All of the friends and clients of the Alford Law Office are invited to join us for an evening at Maiden Alley Cinema. This year we will be showing "Miracle on 34th Street." This is the original, black & white version with Natalie Wood up on the big screen. Doors open at 6:00pm and we will start the show at about 6:30. There will be giveaways and the concession stand will be open with popcorn & sodas on me.
We are hoping to have a full house, so get there early. It's first come, first served. Imagine that, a lawyer actually giving something back. Hope to see you there. Merry Christmas!
Can I File to Divorce My Stepmother?
The ABA Journal today reports on the interesting case of Mr. Claude Thomas, 87, of Ellis County, Texas. According to the article, Mr. Thomas' son, Keith Thomas, was unaware his father had gotten married to Ms. Susana Ramirez, 45, until the younger Thomas received a call about overdraft charges from his father's bank. Now, Keith Thomas is attempting to secure a divorce for his father whom the Dallas Morning News is in the beginning stages of dementia.
I was actually involved in a similar case several years ago. In that case, the father actually remained pretty sharp, but had been conned into marrying a barmaid from his local watering hole. Not long after she had a ring on her finger, she started taking dad for everything he owned. It got so bad, she did not even live with him, but would show up once a month when he received his pension check and wipe him out. Unfortunately, since the father retained sufficient capacity to understand what was happening, we could not get the marriage voided. However, I successfully argued that her share of the marital estate should be drastically reduced due to the fact that she really had not contributed anything to the marriage. It was a bizarre case and I truly believe the old man was just hanging on out of stubbornness. We got him divorced and he then passed away before all of the property issues were settled so we had to substitute his estate into the divorce case.
Fortunately, in my case the father had capacity to sign the divorce petition. In situations where a petitioner lacks capacity, his guardian generally cannot prosecute a divorce action on his behalf. These types of cases illustrate the importance of having a strong estate plan in place and keeping an eye on relatives that might be vulnerable to being taken advantage of.
I was actually involved in a similar case several years ago. In that case, the father actually remained pretty sharp, but had been conned into marrying a barmaid from his local watering hole. Not long after she had a ring on her finger, she started taking dad for everything he owned. It got so bad, she did not even live with him, but would show up once a month when he received his pension check and wipe him out. Unfortunately, since the father retained sufficient capacity to understand what was happening, we could not get the marriage voided. However, I successfully argued that her share of the marital estate should be drastically reduced due to the fact that she really had not contributed anything to the marriage. It was a bizarre case and I truly believe the old man was just hanging on out of stubbornness. We got him divorced and he then passed away before all of the property issues were settled so we had to substitute his estate into the divorce case.
Fortunately, in my case the father had capacity to sign the divorce petition. In situations where a petitioner lacks capacity, his guardian generally cannot prosecute a divorce action on his behalf. These types of cases illustrate the importance of having a strong estate plan in place and keeping an eye on relatives that might be vulnerable to being taken advantage of.
Now an Offical Court of Justice Approved Mediator
I am proud to announce that I have been officially approved and listed by the Kentucky Court of Justice as a Family Law Mediator for McCracken County, Kentucky. I am awaiting approval for Ballard, Graves, Livingston and Marshall Counties as well. Although family law mediation has been a significant part of my practice for years, it is nice to be recognized and approved by the state. To learn more about Family Law Mediation, please review the articles elsewhere on this site.
Alford M.I.A.
Sorry for the lack of posts as of late. This is normally a slow time of year, but I have had a CRAZY trial schedule as of late. I have a new article on grandparent visitation in the works and the Kentucky Supreme Court recently shook things up on custody/time sharing modification with a couple of recent decisions. I hoping to have at least one new post of interest up later next week. Keep your fingers crossed.
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