Providing Advice to other Attorneys in Family Law

I have signed up for the Rhode Island Bar Association’s Online Attorney Resources (OAR) as a Volunteer in the area of Domestic/Family Law. I expect to be most helpful for military family law questions, and division of retirement plans.

This service is exclusively for Bar members and available through the Members Only section of the Bar's web site at www.ribar.com, to help Bar members provide and receive timely and direct assistance with practice-related questions.

OAR provides Bar members with the names, contact information and Bar admission date of volunteer attorneys willing to answer questions concerning particular practice areas based on the volunteer's professional knowledge and experience. As the Rhode Island Bar Association does not and cannot certify attorney expertise in a given practice area, the Bar does not verify any information or advice provided by OAR volunteers. Questions channeled through OAR volunteers may range from inquiries concerning specific court procedures and expectations to current and future opportunities within practice areas. However, OAR is NOT a forum for Bar members to engage other Bar members as unofficial co-counsel in an on-going case.

As everyone's time is a limited and precious commodity, all Bar members who contact volunteers must formulate their questions concisely prior to contact and ensure the initial contact takes no longer than 3 to 5 minutes unless mutually-agreed upon by both parties.

OAR offers two options:

1) Bar members willing to volunteer as information resources.

2) Bar members with questions about a particular area of the law.

OAR practice areas include: Domestic/Family Law Practice; Civil Practice in Rhode Island District Court - Collections Law & Evictions; Civil Practice in Rhode Island Superior Court - Plaintiff's Personal Injury Practice; Criminal Law Practice; Commercial Real Estate Transactions; Organizing a Rhode Island Business; Probate and Estate Planning; Residential Real Estate Closings; Workers' Compensation Practice; Creditors' and Debtors' Rights: Federal Court Practice; and Administrative Law.

Military Divorce in Newport RI and Child Support Issues

Newport RI Military Family Law Office secured a reasonable award of child support from father on active duty for infant child.

Military Divorce Awards Child Support

Military Divorce of parties with one child, less than a year old. Husband was on active duty. Wife’s attorney contacted us to assist her with trying to understand what the military requires of its members who have children, and how that differs from the family court.

Ultimately, after consulting with us, the attorney initiated a “Congressional Inquiry” to determine why actions were not being taken by the military to require the soldier to support his child.

Within days thereafter, a garnishment of his wages took place and the mother began to receive her support.


CAVEAT: EACH CASE IS FACT SPECIFIC AND WHAT MAY HAVE HAPPENED IN THESE CASES MAY NOT “FIT” YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION OR BE IN YOUR BEST INTEREST.

Share the good things, and let others know who they can trust.

Due to the fact we handle quite a few military family court cases, I have subscribed to the online military.com newsletter so I frequently get updates about major things happening within the different branches of the military, all over the world.

Today, I received an article entitled "Army Spouse Shares Tips for Deployment." The spouse of a military member who has been deployed half a dozen times was sharing tips with other families about what she does to prepare. For example, start early! One tip I found specifically important was that she asked her military friends to provide her with a list of plumbers, electricians, handy men, etc. that had been reasonably priced and trustworthy. As a mother and Wife whose husband handles most of such things, I thought this was brilliant! The comments on the article were from spouses that expressed hearing these things helped them feel like they were less alone, going through a scary situation. Knowing who you can trust and count on to do the job right is critical to making tough times less difficult.

I would like to encourage people to pass along their good experiences to others that they have had with their lawyer. People often rush to spread the word about a lawyer they did not like or thought did not do a good job because that is what people expect to hear about lawyers. They forget to share when their lawyer did a great job, or helped them through a difficult time. This has more to do with human nature and privacy than much else, but I would venture to guess that most people would appreciate knowing who they can trust and that someone else had a good experience when it comes to their personal business.

So, if you have a lawyer that you count on and that gets the job done for you, let other people know!

If you do not, then contact our office at 401.841.5700, and let us answer your legal questions.

Shield or Sword: How the ServiceMember Civil Relief Act made this adoption much more complicated!

I recently represented a military member who is on active duty. I was appointed by the court because when a military member is on active duty, the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act (federal law) requires counsel to be appointed if the person has notice of the action, but does not appear. It is slightly more complicated than that, but you get the idea. If the military member does not "enter his appearance, " i.e. file a piece of paper with the court that states they are "entering their appearance" or an attorney is entering on their behalf, that military member has not consented to the jurisdiction of the court and the court order or judgment can be re-opened when that military member finishes their active duty.

In a typical adoption, if the biological parent had notice of the hearing, it would go forward without him or her, their parental rights would be terminated, and the child could be adopted.

In this case, there were additional hoops to go through to get it done, and we were still concerned that the military member could come back in two years and contest the adoption. Long story short, he cooperated with the documents, finally got us the originals with his signature, and this family can go on with their lives without worrying about a sledge hammer two years down the road.

I guess in summary, I wanted to point out that I am all for our military members and appreciate all that they do for our country. It is frustrating though, when the system can be manipulated. The people adopting this little girl did not deserve this additional frustration! It is typical in this business to hear the saying, "the Act is meant to be used as a shield, not a sword." This is a true example.

In our office, in Newport, we represent a good number of military members and their spouses. If you have a military family law question or concern, call us at 401-841-5700 or visit our website at www.CounselFirst.com