On behalf of Lisa E McKnight, P.C. posted in Grandparents' Rights on Friday, April 26, 2013
In many families in Texas and around the country, grandparents are the unsung heroes of families. Many grandparents never plan on becoming de facto parents again; however, unforeseen circumstances often thrust them into that role. When push comes to shove, grandparents who are fighting for the welfare of their grandchildren might have to ask a judge to assert their grandparents' rights in a custody or visitation case.
For one elderly couple, the inability to convince a judge that their great-grandson should live with them rather than the boy's father led to tragic circumstances. The couple's granddaughter, the mother of their great-grandson, was going through difficulties with substance abuse. However, her grandparents thought she was making progress and wanted her to ultimately be a part of her son's life.
On behalf of Lisa E McKnight, P.C. posted in Divorce on Friday, April 19, 2013
Dallas residents who are going through a divorce will tell you that it's not an easy process. People who have been with a partner for a long time often find it difficult to start anew on their own. This feeling can be amplified when a person's former spouse has seemingly moved on and found a new love in hardly any time at all.
A recent case in North Texas shows that sometimes people can move on -- and move so quickly that they don't bother to get divorced before marrying again. A 38-year-old man told his wife that he felt that the couple's marriage was over and that he had completed divorce paperwork online. However, the man's wife didn't take any action and never actually separated.
On behalf of Lisa E McKnight, P.C. posted in Grandparents' Rights on Wednesday, April 10, 2013
It is not often in Texas, or anywhere else in the country for that matter, that a child custody case comes up that touches on more than one major concept of child custody law, but such a situation was recently decided in Minnesota -- involving both grandparents' rights and the rights of parents who are not in the country legally.
The case involved a young woman who is in the United States without any documentation. She and her boyfriend, who is a U.S. citizen, had a baby together and moved in with the man's parents -- his mother, a U.S. citizen, and his father, a legal resident. At the time of the baby's birth, the mother was 17 and the father was 15.
On behalf of Lisa E McKnight, P.C. posted in Grandparents' Rights on Wednesday, April 3, 2013
When a couple with children get divorced, many people might be caught in the crossfire. This includes the children, of course, but also many additional family members -- particularly grandparents. In and after a contentious divorce, it can be tricky for now-former in-laws to communicate with one another.
In some sense, having children interact with their grandparents can be a relief for everyone involved: it provides a break for parents, lets the grandparents connect with their kin and enables the kids to return to a safe place -- one basically unchanged even though their parents' divorce may have shaken up their world in other ways.
On behalf of Lisa E McKnight, P.C. posted in Divorce on Thursday, March 28, 2013
Many folks in Texas who get a divorce never would have thought they could end up in that position. Of course, nobody enters a marriage planning to get divorced, but even when things are going roughly, the dreaded D-word still carries a sense of gravitas -- and finality.
It also signals a time for new beginnings. For many newly divorced people, it may have been quite a while since there was not a partner to depend on emotionally -- not to mention financially. One of the first steps a newly divorced person should take is to examine sources of income and decide on a budget. There will be less wiggle room for extra expenses with only one income instead of two going forward.
On behalf of Lisa E McKnight, P.C. posted in Prenuptial Agreements on Thursday, March 21, 2013
For many couples in Texas who are getting married, a prenuptial agreement can ensure that, should the couple ever divorce, that an agreement is in place that will cover potentially contentious issues such as property division. However, even though a prenup is in place, people will from time to time claim that they ought not to be bound by it for some reason. In most instances, it takes extraordinary circumstances for a prenuptial agreement to be thrown out.
Such is the case for football legend Deion Sanders, whose divorce from his wife Pilar has dragged on since 2011. The two sides have differed on almost all aspects of the split including the prenuptial agreement that the two signed. Pilar Sanders argued that it was not a valid agreement because her portion of the document was partially forged.
On behalf of Lisa E McKnight, P.C. posted in Grandparents' Rights on Thursday, March 14, 2013
For many grandparents in Texas who are raising children, they often came to the role more out of necessity than by choice. In many cases, older folks thought their child-rearing days were over when situations dictated that they once again act as parents to youngsters.
For one couple, the death of their daughter meant they had to step in to raise seven of their grandkids, who now range in age from 10 to 23. The grandparents had to figure out how to be parents in the digital age -- having the kids tutor them on using their computer, for example.
On behalf of Lisa E McKnight, P.C. posted in Divorce on Friday, March 8, 2013
Many people in Texas have followed the saga of Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher as their unlikely marriage fascinated the country. Kutcher, a young up-and-coming star, seemed an unlikely husband for Moore, who was married for many years to action star Bruce Willis and was several years older than Kutcher -- and had children who weren't that much younger than him.
To the surprise of all but the most optimistic among us, the marriage is headed for divorce. In fact it's been headed there for a while now; the couple announced their split about 15 months ago. However, due to negotiations regarding property division and spousal support, no papers were filed until Kutcher finally did so in December.
On behalf of Lisa E McKnight, P.C. posted in Grandparents' Rights on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Raising four young children is an enormous challenge for any two parents, but imagine what a struggle it would be for a single grandmother. That's what one Texas woman has been doing for years, having no other choice when the children's mother turned to drugs.
The Houston grandmother knew that taking on four children would be difficult on her limited income, but she had no idea what a struggle she was up against until she realized all four suffered from mental disabilities. Three of the children were diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the youngest child had autism and bi-polar disorder. It was almost too much for the woman to bear, and for a time she was too proud to ask for outside help.
On behalf of Lisa E McKnight, P.C. posted in Divorce on Friday, February 22, 2013
The decision to marry often includes, in wedding ceremonies, the vow to remain together "until death do us part." That promise, however, appears to be losing much of its iron-clad connotation: divorce rates have steadily risen in the past decade as the challenges of maintaining a tranquil union become more and more pronounced.
The uptick in divorce both here in Texas and across the nation has not been entirely on account of partners' fickleness, career pressures, and the anxiety of an unstable economy. Many once-committed, loving husbands and wives are choosing rightfully to walk away from a marriage that has become unhealthy, even dangerous.
