Articles Posted in Divorce / Dissolution of Marriage

Most of us eagerly look forward to the holidays as a time to practice long honored family traditions, spend time with seldom seen relatives, and indulge in a few holiday treats. But for those going through a divorce, November and December can serve as very painful reminders that everything is different this year. That can make divorced people especially susceptible to depression. A recent article shares some tips for those struggling with emotions this time of year:

-Be prepared for your emotional ups and downs, identify when you will be most vulnerable and plan ahead of time what you will do to get through the moment.

-Accept your loss; while the holidays can remind you of your loss, they will pass. Give yourself permission to just get through the season and become stronger for next year.

A recent article in the Orlando Sentinel helps women with limited incomes learn how to change their names back to their maiden names without the help of a lawyer. But before changing one’s name, a person should think long and hard about the consequences. For example, those who hold professional licenses or run a business may face a lot of paperwork to get their name changed on these documents. Other documents that will need to be updated include social security cards, driver’s licenses, banking and retirement accounts, credit cards, loans, voter registration, and security clearances. A women should also consider the confusion and problems that might be caused if her new name is different than that of her children. On the plus side, changing back to a formerly held name does not require the criminal background checks required for applicants who want to change to a new name.

If a woman does decide that changing her name back to her maiden name is the right choice, Florida statute will point her to the proper procedures, and the Clerk of the Circuit Court has a staff to help those who do not have legal representation. Of course, while changing you name might not require the services of an experience family law attorney, the intricacies of the divorce itself certainly do. Please contact our firm for expert divorce legal counsel. You can read more about chaning back to your maiden name at There’s help to change name — but think twice.

The short-lived comedy “Couples Retreat” follows four American couples who travel to a tropical island to rekindle their marriages. Some enterprising Indian travel agents saw the movie and decided to start promoting divorce tourism packages for Indian couples. The package includes an exotic getaway and the services of a marriage counselor. Indian couples are usually unaware that they are on a divorce tour – the packages are usually paid for by a concerned friend or relative, and the marriage counselor pretends to be a travel guide with a lot of wise insight into marriage.

Probably because divorce is considered shameful in India, the country has one of the lowest divorce rates in the world, around 1%, compared to 50% in the US. But divorce is becoming more common between young urban couples, sparking a cottage industry of legal help and divorcee dating services. The new tourism promotion is expected to provide a small bump to Indian tourism, which has suffered from a bad economy, terrorist attacks, and now the H1N1 (swine flu) virus. Other specialty tourism packages offered by enterprising Indian travel agents include medical tourism, religious journeys, and even a “Slumdog Millionaire” tour of Mumbai’s shanty towns. Find out more unusual Indian tour packages at A New Indian Travel Fad: “Divorce Tourism”.

If your marriage is headed for divorce, please contact one of our expert Family Law Attorneys for legal counsel.

Dallas advertising executive, Bill Cochran, has written a book that he says he hopes will help children deal with the divorce of their parents. The book is called My Parents Are Divorced, My Elbows Have Nicknames, and Other Facts About Me. Cochran writes with a straightforward, yet humorous style. The book follows Ted, a kid whose parents are getting divorced, as he talks about his life and his feeling related to the divorce.

Cochran is himself a child of divorce, and he says he wrote the book by trying to imagine what would have helped him feel better when his own parents were getting divorced. You can find out more about Cochran and his new book at Dallas author Bill Cochran helps kids learn to cope with divorce in new book.

Divorce is a difficult time for the whole family. When children are involved, counseling or therapy can be a very effective way to help them deal with the emotions they are going through. If you are considering divorce, please contact our firm for expert legal counsel. We can also refer you to a highly regarded local counselor or therapist for yourself or your children.

According to a recent US study, women who are diagnosed with either cancer or MS are six times more likely to become divorced or separated as a result of the diagnosis than a man in the same position would be. Earlier research had suggested a similar trend, showing that female cancer patients have a divorce or separation rate of 20.8% compared to 2.9% for male cancer patients.

The studies show that female gender was the strongest predictor of a marital rift after a devastating health diagnosis. They found that women who were left during treatment were more likely to become depressed, spent more time in the hospital, and were less likely to complete their radiation therapy.

Researchers attribute the gender gap to men’s inability to quickly adjust to the responsibility of caring for the sick person, along with their family and home. The study was prompted by neuro-oncology doctors who noticed that their female patients were much more likely to end up alone. The doctors believe that early intervention and counseling may help save some of these marriages, which would in turn improve the prognosis for affected patients. You can read more results from the study at Men more likely than women to leave partner with cancer.