Thursday

Fighting False Allegations of Domestic Violence in Family Court

False Allegations Of Domestic Violence

When it comes to domestic violence awareness, most of the attention is paid to abused women. But readers of MensRights.com know all too well how prevalent domestic violence against men is.
You also know how false allegations of abuseare being used against you, primarily for strategic legal reasons. MensRights.com editor Matt Allen discussed the issue of domestic violence against men in divorce and child custody cases withCordell & Cordell mens divorce attorney Heather Biagi.
Men’s Rights: We’ve talked about the evidence needed to disprove false allegations or to prove that you were abused, but how can you preemptively prevent these from happening?
Heather Biagi: It kind of depends on what parties you’re dealing with. If you’re dealing with parties who don’t get along that are going through a divorce, but they’ve never had a history of violence and neither one of them is overly aggressive — and by aggressive I mean aggressively wanting one party out of the house or not — then I don’t advise my clients to worry too much about a false protection order being filed.
But in cases where I know what the posturing is going to be, if it’s a case where there’s a lot at stake – such as money or mom has it in her head that dad should not have any time with the children – then I tell my client, “if she starts a fight with you then you walk away. If she tries to say anything to you then you walk away. Be careful what you text her, she’s going to text you something awful. Be careful what you write because writing is so powerful and there’s no context to it, no tone.”
So while you might say something that’s a joke or something you’ve been saying for years, your wife could take it to the judge and say, “Here’s where he threatened to do this to me” when in fact that’s not really what happened.
Men’s Rights: If you have successfully proven that the allegations of domestic violence against you are false, what do you get out of it? Is the alleging party punished or are you just happy the charges were dropped?
Heather Biagi: It varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and is also very dependent on what judge you’re in front of, but there are a couple of things you can potentially get out of it such as your attorney’s fees paid.
You can always request the judge to order your wife to pay your attorney’s fees since she was the one who filed a frivolous action against you.
Probably the most beneficial thing that you can get out of it is ruining the other party’s credibility. I tell my clients every time I speak with them that anytime you’re going to go to court do not embellish and do not shade it to your favor. Just tell the truth.
You don’t want to get stuck in a lie because when you lose credibility with the judge or you’ve proven that you are not an honest person in front of that judge, the judge will remember it and there is nothing an attorney — I don’t care how good they are — can do to rehabilitate their client once the client has lied to the judge.
As a mens divorce lawyer, I would consistently bring up a party’s previous lies at every hearing or motion filed.
I would say, “Judge, you remember when she filed the order of protection and it was unfounded? Do you remember when she made these allegations of abuse and they were completely unfounded? At what lengths will this person go to get what they want?”
So realistically, the benefit to you is the loss of her credibility and the ability to use that lie to your advantage in future hearings.
Losing the trust of the judge is the worst possible thing that could happen to a client.
Men’s Rights: So credibility is everything?
Heather Biagi: Absolutely. Credibility is everything. Watch the DadsDivorce Live interview with attorney Heather Biagi on domestic violence
SOURCE: 29 MAR 2012 / BY MATT ALLEN / IN ABUSE
Family Court News: Dad Initially Labeled Abuser Wins Appeals Case on Custody

Saturday

The Economics of Marriage and Divorce

Address Poverty & Crime

With 24 million children in America living daily without their biological fathers—one in three children— there is a father factor in poverty and crime.


Sadly, sometimes moms think dad's just a child support payment...we created the Moms Involving Dads Bundle filled with tools to help mom, dad, & child.

For example:

  • Children from father-absent homes are four times more likely to be poor

  • A child with an incarcerated father is 7 times more likely to become incarcerated himself

Father absence and poverty are strongly related. Data shows that it’s more difficult to get fathers to provide financial support when they are not married to the mother and when they lack an emotional connection to their children.

Further, the “story behind the story” of a violent crime committed in America reveals a “crime of fatherlessness.” Good fathers serve as regulators of aggressive behavior, particularly for young boys. But it’s not just boys, the fastest growing prison population is young girls and women, many of whom have grown up in father-absent homes.

By engaging fathers in the lives of their children, we can work to reduce poverty and crime.

Related Resources

5 Graphs below from the award winning Director of WHAT BLACK MEN THINK, and MEN II BOYS, comes the next installment of the urgent and necessary dialogue to heal the hearts, minds and souls of a wounded nation...GUPI (Guility Until Proven Innocent)

Thursday

The Hidden Story of Male Victims of Domestic Violence




The SAVE Domestic Violence Legislative Project (DVLP) is a network of state-level groups working for domestic violence policies that protect victims, safeguard families, and respect due process.
Complaint Filed Against Marin County Superior Court Family Law Judge Bev Wood & Court CEO Kim Turner for Evidence...
Posted by Children's Rights on Thursday, August 20, 2015

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