In re Mullen: The mother’s conduct did not create an agreement to grant former domestic partner permanent shared legal custody of her child.
By Laura Morgan, Family Law Consultant
Evidence supported finding that mother’s conduct did not create an agreement to grant former domestic partner permanent shared legal custody of mother’s child; no written shared‑custody agreement was signed by mother, and the documents that mother signed that gave former domestic partner some custodial responsibilities over child were revocable and were revoked by mother.
Laura Morgan is a Family Law Consultant. Laura is available for consultation, brief writing and research on family law issues throughout the country. She can be reached through her Web site.
Allegations of child abuse in custody litigation have occurred with increased frequency in recent decades. The prevalence of false allegations of child abuse has similarly increased, destroying otherwise healthy and loving parent-child relationships, leaving long-lasting emotional scars on child victims, threatening the freedoms of those wrongfully accused, impacting the ability of vilified parents to financially support their children, and creating judicial waste grounded in the witting manipulation of various experts and the judiciary by a vengeful parent.
With widespread military forces around the world, especially in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait, America’s military places unique challenges before the men and women in uniform who make up the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. A high operational tempo means stress at home and less time for families. As a result, divorce rates in the uniformed services are higher than the general population.
Pennsylvania Family Lawyer Maria Cognetti discusses custody, visitation, and running a family law practice during the pandemic with Family Lawyer Magazine‘s Editorial Director, Diana Shepherd. A Fellow, former Fellow of the Year, and past-president of the AAML, Maria is the co-creator of the AAML and AFCC’s “Advanced Issues in Child Custody” national conference.
Diana Shepherd has over 30 years of experience as a marketing, branding, SEO, copywriting, editing, and publishing expert. As Content Director for Family Lawyer Magazine, Divorce Magazine, and Divorce Marketing Group, she oversees all corporate content development and frequently creates SEO-friendly videos, podcasts, and copy for family law and financial firms.
The Co-Founder of Divorce Magazine and Divorce Marketing Group, Diana is an award-winning editor, published author, and a nationally recognized expert on divorce, remarriage, finance, and stepfamily issues. She has written hundreds of articles geared towards both family law professionals and divorcing people, and she has both performed and taught on-page SEO for 20+ years.
Diana spent eight years as the Marketing Director for the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts® (IDFA®), and she has been a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® since 2006. While at IDFA, she wrote, designed, and published The IDFA Marketing Guide, and she also created seminars for CDFA professionals to present to family lawyers (approved for CLE), as well as to separated and divorcing individuals.
She has represented both DMG and IDFA at industry conferences and events across North America, and she has given marketing as well as divorce financial seminars at many of those conferences.
