Legal Aspects

1. What To Cover In Your Prenup by Jeffrey Lalloway of the Orange County Divorce Blog. This is perhaps the most comprehensive list of considerations I’ve seen for what should go into a prenuptial agreement. It’s a three-part articles; be sure to check out part 2 and part 3.

2. Grounds to Challenge a Premarital Agreement by Alan Pearlman of the Chicago Family Law Blog. This article will make you aware of all the pitfalls you should avoid.

3. Drafting a Prenup by Lee Borden on Lawyers.com. This article sets out the basics about what you need to do to get a prenuptial agreement drafted.

4. Love and the Dotted Line by Brad Marcoux on DivorceMag.com. This article gives a good general overview of prenuptial agreements.

5. Defenses to a Prenuptial Agreement by Jeffrey Lalloway on Divorce Lawyer Orange County. This is what your spouse will argue when they don’t want the prenuptial agreement to be enforced.

6. Purposes for Prenuptial Agreements by Jeffrey Lalloway on Divorce Lawyer Orange County. This article gives some good ideas about what you may wish to include in your prenup.

7. Some Reasons for a Prenuptial Agreement by Jeffrey Lalloway of the Orange County Divorce Blog. This article gives a couple of reasons why many people should get a prenup.

8. Enforceability of Mahr by Jeanne Hannah of the Updates in Michigan Family Law Blog. Mahr are (religious) Islamic marriage contracts and whether civil family courts should enforce these is a difficult issue. In the future, I’ll be looking at this topic in more detail.

9. Statute of Limitations on Prenuptial Agreements by Daniel Clement of the New York Divorce Report. This articles sets out the New York law on when you need to enforce or contest a prenup – basically not until a divorce or annulment action is commenced.

10. The UK Legal Position on Prenuptial Agreements by John Bolch on the Family Lore Blog. Discusses why they are not legal in the United Kingdom and what proposals exist to change the law.

Legal Cases

Legal cases are important as they give an idea of how judges will interpret the law and also how they will decide similar situations. Some of these cases I will discuss in more detail in upcoming posts.

11. The Failure to Read and Understand a Prenup Does Not Invalidate It by Daniel Clement of the New York Divorce Report discusses the Stawski v Stawski case by the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division.

12. Duress & Undue Influence in Post-Nuptial Agreements by the Family Law Prof Blog discusses the In re Marriage of Balcof case by the California Court of Appeals.

13. Growth of Assets During Marriage Does Not Void Prenuptial Agreement by the Nirenstein Ruotolo Group of the Arizona Divorce and Family Law Blog discusses the Reed v. Reed case by the Michigan Court of Appeal.

14. Wife’s Bipolar Disorder Held not to Invalidate Prenuptial Agreement by Philip Bernstein of the New York Probate Litigation Blog discusses the Estate of Joseph Menahem case by the Kings County, New York Surrogate Court.

15. Husband’s Transfer of Separate Property to Wife Declared Wife’s Separate Property by Daniel Clement of the New York Divorce Report discusses the Selinger v. Selinger case by the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division.

16. No Presumption of Undue Influence in Post Marital Agreements Absent Proof of Unfair Advantage by the Family Law Prof Blog discusses the In re Marriage of Burkle case by the California Court of Appeals.

17. Failure to Plead Prenup is Failure to Plead Affirmative Defense and Bars Court Consideration of Agreement by Diana Skaggs of the Divorce Law Journal discusses the Homan v. Holman case by the Missouri Court of Appeals.

18. Maryland Prenuptial Agreements by James Gross of the Maryland Divorce Legal Crier discusses the Harbom v. Harbom case by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

19. Court Provides a Primer on Pre-Nuptial Agreements and Enforces a 40 Year Old Agreement by Daniel Clement of the New York Divorce Report discusses the Van Kipnis v. Van Kipnis case by the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division.

20. Waiver in Prenup Doesn’t Bar Request for Attorneys’ Fees by Alexander D. Nirenstein of the Arizona Divorce and Family Law Blog discusses the Kessler v. Kessler case by the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division.

Newspaper Articles

21. Preparing for a Broken Home by James Miller of the New York Times is one of the most thoughtful editorial pieces I have seen on prenuptial agreements (although I completely disagree with the author).

22. When A Prenup Isn’t An Option by Matt Woolsey of Forbes discusses alternatives to a prenuptial agreement.

23. I’ve been with my fiancee for five years; we’re getting married in July contains opinion on a person’s prenuptial agreement by Ask Ellie of the Chicago Sun-Times.

24. Real Estate Matters by Ilyce Glink of the Bend Weekly contain’s her opinion on a person’s prenuptial agreement.

25. Prenup Good for Kid Rock and You, Too by Bob Frese for the Hampton Union discusses prenuptial agreements from a financial advisor’s point of view.

26. Anxieties Surface as Couple Considers Tying the Knot by Linda Tucci of the Boston Globe discusses some of the financial considerations to take into account on getting married.

27. Farmers Demand Pre-nups in the Ireland Independent discusses a survey showing that farmers are generally in favor of prenuptial agreements to keep their farms intact.

28. Pre-nuptial Agreement not Romantic, but Essential by Susan Morris of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review discusses the importance of prenups for second marriages.

29. New Study Promotes Prenuptial Agreements for Successful Marriages is a press release about a study by Heather Mahar of the Harvard Law School that showed a prenuptial agreement actually increases the chances of a marriage surviving.

30. When to Propose a Prenup by Diana Ransom of the Wall Street Journal discusses the situations when couples may wish to consider a prenuptial agreement.

As most people know, Google is probably the best search engine that exists today. This reputation is well deserved.

However, I have found that despite Google’s great search algorithm, there are a number of problems with using it to research about family law:

1. There is a lot of spam in their results. Researching a topic as specialized as family law is difficult and time consuming, as a large number of the results are spammy. You can end up wasting a lot of time before you find the information that you are looking for.

2. Google results include sponsored results. Anybody with a credit card can simply purchase a listing for their website and appear at or near the top search results.

3. If you are reading about family law, you want to make sure that the source is credible and authoritative, and preferably written by an attorney. As Google is simply a computer program, there is no way that they can figure this sort of thing out.

One way of getting around these problems with Google is to use a web directory, but even these can be quite limited. So, I have taken this opportunity to create a custom family law search engine that is powered by Google. It uses Google to create the search results, but only searches quality websites, namely, the top family law blogs I recently reviewed. As well, there are no ads on this search engine. All of this ensures that you get the benefits of searching with Google, but none of the drawbacks I just discussed: there is no spam in this search engine, there are no ads, and all of the sites included are authoritative.

Feel free to give it a try here.

There are a number of family law bloggers out there, each with their own style and slant on things. A number of them stand out, and the following is a ranking of the Top 30 Family Law Blogs:

1. Cavers Divorce

  Cavers Law by J. Shannon Cavers

This is my choice of the top family law blog. There is a post almost every day on this blog, including many that examine the lighter side of the law. It’s the kind of blog that’s so interesting that you lose track of time as you read through it. Recent posts include discussions about voiding marriages after death, losses suffered by children after divorce, and children and relocation.

2. Kansas Family Law Blog

  Kansas Family Law Blog by Grant D. Griffiths

An extraordinary blog by an extraordinary blogger who also writes several other blogs including the Home Office Lawyer and the Kansas Criminal Defense blog. Most interestingly, he successfully runs his law practice out of his home, which can’t be easy to do. Recent posts include discussions about fixed fees in family law cases, the unconstitutionality of law barring adoption by same sex couples and child dependency deductions.

3. New York Divorce Law Blog

  New York Divorce Law Blog by David A. Gabay

An interesting blog that covers a lot about divorce and businesses. Recent posts include discussions about divorce planning, selling the marital residence after divorce, and initial consultations with family law lawyers.

4. The Divorce Report

  The Divorce Report: The New York
Divorce and Family Law Blog
by Daniel E. Clement

Written in an easy to read style, this blog covers a lot about divorce in the news, making it always topical. Recent posts include discussions about orders of protection for dogs, invalidating prenuptial agreements due to alleged mental illness and marriages being of shorter duration.

5. Arizona Family Law Blog

  Arizona Family Law Blog by several lawyers of the Nirenstein Ruotolo Group

This blog keep you up to date with current cases that are decided or are in the news. Recent posts include discussions about Christina Applegate’s divorce, asylum for women persecuted under China’s family planning policy, and voicemail being discoverable.

6. Pennsylvania Family Law Blog

  Pennsylvania Family Law by Charles J. Meyer, of Fox Rothschild LLP

Provides a lot of useful information and tips for people going through a divorce. Recent posts include discussions about divorce after death, child support for celebrities and falling divorce rates.

7. Chicago Family Law Blog

  Chicago Family Law Blog by Alan Pearlman

Deals with practical nuts and bolts issues that will be of interest to anyone wanting to learn the basics of family law. Recent posts include discussions about deductibility of divorce-related payments, modifying child custody, and alternatives to bitter divorces.

8. Mark Wortman Family Law

  Mark Wortman Law by Mark A. C. Wortman

A blog written with great passion. Recent posts include discussions about when child support ends, award of attorneys fees, and dog custody.

9. Law Professors Family Law

  Law Professors – Family Law – edited by Barbara Glesner Fines and Nancy Ver Steegh

Covers family law topics from a more scholarly point of view. Regularly updated with discussions about important cases shaping the law regarding the family. Recent posts include discussions about electronic evidence in divorce, same sex marriage and QDROs.

10. Utah Divorce and Family Law

  Utah Divorce and Family Law by Gregory W. Stevens

A fairly new blog that mostly deals with the tax consequences of various issues in divorce and family law. Recent posts include discussions about debt and credit due to divorce, child custody tax issues, and alimony and tax issues.

11. Louisville Divorce

  Louisville Divorce by Diana L. Skaggs

A vibrant blog that is chock full of information. Recent posts include discussions about Hague Convention cases, collaborative law and IRS innocent spouse relief.

12. Family Lore

  Family Lore by John Bolch

This is my choice for the top British family law blog. It is regularly updated, and contains lots of lively conversations. Recent posts include discussions about effect of conduct during divorce litigation, why marry? and divorce law reform.

13. Maine Divorce Law Blog

  Maine Divorce Law Blog by Alan R. Nye

Unfortunately, the content on this blog hasn’t been updated for a while, but it covers a lot of difficult topics in depth, such as domestic violence, that you don’t see on other family law blogs. Perhaps the author is too busy with his entertaining Al Nye the Lawyer Guy blog. Recent posts include discussions about divorce myths, marital rape and considerations to make before filing for divorce.

14. New Jersey Family Law Blog

  New Jersey Family Law Blog by the Rotolo Law Firm

Provides a lot of valuable content in short and punchy posts. Recent posts include discussions about parentage, termination of parental rights and retroactive increases in child support.

15. Bloody Relations

  Bloody Relations by “jacquig”

The author of the blog is only discosed to be a family lawyer in “very” North London (past the end of the Northern Line?). I’m not sure why the anonymity – this seems to be something that’s very British. But the author like cats, so you know she’s got to be a great person. And I love the name of the blog. Recent posts include discussions about parental responsibility, international relocation and the duty of counsel.

16. Florida Divorce Law Blog

  Florida Divorce Law Blog by Janet Langjahr

This blog has a very different feel to it than most of the other family law blogs. It often concentrates on injustices in the legal system and you can see that the author is passionate not just about the law but about justice. Recent posts include discussions about SWAT teams serving custody orders, child snatching and lying in family court.

17. Orange County Divorce

  Orange County Divorce by Jeffrey Lalloway

One of the most regularly updated blogs on this list, the blog is written in a folksy style and covers a lot of divorce in the news items. Recent posts include discussions about Social Security and divorce, Britney Spears’ custody dispute and settlement of divorces before trial.

18. Divorce Solicitor

  Divorce Solicitor by Lynne Bastow

A family law blogger who is not afraid of tackling controversial issues or being politically incorrect. There is lots of interesting dialogue happening on this blog. Recent posts include discussions about considerations for getting married, and a humorous post about divorce Barbie and free legal advice.

19. Mississippi Family Law Blog

  Mississippi Family Law Blog by Robert M. Kisselburgh

A fairly new blog that is starting to make its mark, this blog deals with a lot of practical issues. Recent posts include discussions about electronic filing of divorce documents, domestic violence homicides, and responsibility for debt.

20. Jeanne M Hannah

  Jeanne Hannah by Jeanne M Hannah

Blogs from the heart about family law issues that people really care about. Offers great insights into family law. Recent posts include discussions about how old a child must be to be left at home alone, and parental kidnapping and grandparent visitation.

21. Australian Divorce

  Australian Divorce by Stephen Page

. Our choice for best Australian family law blog. A young blog that is full of energy. Recent posts include discussions about economic abuse, property settlement for de facto couples and civil unions.

22. Hasler Law

  Hasler Law by Sam Hasler

. A new blog that is rising quickly and one to watch out for in the future. The author is prolific, writes well, and makes difficult issues easy to understand. Recent posts include discussions about interstate custody issues, handling domestic problems and family law specialists.

23. Benussi Blog

  Benussi Blog by Diane Benussi

Deals with a lot of the non-legal issues involved in a divorce, with lots of practical tips for people going through the process. Recent posts include discussions about the emotional aspects of divorce, coping when your ex finds someone else, and having a good divorce.

24. Divorce Blog

  Divorce Blog – by unknown

A bit different from the other blogs in this list, this blog gives a personal recount of someone who has gone through a divorce. Contains a lot of insights as to what it is like to go through the legal and emotional aspects of a divorce. Recent posts include discussions about children adjusting to step-siblings, child maintenance calculators and dealing with divorce crap.

25. Indiana Family Law

  Indiana Family Law by William Wilson

A new blog that has an excellent tutorial series about the basics of family law. Recent posts include discussions about courthouse technology issues, dividing the marital estate and custody evaluations.

26. Judith’s Divorce Blog

  Judith’s Divorce Blog by Judith Middleton

This blog manages to find the humorous part of divorce. It also ties everyday ordinary things into family law and covers celebrity divorces. Recent posts include discussions about communications and divorce, old flames and affairs and dogs and divorce.

27. Maryland Divorce Lawyers

  Maryland Divorce Lawyers by James Gross

An excellent blogger who manages to turn information about family law into interesting stories that are enjoyable to read. The author also blogs about father’s rights in his Fathers’ Rights Law blog. Recent posts include discussions about spouses spending money on mistresses, legal fees and four way meetings.

28. Legal Family

  Legal Family by anonymous (Lucy?)

Another anonymous blog. But the author is female, a barrister, lives in London, and takes the Central Line to get to work. Recent posts include discussions about collaborative law, courtesy in court and hiring a private eye.

29. South Carolina Family Law

  South Carolina Family Law by Ben Stevens

Contains a lot of in-depth articles about important issues in family law. The author also writes The Mac Lawyer (almost convincing me to switch over to a Mac) and the South Carolina Personal Injury blog. Recent posts include discussions about parenting coordinators, technology in divorce cases and parental rights of the disabled.

30. Texas Family Law Blog

  Texas Family Law Blog by Sean Y. Palmer

Provides a quality resource on family law and answers people’s most burning questions about divorce. Recent posts include discussions about doctors and divorce, custody of frozen embryos and toll booth evidence.