Video

Importance of ICWA to Native American children and tribes in the Child Protection court system

This is an emotionally powerful and touching, professionally produced video that tells through first-hand experiences the importance and benefits of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). I’ve been involved in sereral ICWA child protection cases in MInnesota and it is indeed an important and poorly understood law, as the video describes. The video is aimed at impressing judges and other court-related professionals of the importance of understanding ICWA and how it applies in each case, but the video is worthy of viewing by a larger audience. No specific background is required to understand the persuasive argument that this video provides.

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by | June 12, 2013 · 9:13 pm
by | May 16, 2013 · 3:05 am

Same-Sex Couples Understand the Importance of Marriage…and Can Now Marry in Minnesota

Phew!

Same Sex Marriage is finally the Law of the Land in Minnesota!!

Families are (and should be!) celebrating, because on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed Gay Marriage into Minnesota law.Same-Sex Marriage
I am an attorney and mediator.  I specialize in Family Law and my job is to help people work through issues within their marriage, as well as to help dissolve them.  Obviously, I see considerable problems in marriages. However, with all the troubles that can arise within a marriage, I am still a firm believer in the institution.  In fact, I will celebrate my 14th wedding anniversary this summer. I believe everyone should have the ability to marry the person they love.
I am relieved that Minnesota has finally stepped up to the plate and no longer will deny two people who love each other the fundamental freedom of marriage. In Minnesota, we are no longer prohibiting a considerable portion of our populations’ equal rights.  Let’s just hope more states start to fall in line.
Good job, Minnesota.  It’s about time.

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by | May 8, 2013 · 3:19 pm

Same-Sex Marriage Close to Reality in Minnesota

Well, thank goodness, we appear to be very near the end of this battle for equality and social justice when it comes to same-sex marriage.  As I blogged about previously:

When Republicans pushed to amend the Minnesota Constitution to ban gay marriage, I would have liked to have heard whether anyone in the room thought to speak up and say hmmm…, are we going to lose and in the process of losing create a massive, grass-roots organization of gay rights supporters that will then pass gay rights legislation in the next legislative session?  I’m thinking that everyone was so overconfident that they never gave that a serious thought.  Well, that’s fine with me, because it is about time we had a conversation about whether it is right to deny committed gay relationships the legal recognition that they deserve.

Now, tomorrow, Tuesday, May 9, 2013, the Minnesota House is scheduled to vote to make same-sex marriage law.  The odds are apparently good that it will pass.  Then, according to the Star Trib, the Senate is expected to pass it also.  The Governor has always supported the bill and has said he will sign it into law.

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by | April 29, 2013 · 2:29 pm

Daisy Camp – next divorce education retreat scheduled for May 18th, 2013

Heads up!  Mark your calendars…the next Daisy Camp day retreat (a divorce education retreat) is scheduled for May 18th, 2013.

From the Daisy Camp Website:

“Leave your tent at home.  There are no sleeping bags, campfires or mosquitoes at Daisy Camp.  Instead, enjoy a one-of-a-kind weekend of support and education. In between, you will learn from lawyers, child psychologists, and financial planners. You will be inspired by motivational speakers. You will be empowered by other experts about various aspects of divorce.”

The next Daisy Camp weekend retreat (as opposed to a day retreat) is scheduled for September 20th, 2013.

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by | April 16, 2013 · 11:53 pm

Collaborative Attorney and Family Mediator Carl Arnold Scores First Post on New Collaborative Law Institute of MN Blog

Listen to this! Fun news. I’m a member of the Collaborative Law Institute of Minnesota. Effective 4/15/2013, they are starting a blog for practitioners to post short articles about the Collaborative process, etc. This is the neat part…they chose my blog post as the VERY FIRST ever! Notice the picture of the conference table and chairs. I took that picture of our conference room last Friday! Katie Arnold (my spouse and a mediator) was a big help in making the blog post worth reading after my initial draft.
Here’s a link to the post titled Collaborative Teams Actively Think About the Client Experience.

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by | February 1, 2013 · 2:19 pm

Families Not Included in “Affordable” Health Insurance, New Federal Rule

This will be an interesting year in learning how health care will change when 2014 gets nearer and we learn more about how the IRS will treat insureds and their families.  There was a recent decision by the IRS to only include employees–and not their families–in the definition of affordable health insurance under the new law.  That means that families may have to pay a lot of money for health insurance coverage and at the same time not qualify for the subsidies called for under Obamacare for insurance that is too expensive through employers.  From the New York Times:

In deciding whether an employer’s health plan is affordable, theInternal Revenue Service said it would look at the cost of coverage only for an individual employee, not for a family. Family coverage might be prohibitively expensive, but federal subsidies would not be available to help buy insurance for children in the family.

As insurance has increased faster than the pace of inflation and wages and salaries recently, more and more families have been unable to afford health insurance.  

For the entire article from the NY Times, click here.

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by | December 21, 2012 · 4:52 pm

Gay Marriage on Agenda for 2013 Minnesota Legislative Session

When Republicans pushed to amend the Minnesota Constitution to ban gay marriage, I would have liked to have heard whether anyone in the room thought to speak up and say hmmm…, are we going to lose and in the process of losing create a massive, grass-roots organization of gay rights supporters that will then pass gay rights legislation in the next legislative session?  I’m thinking that everyone was so overconfident that they never gave that a serious thought.  Well, that’s fine with me, because it is about time we had a conversation about whether it is right to deny committed gay relationships the legal recognition that they deserve.

Here’s an article on the upcoming gay marriage push in the 2013 Minnesota Legislature titled Minnesota’s Marriage Fight Will Flare Anew at Capital.

From the article:

Both sides of the marriage amendment fight are reuniting their troops as they prepare for what is rapidly emerging as the next frontier in the battle — a push to legalize same-sex marriage in the Legislature.

“Our intention is to make sure gay and lesbian couples have the freedom to marry after the 2013 legislative session,” said Richard Carlbom, campaign manager for Minnesotans United for All Families. The group is reconfiguring its operation that defeated the proposed marriage amendment on Election Day.

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