Articles and Publications. Russian Divorce.

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Another adoption horror story

Natalia Gourari

Today I received a disturbing call from a woman from Kharkov (Helen) who works with an American single middle-aged woman ("adopter"). The adopter decided to adopt a young child because her own children didn't want her in their lives and didn't allow her to see her grandchildren. She ended up adopting two siblings from Russia (a boy age 7 and a girl 6 y.o.) through some adopting agency from West Coast. A week (!) after bringing the adopted children to New York, the adopter realized that she "made a mistake" and that she no longer wants them to be in her life. The adoption agency recommended the adopter to bring these children to the West Coast so children could be placed in a foster home while the agency would be looking for a new family for these children. However, the adopter refused to spend any money for travel. After listening to the adopter, Helen (a mother of 3 children herself) became increasingly worried for well-being of these children so her husband and she started visiting these children on weekdays and weekends. They became very attached to them and decided to look for legal ways to obtain custody of these children. The adopter is happy with Helen's decision and is ready to sign any and all paperwork as soon as it is ready. Helen and her husband don't have money to hire an attorney and are looking for an attorney who will help them pro bono.

Needless to say, I offered to assist her with whatever I can. I have never dealt with these type of proceedings and would not even know where to start. Those of you who have handled similar matters in the past and would like to take this case, i will gladly pass it on. If nobody is interested, i would appreciate if you can share forms with me and give me some guidance with procedures. I greatly appreciate any assistance.

I remember a while ago a discussion was going on about an American woman changing her mind after adopting a boy from Russia, well, this goes even further, she brought two kids a... Read More »

DESTINY OR BLIND FATE

In the last issue I discussed how impossible it is to predict the future, whether in life as a general proposition, or for what the tax laws may become. In this issue I shall explore the question: is the future predetermined, for our free will to decide, or, subject to the whims of chance and blind fate? Why do some get into trouble with the IRS yet others completely avoid contact with that dreaded agency?
OPENING DOORS: WHAT HAPPENS TO US?
Not only is our death predetermined, but many believe our life in a broad sense is predetermined by unfinished business of the soul. Some call it Karma. We assume physical form and life presents us with needed learning opportunities. During life’s passage, we come upon many doors that can be entered or not. Our destiny is in our hands to the extent we may choose among these doorways. The choices determine what happens thereafter and for many in the hereafter.

Others believe in fatalism, that it is pure chance or blind fate which determines life’s direction, or, as Daniel Defoe said, “The best of men cannot suspend their fate. The good die early and the bad die late.” The epic poem Beowulf is steeped in the notion that life is uncontrollable and death randomly picks its victims. Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex” could not escape his inevitable destiny. Others like William Jennings Bryan argued that “Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

In Thornton Wilder’s classic novel “The Bridge of San Luis Rey” a friar witnesses the collapse of an Inca woven rope bridge traversed by hundreds every day, flinging five people to their deaths. “Why did this happen to those five?” The friar decides to investigate whether something in each lost life had predetermined his or her fate. Did the victims die from God’s retribution for some committed wrong or was blind fate at work? He thinks, “If there were any plan in the ... Read More »

ABCNews about Artem Saveliev.

Fragment of the interview for ABCNews on the adopted child Artem Saveliev.
Read More »

Articles and consultations authored by attorney reflect the state of law as of the date of their writing. The laws change daily. Users of this site are advised to consult attorney regarding their situation.

PREDICTING THE FUTURE

When Little Orphan Annie in the Broadway musical “Annie” posited that “tomorrow” is always a day away, she sang of a tomorrow with certain optimism; you can “Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun.” Comic strips offer certainty. In real life expected outcomes are always in doubt. That we know the sun will come up tomorrow and fathom scientific laws of the universe, does not guarantee that our predictions about tomorrow will be accurate. In fact, most often fickle human nature or acts of God intervene to make things turn out not as we planned or predicted.
From Secret Father by James Carroll, “It is a rule of life…you get not what you look for. You get what you find.” Miracles and Black Swann events are equally unpredictable. Computer program models predict solutions but the accuracy of those forecasts is limited by underlying program assumptions that depend on human preferences. Wall Street learned this lesson in the Great Recession when risk models employed failed with catastrophic result.
Our carefully calculated plans are no more trustworthy than are our anticipations. In Roald Dahl’s (author of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) maliciously sardonic short story, “A Dip in the Pool,” a man on a cruise wages his life savings thinking he has a sure lowest range bet for the captain’s daily pool on how many miles the ship will travel the next day. When calming weather upsets his belief that the ship will not travel far the next day, he decides to help fate slow down the ship. He will delay the ship by pretending to fall overboard, of course, in sight of another passenger who will alert the crew to a rescue, and abort the ship’s rapid progress. He carefully chooses his witness who must be able to both see him fall and hear his cry for help. The elderly woman chosen does see him fall but, unknown to our hero, is considered feebleminded and her alarm “man overboard” is not believed. The shop sails aw... Read More »

Common property regiment.

Karina Duvall

Premarital property of each party or property belonging to either party before marriage, gifts and inheritance received by either party during marriage. Art. 37 of the Family Law of Russian Federation, any substantial increase in value of such separate property during marriage that was caused by investment of labor or property or other investments made by either party or both parties towards such property, may result in a finding that the entire separate property became marital property (i.e., capital renovation, reconstruction, redesigning, etc.). Read More »

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