Posted on September 08, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on September 05, 2012 in Family Law

An important reform has been enacted due to an unfortunate set of circumstances. On Tuesday August 21^st, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 3823 which increases the punishment for people who abuse visitation rights of non-custodial parents. It is a very serious problem which is illustrated in the regrettable case of Steven Watkins.

On November 25^th, 2008, Watkins went to the home of the Skinner family in Ashland, Illinois. He was picking up his child, Sidney, from his ex-wife’s house when things became ugly. This visitation was court-ordered but unfortunately short-lived for Watkins. Shirley Skinner, Sidney’s grandmother, was charged with shooting Watkins in the back of the head. She received 55 years in prison when she was convicted for the murder.

The visitation abuse did not start there. According to Steven’s mother Penny Watkins, “He (Steven) had several times ran up against opposition from the mother of the child. She (Sidney) was sick, she didn’t feel good, she had wet her pants – several different excuses. Steven would go to the local police. … (They said), ‘we’ll go with you, but if the mother refuses to give you the child, that’s all we can do.’” Steven Watkins’ parents also received visitation rights of Sidney after the passing of their son, which they were not able to exercise, since Steven’s ex-wife moved the child out of state.

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 Posted on September 05, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on September 02, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on August 29, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on August 29, 2012 in Family Law

The media spotlight that is shining on the Tom Cruise – Katie Holmes divorce is also shining the light on an aspect of what can sometimes be an issue in child custody cases, but is not one frequently discussed. The issue of spiritual custody can be one that parents do not agree upon, yet also one that the courts are very reluctant to address. Judges will address issues such as education, housing and medical when it comes to protecting the child’s best interest, but usually leave it to the parents to decide the child’s religious upbringing.

Tom Cruise has been a very prominent member of the Church of Scientology for years. Katie Holmes was raised in the Roman Catholic Church. The chtribune spoke with a source they say is familiar with the negotiations but not authorized to discuss them publicly. That source told the Tribune that so far, the couple has agreed that Holmes will have custody of their six year old daughter Suri, with Cruise allowed visitation. Holmes will also have final say in Suri’s education.

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 Posted on August 29, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on August 25, 2012 in Family Law

The results of a new study examining the effect of children raised in broken homes where one parent was gay could eventually be used against those parents in custody cases. The study, which has been published in the journal Social Science Research, was written by Mark Regnerus, a sociologist at the University of Texas in Austin. His conclusion was that these children grow to be young adults with somewhat more psychological and social problems than ones from traditional families that had experienced divorce and separation.

There were 2,988 people, between the ages of 18 to 39, nationwide, who participated in the study. About half of them were born out of wedlock, with one gay parent. The other half were born into traditional families which eventually broke up.

Problems in current lives, such as drug use, depression and unemployment, were reported more often by the participants coming from the non-traditional families. Those with a gay parent also reported less education and more sexual partners. There was a slightly higher rate of participants receiving public assistance from the non-traditional group as compared to the traditional family group.

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 Posted on August 23, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on August 20, 2012 in Personal Injury

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