Londonderry Law Blog

When people in New Hampshire get a divorce, their property is supposed to be divided equitably. Equitable division is the standard in most states. A study conducted by Vanderbilt University researchers examined how men and women interpret "equitable" when it comes to divorce and stay-at-home mothers.

Around 10 percent of American mothers whose level of education is at least a master's degree stay home with their children, and more than 25 percent of all mothers do. This is compared to just 7 percent of fathers. For the study, researchers created a scenario in which a couple was married for 17 years before the husband filed for divorce. Once they had children, five years into the marriage, the mother stayed at home to raise them. The participants were given six variations on the educational level, property and profession of each spouse and were told to divide property.

Medium and full-sized pickup trucks have become familiar sights on New Hampshire roads because they offer an attractive combination of practicality and rugged durability. However, the results of a recent series of accident simulations conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety suggest that some trucks may not provide passengers with adequate protection in a crash. The road safety nonprofit group found passenger-side vulnerabilities in vehicles produced by Chrysler, General Motors, Honda, Toyota and Nissan.

The IIHS overlap tests involved propelling the front-right and front-left sides of pickup trucks into an immovable obstacle at a speed of 40 mph. The test is designed to replicate what happens when vehicles strike objects like trees or utility poles. Only the Ford F-150, Nissan Titan and Dodge Ram 1500 provide good protection to passengers in such crashes according to the IIHS. However, all of the pickup trucks tested except the Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tundra earned a good rating for driver protection.

There are two ways of diagnosing fibromyalgia -- criteria-based diagnosis and clinician-based diagnosis. However, New Hampshire residents should know that a recent study found that there is only a fair amount of agreement between the two ways. This means that many patients are either being incorrectly diagnosed with fibromyalgia or having their fibromyalgia labeled as something else.

The study involved 497 patients at a university clinic. First, investigators had the patients take two tests -- the Multidimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire and a questionnaire with the preliminary diagnostic criteria that the American College of Rheumatology had created in 2010. Patients were then set up with rheumatology staff for evaluation.

Most people walking down the aisle in New Hampshire aren't thinking that divorce may be a possibility at some point. Statistically, however, it's not uncommon for marriages to come to an unexpected end. The National Center for Biotechnology Information recently participated in a study conducted to help identify common reasons for divorce. For the study, 52 people who had divorced after initially participating in a communication and conflict resolution course were questioned to pinpoint factors that contributed to their marital problems.

Surprisingly, a significant amount of divorced individuals questioned felt that they didn't receive enough premarital education even though they all had participated in a post-marital program. Religious differences were significant for just over 13 percent of the respondents questioned about their divorce factors. A book on this topic found that couples in same-faith marriages tend to be happier. Nearly 20 percent of former spouses who were questioned felt a lack of support from family was a major factor. In some instances, illnesses can take a toll on a marriage; more than 18 percent of divorced respondents cited health problems as a factor.