be paying out on half of the policies written. Therefore, the insurance would not be cheap.

Still, the question remains would a divorce insurance contract violate public policy. Contracts that promote divorce may be illegal and be unenforceable.

Even if found to be legal, divorce insurance maybe an unnecessary luxury product. Pre-marriage divorce planning may be sufficient to mitigate the economic costs of divorce. Pre and post nuptial agreements can make provision for the distribution of property and the payment of maintenance. Keeping “separate property” separate from marital property will immunize it from a spouse’s equitable distribution claims. All of these precautions would minimize the legal fees in the event of divorce.

 

 

Texting: The New Way to Get Caught Cheating

Posted by Daniel Clement on December 10, 2009

There has been much ado, of late, about how text messages are the new lipstick stain on the collar-the telltale sign of an adulterous relationship. Indeed, both  Laura Holson in the  New York Times and David Wright on  Nightline did stories about this phenomenon, which has recently brought down Tiger Woods, Mayor Khame Kilpatrick of Detroit and Senator John Ensign.

For some reason, people feel immune when embracing a new technology – they feel that their use of it for illicit conduct will not be discovered. Texting a lover on a portable device that may be left on your night-table or a kitchen counter for a spouse to innocently discover is an invitation for disaster. For example, as detailed in the Times:

Doug Hampton, a longtime friend and employee of Senator Ensign’s, said recently on the ABC show “Nightline” that he was alarmed after he had borrowed Mr. Ensign’s cell phone in late 2007 to call his wife, Cynthia Hampton, and found her listed as “Aunt Judy.” Mr. Hampton said he found an incriminating text message and confronted the pair about their affair at a Christmas dinner soon after.

People naively think that text messages are not discoverable. The wireless carriers may keep records of messages for a long period after they are sent. Moreover, the person receiving the text may preserve the message for their own purposes. Indeed, Tiger Woods has learned that his lovers are using his messages to them to secure their fifteen messages of fame.

But, in the end, text messages are just the latest tool in the arsenal to catch cheating spouses. Telephone records, emails and charge card receipts have long provided clues to affairs. E-Z passes and Metro-card, too, provide a time stamped trail of where someone has been. It is only time until some spouse finds his significant other “tagged” in an embrace or some other compromising position on someone’s Facebook page.

In the end, the best way to ensure that you do not get caught in an extra marital affair is not to have one.
 

Tiger's Silence Keeps Wife From Arrest

Posted by Daniel Clement on December 02, 2009

What really happened to Tiger Woods? We will probably never know- though we can speculate.

If the voicemail released of Tiger Woods pleading with a lover “Can you please take your name off my phone?” is authentic, perhaps the car accident was the result of a heated argument that escalated violently out of control. On the other hand, the accident could have resulted from a distraught Tiger’s failed attempt to drive away from the house to allow everyone time to cool off.

Regardless, despite the public criticism, Tiger was well counseled not to speak with the authorities. In the end, the matter seemed to be closed with the payment of a token fine and four points on his driver’s license. Had Tiger spoken to the police, either he or his wife could have been arrested as is well explained by Elie Mystal in her piece on Above the Law:

In 1991, Florida became one of many states to set up a pro-arrest policy in domestic-violence cases. For years, feminist advocates had complained that police treated domestic-violence cases as private, family matters and assumed the abused spouse would never follow through and press charges.
Beginning in the 1990s, laws began virtually to force the police to take action. The new statutes direct police to figure out who was the “primary aggressor” in a domestic dispute. They make a call based on a checklist (bruises, disparity of physical size), and then they make an arrest. Howls of protest from the abused spouse are to be ignored: “The decision to arrest and charge shall not require the consent of the victim or consideration of the relationship of the parties,” the Florida law reads.

Remember, this is a good law. It protects victims of domestic violence who are dissuaded from assisting the criminal prosecution of their abusers out of fear of retribution.

And (rightly) the door swings both ways. It doesn’t take into account the gender of the alleged attacker or victim. The police have a duty to investigate Elin Nordegren and pursue any criminal charges that may be relevant.

That Tiger might not want this to happen couldn’t matter less. It’s not his call.
. . .
Well, if the allegations about Elin Nordegren are true and Tiger wants to keep her out of jail, then his best response right now is to keep his mouth shut. Especially when cops are around. You lawyers know the drill: don’t talk, don’t answer questions, don’t cooperate, don’t agree, don’t speak English, don’t remember — for the love of God, just shut up!