Turning Point - Help When You Need It

I want to take a moment to acknowledge a great organization: Turning Point, Inc. in Macomb County. I went to the court this afternoon to help a client from a different culture obtain a PPO (personal protection order). A very gracious lady helped us through the entire process and then went up with us to present our request to the Judge. Her assistance was invaluable, and she gave my client lots of paperwork to help her through the future ordeal, from numbers to call to developing an escape plan.

I'm usually on the other side of a PPO, defending against someone who improperly got a PPO just to obtain an unfair advantage in a custody case. Today I saw the value of an excellent organization like Turning Point. I'm glad they're there to help people truly in need.

Study Shows Facebook Cited in 1/3 of Divorce Filings

January 2012: As the New Year begins, a study shows that Facebook is a factor in a large number of divorce filings. According to Divorce Online, one third of all breakups that cite unreasonable or outrageous behavior blame Facebook as a cause. This kind of divorce is up 50% in the last two years, they say.

In my practice, the cases where Facebook is involved are not at 30%. I tend to attract people who want to end their marriage peacefully, without all the drama, and that suits me just fine. I've had a few Facebook cases, though, and I must say it astounds me what people will put up on their page.

When I was growing up, we used a diary to put all of our personal information and dirty little secrets, and locked it with a key (and hid it!). When my kids were growing up, I used to tease my daughter that, if it wasn't online, it didn't exist for her. To me, a "private online journal" seems like an oxymoron. And in fact, a few years back I heard the CEO of Google saying that once something is on the internet, it stays there - forever. (Scary, isn't it?) I believe it's the 20-30 age group who are the most prolific on Facebook, and the biggest source of ammo for divorce cases. When you want to find out something about someone on Facebook, it really isn't too hard to find legitimate ways to mine that gold. Food for thought before making your next post.