Divorce Advice for Men | Fathers Rights Divorce | Child Custody

By Molly Murphy

Attorney, Cordell & Cordell

Military families are those that consist of one or both parties being active in the military.   Military parents going through a divorce have more rights and options than they might think when they begin an action in the family court. For purposes of this article, this does not include one or both parties being active in the National Guard.

Question:

My wife just left me and filed for separation while I was deployed overseas by the military. She moved herself and the kids to another state about six hours away, and she now wants me to drive halfway to meet her for visitation. I thought that I had read somewhere that she would have to provide the transportation for the visits because she took the kids and moved to out of state. Is this the law or did my brain make this up? How should I go about dealing with this?

Question:

According to my husband and his ex-wife's divorce decree, she is awarded a set dollar amount for child support instead of a percentage of his earnings. Well he just got a new job with a higher income and now she says her lawyer is drawing up papers in order to get a full 20% of his net income, and that if he refuses to sign them she will take him to court.

However, my husband is in the military and being deployed overseas very soon. Are we legally obligated to do anything with this paperwork before he gets deployed, and if so, is there any way to postpone it until he gets back?

Among the Ask a Divorce Lawyer questions answered today by Cordell & Cordell attorneys:

• Child support is still being taken out of my paychecks when it shouldn't be. How can I have it stopped?
• Can I request my ex help pay for medical bills in addition to the child support orders?
• My husband just found out that his ex-wife has been receiving a significant amount of financial aid and has never disclosed that when we have gone to court. Doesn't she have to let us know that and is there anything we can do now that we know that?

Among the Ask a Divorce Lawyer questions answered today by Cordell & Cordell attorneys:

• Will my wife get some of my retirement money that was earned prior to us getting married?
• If child support is being withheld from my paycheck, can any more be taken from my bank account? Can I instead pay in lump sumps?
• My support is paid off, but the state took a lot of money off our tax return for "surcharges" and we can't figure out why or how they reached that amount?
• I re-married the same woman I divorced earlier in my life. Now we are divorcing again. Is she entitled to alimony from both marriages?
• My attorney didn't handle my divorce correctly. Can I fight the judgment?
• My child support payments increased threefold while I was deployed overseas. These  changes were made in court even though they knew I was at war. What can I do?