At long last, the Mad Men TV series family law analysis series, brought to you exclusively by Joan Bundy Law PLC! Commentary No. 1: Season 4, Episode 1 Don Draper meets with his divorce attorney, who tells him that he should sell the former marital residence, which he has moved out of and ex-wifes new husband have moved into. He points out that Youre paying the mortgage, insurance and taxes for a house you dont live in -- your ex-wife and her new husband and the kids do. He goes on to complain that they were supposed to be out a month ago. This would be a valid point, except it is impossible to know what the terms of the make-believe divorce were. In real life, there would be something written into the divorce decree about who was to be awarded the house or whether it was to be sold within a certain amount of time after the divorce became final and the proceeds split. Normally it wouldnt be a situation of one of the parties being allowed to stay in the house only for a short period of time, though, because typically if there are minor children the court does not want to see them traumatized by the divorce any more than is necessary, so the primary custodial parent is awarded the house (which, I might add, in this era can be more burden than benefit) outright or at least until the youngest child graduates from high school or turns 19, whichever occurs first. In a later scene, they show Don living in a grungy, cramped apartment in Greenwich Village, which I guess was supposed to make you feel that ex-wife Betty got everything and he got nothing. His life is so tragic he had to have a call girl visit him on Thanksgiving Day to cheer him up. Which you know isnt true because he was the only one with a career at the time of the divorce--the norm in that era--and they show him in later episodes in a very swanky, trendy Manhattan (?) high-rise apartment with his new wife. (Of course Betty remarries well and ends up in the Governors mansion, but thats another story for another day. LOL! :)) Then daughter Sally bemoans that Everyone has two Thanksgivings to go to and wants to call her dad to wish him a happy Turkey day but mom gets mad and hangs up the phone before he has a chance to answer. Now THAT is interference with remote access, the ability of the parent who does not at that moment have parenting time/visitation/custody to communicate remotely with their child. Back then it would have been only by phone, nowadays there is Skype, FaceTime, e-mail, text, and the list goes on and on. So its a lot harder to deny access, thankfully. Later in the episode there is an exchange at her house (whereas these days it is often at a designated neutral, public, halfway location) and Betty gives Don only the older two for a visit and leaves the baby with a nanny. That would simply not fly today. All of the children generally would have to go with the other parent when it is time for the exchange, unless there is a special occasion like a daddy-daughter dance or the parents agree that some one-on-one time would be good for each individual child. Then when he tries to bring the kids back, Mom and new husband are not back yet from their date and the house is locked, but luckily daughter has a key. Obviously, Dad cant leave the kids there alone. When they do get home, Mom and Dad have a brief conversation that is rather heated, and Don asks new hubby to leave the room, but Betty insists he stay. Wrong answer! Communications regarding children subsequent to divorce is to be engaged in only by the actual parents, no interference by new significant others. Until next time, your devoted family law attorney and Mad Men fanatic, Joan Bundy.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Apr 2014 05:13:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015