Two more countries have joined the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. Both Malta and San Marino should be added to the list, already including Australia, France, Germany, India, Switzerland, Mexico, Canada, Spain and many others. While the United States has signed the convention, it has not yet ratified it. Ratification is expected early in 2006. More information is available at the Hague Convention web site : http://www.hcch.net; Family Law Reporter, March 29, 2005
A New Jersey judge ruled that Ileana Mateu's blistering divorce complaint against international jazz icon Chucho Valdes, who lives in Cuba, may go forward. He had asked for the dismissal of his wife's divorce complaint. A resident of Englewood, New Jersey, she alleges that he defrauded her and the United States government when he applied for a green card because he never intended to live in the United States. She claims that the pianist married her so he could enter the United States to perform and avoid strict post-Sept. 11, 2001 immigration laws. Judge Parsons, in denying his request, noted that her attorney had unsuccessfully tried to serve the complaint and asked "Why waste everybody's time and dismiss this complaint and make them refile it?" Bergen Record, March 5, 2005
"Why Men Won't Commit" reveals the top 10 reasons why men are delaying marriage. The study is in the National Marriage Project's annual report on the health of marriage in America, "The State of Our Unions: 2002." Study findings were based on 8 focus groups with 60 not-yet-married men, ages 25 to 33. Focus groups were conducted in 4 metropolitan areas: northern New Jersey, Chicago, Washington and Houston. The top 10 reasons why men are slow to commit: 1. They can get sex without marriage more easily than in times past 2. They can enjoy the benefits of having a wife by cohabiting rather than marrying 3. They want to avoid divorce and its financial risks 4. They want to wait until they are older to have children 5. They fear that marriage will require too many changes and compromises 6. They are waiting for the perfect soul mate, and she hasn't yet appeared 7. They face few social pressures to marry 8. They are reluctant to marry a woman who already has children 9. They want to own a house before they get a wife 10. They want to enjoy single life as long as they can. February 15, 2005
Where legal custody has not been determined by decree or statute, the parent having actual uncontested custody is to be regarded as having "legal custody" of the person concerned for purpose of determining that person's immigration status under 8 U.S.C. section 1432(a). Bagot v. Ashcroft, ___F.Supp. 3d.___(3d Cir. 2005), February 11, 2005. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/3rd/042127p.pdf
When unmarried partners split up in New Jersey, various theories of legal liability can be asserted. These include palimony, breach of contract [implied or express], the partition of jointly-held assets and/or promissory estoppel. This case involved a fight over which branch of the Superior Court had jurisdiction : Law Division [where civil/commercial cases are usually brought and where you have the right to a jury trial] or Chancery Division [where the Family Part presides over divorces and other similar cases and there is no jury]. Here, the case will be sent back to the Law Division because the plaintiff did not seek support or other "marital-like" relief. Redeker v. Lutz, New Jersey App. Div., January 19, 2005
In determining a child's habitual residence under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, a court should first inquire into the shared intent of the parents to fix the child's residence, and then inquire whether the evidence unequivocally establishes that the child has acclimatized to the new location. Gitter v. Gitter, ___F. 3d___ (2d Cir. 2005) http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/039299p.pdf; January 5, 2005.
