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Fatherless Day

June 13th, 2014 by flanews

Father’s Day is this Sunday, but a divorced Florida Dad is crying foul over the state’s family court system. As Matt Galka explains, a bill that would have overhauled divorce court was vetoed last year.

 

Ray Granstrom says he’s not  a deadbeat. But the court order after his divorce only allows him to see his kids every other weekend. “Only parents know what’s in their children’s best interest. Not attorney’s, not gavels, and certainly not biased judges who abuse their power,” said Granstrom.

Granstrom joined the “Fatherless Day” movement – a national campaign to try and get equal time with kids for divorcees.  Granstrom says he’s also drowning in alimony payments.

“I’ve been attacked by the child support enforcement agency over an order that is void on its face, because it orders me to pay more than what I’ve been earning,” said Granstrom.

The divorced Dad says the Governor and legislature let him down in the past.

Women’s rights groups lobbied to veto a bill last year that would have ended permanent alimony and they say the bill shouldn’t come back. Barbara Devane with the National Organization for Women worked tirelessly to get the bill killed in 2013.

“Every divorce is different, every story is different, and we shouldn’t have the legislature coming up with a cookie cutter bill because one size does not fit,” said DeVane.

2013’s bill would have been retroactive to people paying permanent alimony, something the Governor said he couldn’t support. The legislation went nowhere in 2014.

Devane says the Governor didn’t want to risk anything during an election year. The bill that was vetoed last year would have required judges to give divorced parents equal custody unless there were extenuating circumstances.

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