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Finally, here's a word to the wise: Never conduct surveillance yourself. Secret tape recordings of your spouse may prove harmful. In one difficult case, the husband, who sought custody of his two young sons, provoked his wife into an argument while the children were in the same room. Secretly, he taped ten minutes of his wife yelling and the children crying. The husband played the tape in court. The wife's voice, sounding shrill because of the quality of the recording itself, filled the courtroom while the children wailed in the background. |
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The husband still lost custody. The wife testified that the husband had started the argument. What kind of father, her lawyer argued, would deliberately subject his children to an argument between their parents to create evidence for court? |
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The moral here is simple. Always consult with your attorney before engaging in any scheme involving a tape recorder. Even if taping is not against the law in your state, your plan may come back to haunt you. |
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Review Your Prenuptial Agreement. |
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If you and your spouse signed a prenuptial agreement, this is the time to pull it out of the files. You may be surprised to read what the two of you signed when you were in the throes of first love. |
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Prenups, as lawyers call them, used to be popular mostly with older people who were marrying for the second time and wanted to protect the inheritance rights of their children in the event they died. However, provisions for what would happen in the event the parties divorced began to pop up, and now, young people marrying for the first time often inquire about having a prenup. Some are to inherit money from parents, and the parents are the ones who want the prenup. Others are wealthy in their own right and have heard so many divorce horror stories, they want to protect their rights. |
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If you signed a properly executed prenup or postnuptial agreement (an agreement entered into after your marriage), there is little left to discuss if the marriage fails. Judges will generally uphold the terms of the prenup with a couple of exceptions. In general, judges will not uphold provisions in a prenuptial agreement stating who is to have custody of children and how much child support is to be paid. The care and support of children is usually always subject to court review. |
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In addition, judges will not support your agreement if you can prove it was the product of fraud, coercion, distress, or some other unfairness the laws of your state allow you to assert. |
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