Zashin & Rich Co., L.P.A.

Property Division in Divorce - Jamie McCourt is Looking for the Payoff Pitch

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:35:34 -0700

March 28, 2012... the Los Angeles Dodgers announced that the team sold for a record-breaking $2 billion dollars. And Jamie McCourt cries FOUL! Jamie claims that her ex-husband Frank McCourt, former owner of the team, intentionally underestimated the value of the team and cheated her out of a serious chunk of change. About $770 million worth of pocket change. That's a whole lot of Cracker Jack!

What led to the dispute was that on October 11, 2011, Jamie and Frank executed a Binding Term Sheet agreeing to a distribution of assets from the marriage. Subsequently, in January 2012, Jamie executed a Stipulated Judgment asking the court to enter the terms of the Binding Term Sheet and acknowledged that she was waiving her right to a full hearing. Jamie even agreed that although the value of the LA Dodgers had been a contentious issue during negotiations, she was willingly entering into the agreement "egardless of the value that [the team] may ultimately have." Now Jamie is asking the court to set aside that agreement and award her a distribution based upon what the team actually sold for.

Why Courts Make It So Hard to Relocate with Your children... And How to Win...

Tue, 5 Mar 2013 06:15:57 -0800

Once upon a case, a woman from New York met a man from Cleveland and they fell in love. The man had a successful business in Cleveland and lots of family there. All of the woman's family was in New York. The woman decided to move to Cleveland in order to marry the man and start a family. They had several children. The woman primarily raised the kids while the man worked. The years passed. The marriage failed. The woman wanted to return "home" to New York with the children. In the practice of Family Law, this sad story repeats itself over and over again.

These are complicated and emotional cases. Almost always the woman in this situation cannot "relocate" to New York with her children, even though the relocation is actually a return for her. There a several reasons for this. But to make a long story very short, here's why:

Laws generally prevent the permanent removal of children from the jurisdiction of court. Ohio's law is a perfect example. It is specifically biased against out-of-state relocations, requiring the moving parent to file a notice of relocation, and permitting the non-moving parent to demand a hearing to determine what sort of modification to the parenting plan is possible. While Ohio courts will not prohibit a parent from moving, they can, and sometimes will, find that the parenting arrangement should be modified to keep the children in Ohio. But it is theoretically possibly to relocate if the parent who wants to move can demonstrate that the move is in the child's "best interest." The "best interest test" is the heart and soul of nearly every custody or relocation case.

Attorney Jonathan Rich Certified as a Specialist in Family Relations Law

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:42:37 -0800

Congratulations to Zashin & Rich Co., L.P.A. attorney Jonathan A. Rich, who has successfully completed the rigorous qualification and examination process necessary to become a Certified Specialist in Family Relations Law. Mr. Rich joins an elite group of Ohio attorneys who have demonstrated the expertise and dedication to the practice of family law necessary to be labeled as a "specialist."

With this accomplishment, the firm claims two Family Relations Law Certified Specialists, Jonathan Rich and Andrew Zashin, and six Labor and Employment Law Certified Specialists, including George Crisci, Pat Hoban, Michele Jakubs, Patrick Watts, and Stephen Zashin.

How to Get a Religious Divorce in a Secular State

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:06:21 -0800

The issue of the agunah - a woman whose husband refuses to give a get (Jewish writ of divorce) that must be offered by her husband - has garnered a good bit of attention in Israel. Earlier this year, it was reported that the Great Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem upheld one man's indefinite prison sentence. He has been imprisoned, and will continue to be imprisoned, for so long as he refuses to offer a get. As an aside, he has been in prison for more than 10 years.

In the United States, the issue was recently in the news in relation to Tamar Epstein, the nation's most famous agunah. Separated from her husband, Aharon Friedman, tax counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, in 2008 and civilly divorced in 2010, she remains even now "chained" to the man who refuses to grant her a get.

Zashin & Rich Co., L.P.A. Attorneys Receive Super Lawyer and Rising Star Accolades

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:39:12 -0800

Zashin & Rich Co., L.P.A. is pleased to announce that Andrew A. Zashin, co-managing partner and head of the firm's Domestic Relations Practice Group, has been named for the tenth consecutive year to the Ohio Super Lawyers list as one of the top Family Law attorneys in the state. No more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected for such an honor.

Three other attorneys from the firm's Domestic Relations Group, Victoria A. Glowacki, Christopher R. Reynolds, and Christa Grywalsky Heckman, have again been named as top up-and-coming attorneys in the list of 2013 Ohio Rising Stars. Less than three percent of Ohio attorneys received such an accolade.