Straight Talk about South Carolina Divorce Law is a clear and detailed guide to how divorce and family law cases are actually handled and resolved in South Carolina. It is a practical and realistic overview of how lawyers, experts and mediators operate, and how Family Court judges decide what happens in divorce, custody and matrimonial cases. Includes: Descriptions--written in layman's language--of the laws governing divorce; Key points to consider for anyone involved in a matrimonial dispute in South Carolina; Essential information for people getting divorced or those involved in custody, separation or marital litigation.

IF YOU'RE GOING THROUGH A DIVORCE, YOU NEED A FRIEND AND A GUIDE Divorce can be intimidating, but you don't have to go through it alone. Miles Mason, Sr. set out to create the ultimate handbook to help a spouse through the divorce process. To that end, this book addresses a variety of topics that the compassionate professionals of the Miles Mason Family Law Group know best, including advice needed to get the learning process started, hiring your divorce team, custody and parenting plans, and how courts view dating during separation. The book is easy to read, and will be a valuable tool as you find your way through the divorce process. Miles Mason, Sr. JD, CPA is a divorce lawyer in Memphis, Tennessee. Mason is recognized as a Tennessee "Super Lawyer" and was awarded a "Superb" (10/10) rating on Avvo. Frequently interviewed by television news and national media for commentary, Inside Memphis Business named Mason a "Family Law Power Player," and the Memphis Bar Foundation honored him as a fellow. He has also been inducted into the Christian Brothers High School Hall of Fame for his community service. You can find additional information, as well as updates to this book, at MemphisDivorce.com and its Tennessee Family Law Blog. You don't have to go it alone.

Part of the Queer Ideas series, edited by Michael Bronski QUEER IDEAS-a new series of LGBT hardcovers that address important intellectual questions facing the movement. The debate over marriage equality for same-sex couples rages across the country. Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage boldly moves the discussion forward by focusing on the larger, more fundamental issue of marriage and the law. The root problem, asserts law professor and LGBT rights activist Nancy Polikoff, is that marriage is a bright dividing line between those relationships that legally matter and those that don't. A woman married to a man for nine months is entitled to Social Security survivor's benefits when he dies; a woman living for nineteen years with a man or woman to whom she is not married receives nothing. Polikoff reframes the debate by arguing that all family relationships and households need the economic stability and emotional peace of mind that now extend only to married couples. Unmarried couples of any sexual orientation, single-parent households, extended family units, and myriad other familial configurations need recognition and protection to meet the concerns they all share: building and sustaining economic and emotional interdependence, and nurturing the next generation. Couples should have the choice to marry based on the spiritual, cultural, or religious meaning of marriage in their lives, asserts Polikoff. While marriage equality for same-sex couples is a civil rights victory, she contends that no one should have to marry in order to reap specific and unique legal results. A persuasive argument that married couples should not receive special rights denied to other families, Polikoff shows how the law can value all families, and why it must. "A much-needed intervention in the contemporary debate about marriage and family. Polikoff's argument is provocative, illuminating, and original." -John D'Emilio, author of Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin "Polikoff mobilizes an impressive array of legal history and contemporary court cases to show how marriage, whether same-sex or heterosexual, has ceased to be the only place where people incur long-term obligations. She argues vigorously that our society needs to find new ways of determining when legally-enforceable responsibilities and entitlements have accrued in interpersonal relationships." -Stephanie Coontz, author, Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage "This book really matters. It is brilliant and thoughtful, not simply about a set of laws, but as a manifesto to transform the way we understand, recognize and respect the reality of our diverse and complex family compositions. Polikoff grounds her arguments in the 35 year history of social change activism in this country to construct a passionate and nuanced argument for expanding our same sex marriage activism to include all of the ways people love, form families and build community." -Amber Hollibaugh, Senior Strategist, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and author of My Dangerous Desires: A Queer Girl Dreaming her Way Home "Passionate but completely grounded in reality, Polikoff challenges LGBT rights advocates to see beyond gay equality arguments and question the fundamental fairness of limiting family recognition based on marriage, gay or straight. It is a powerful call for social justice." -Nan D. Hunter, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project and Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School "A provocative and perspicuous intervention in one of the most devilish recent debates in U.S. law and politicshellip;In a principled yet pragmatic analysis, Polikoff mounts a compelling case against the continued grip of 'conjugalism'on our family law and policy. Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage challenges us

A compulsively readable behind-the-scenes memoir that takes readers inside the weddings section of The New York Times--the good, bad, and just plain weird--through the eyes of a young reporter just as she's falling in love herself. Growing up in the south, where tradition reigns supreme, Cate Doty thought about weddings . . . a lot. She catered for them, she attended many, she imagined her own. So, when she moved to New York City in pursuit of love--and to write for The New York Times--she finds her natural home in the wedding section, a first step to her own happily-ever-after, surely. Soon Cate is thrown into the cutthroat world of the metropolitan society pages, experiencing the lengths couples go to have their announcements accepted and the lengths the writers go in fact-checking their stories; the surprising, status-signaling details that matter most to brides and grooms; and the politics of the paper at a time of vast cultural and industry changes. Reporting weekly on couples whose relationships seem enviable--or eye-roll worthy--and dealing with WASPy grandparents and last-minute snafus, Cate is surrounded by love, or what we're told to believe is love. But when she starts to take the leap herself, she begins to ask her own questions about what it means to truly commit... Warm, witty, and keenly observed, Mergers and Acquisitions is an enthralling dive into one of society's most esteemed institutions, its creators and subjects, and a young woman's coming-of-age.