"That Magic Moment", Revisited (A Belated Valentine's Day Post)

       While the legal wrangling over same-sex marriage continues apace (see my next post) as the economy looks like it may be improving, the divorce rate seems to be edging up again. 

  

            ....and why is this seemingly depressing thought in a Valentine's Day post?  

         Because I really want starry-eyed folks  (music swells, here, please)  to have successful marriages.  How to come as close as possible to guaranteeing it?  Talk to each other BEFORE the deal is struck.  If you and that special someone need to change the "marriage contract" to meet YOUR needs and expectations, then, whether you're eighteen or eighty*,  the time for that conversation is BEFORE you "sign on the dotted line"**. 

* Belated tip of the purple and gold,  Fat Tuesday fedora  (from Meyer The Hatter) to Randy Kessler for the pointers.

**those who've followed this space for a while know that my paternal grandfather remarried at 75, after being widowed, and was happily married on the day he died; my father remarried at 79 after my mom died, and was happily married until he passed last year.

You Have A LOT of Questions!

That little "AVVO" badge there on the right side reflects that from time to time, over the last several years, I've answered questions posted by members of the public about family law issues.  Somewhere along the line, I've apparently answered more than 2,500 of those questions.  (That's two and a half thousand.) For free.  Even figuring three minutes per question, that's roughly a hundred and twenty-five hours of free legal advice....