Shelton Family Law Blog

You may have heard many people say that having a child changes you. Perhaps you felt some of those changes after your child was born. Maybe you no longer enjoyed those reckless activities you once looked forward to, and maybe you had a new purpose in life.

When you became involved in a custody battle with the child's other parent, you undoubtedly went through many emotions. Like many parents in similar situations, you wanted full custody. The court order that granted you legal custody and gave visitation to your former partner may have been difficult to accept, especially if you and the other parent no longer get along. You may wonder now if you have to abide by that order.

The federal Department of Agriculture is urging states like Connecticut to implement child support cooperation agreements for people receiving food assistance. The USDA guidance was issued to state agencies overseeing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, often referred to by its prior name, "food stamps." If implemented, this would mean that people receiving SNAP benefits would be required to cooperate with child support enforcement, including entering official child support orders and agreements where none currently exist.

SNAP is one of the most widely used government assistance programs across the country with around 40 million Americans receiving benefits. Many families receiving SNAP are single-parent households where children live with only one of their parents. Around 37% of kids with single parents live in poverty, and poor children's parents are far less likely to have official child support orders in place. There are a number of reasons for this phenomenon, from lower access to and understanding of the legal system to concerns about inability to pay. According to 2015 statistics, less than half of all custodial parents in poverty had a child support agreement in place.

Whether you found your pet as a stray, adopted it from a shelter or bought it from a breeder, it is likely that the animal quickly became a part of your life. You and your partner may have built a new routine around the animal, perhaps getting up early when the pet demanded food or keeping a flashlight by the door for late-night walks.

Although you bonded quickly with your pet, have you thought about what may happen if the bond between you and your partner faces a challenge? If you and your partner are getting married, you may want to protect your pet from becoming a pawn if you should ever divorce. Do you know how the state of Connecticut deals with pets whose parents are going through a divorce?

Some husbands in Connecticut do not take it so well when their wives become the primary breadwinners. Research shows that such a situation often leads to divorce, especially when the partners harbor more traditional views toward marriage.

Over the past several generations, there have been tremendous societal gains in regard to women earning more in the workforce. Roughly 38% of wives now earn more than their husbands, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, studies suggest that many men want to act as leaders in their families. A man whose wife earns a phenomenal salary may feel inferior when she takes the lead role in their marriage.