Deployment, transfers, and long stretches away from loved ones are part and parcel of military service. Families usually follow the service member to their new posting, dutifully if not enthusiastically. But what happens when the family is made up of two same-sex partners? Bringing a same-sex partner to a new posting overseas is sometimes impossible because of local laws. One columnist says the military is using those laws and the Defense of Marriage Act to deliberately split up gay couples.
Big money is at the heart of one celebrity divorce
Almost every divorcing couple argues over money at some point, and some arguments have more zeros in the numbers than others. Such is the case with Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore's pending breakup. Kutcher is currently the highest-paid actor in television, earning a reported $24 million per season for "Two and a Half Men." Supposedly, Moore is demanding a larger payout than Kutcher wants to hand over as a condition of ending their May-September marriage.
Few contracts are more durable than a pre-nup
If a prenuptial agreement is on the to-do list before the wedding, think very carefully and read closely before signing. Once signed, pre-nups are very hard to break legally. Those cautions come from experts who specialize in unwinding those binding contracts when things don't work out as planned. Voiding a properly drafted and signed prenuptial agreement in search of a better deal is difficult, they say, but not impossible.
Complex custody fight unfolding in Houston
Paternity claims, maternity claims and custody fights are commonplace in Texas family courts and elsewhere, but a case in Houston may take the prize for complexity and uniqueness. A woman there wants custody of twins even though, genetically, they are not hers. The father, who is a genetic parent, says the woman was a surrogate who simply carried the babies to term. Not so, says the woman, and she wants co-parenting rights with the father who is gay and has a male partner who also wants to be part of the family. Some experts say this could be a landmark case that defines what it takes to be considered a mother.
