Month: May 2017

Never mind that goofy MIP thing, this book should be required reading (and a mandatory purchase!) for all divorcing couples:

“In some cases, the court must deal with “recreational litigants” – parents who literally fight until the children are grown up.

Which is part of the reason Brownstone is donating all the proceeds of his $19.95 book to the Children’s Wish Foundation, which helps children facing life-threatening disease. “I want parents who are fighting over Halloween access and Christmas vacations – who’ve lost sight of the big picture – to know that there are other parents out there who won’t even have the privilege to see their children graduate.

“It breaks my heart that some parents are planning funerals for their children while others are fighting over who gets to take the kids trick or treating.”

Judge Harvey Brownstone, author of Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles, and the Bitter Realities of Family Court

Source:  https://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2009/02/07/family_court_judges_book_a_caution_to_warring_couples.html

So my client fills me in:  “We asked if we could serve by email – declined.  We asked for consent for late service and filing so we could serve via courier – declined.  Basically, we were told that our client made a serious mistake by bringing it to court so the other party is going to make our client’s life as miserable as possible.”

The service was in a town over an hour away.  I timed it to arrive as close to 9:30 p.m. as possible – I got there at 9:22 p.m.

The lights in the house were off but I could see the blue flicker of a TV so clearly someone was up.  The driveway was empty, but a car with a matching description and plate was parked across the street a couple houses up.

I walked up to the door and rang the bell – nothing.  Dunno if it was broken or deliberately silenced.  So I knocked.

Hard.

Lights came on all through the house and the door was opened by an adult male, Caucasian, black/brown, approx 55, average height, approx 250lbs, wearing Y-fronts.

Blue.

In need of laundering.

And nothing but.

He looked out, saw me, then flung the door wide and stared at me challengingly.

In my head, I’m thinking “Buddy, I’m half Finn.  From my perspective, you’re a bit overdressed.”

Served.