Category Archives: General
What if I don’t want a divorce . . .
In Florida, the Court will grant a divorce even if only one spouse wants the divorce. In fact, Florida is a “no fault” divorce state which means that a divorce will be granted without an allegation or finding of fault by either spouse. With this in mind, what happens if one of the spouses… Read More »
Pets and Visitation
For many years, divorcing couples have wanted to fight for “custody” of the family pet or pets; however, these couples were frustrated by the law. As a general rule, legislation in all states has historically considered pets as property, just like couches and cars. Thus, since pets are property, the court does not have… Read More »
Military Members Delegate Timesharing
Florida is a military state and Jacksonville is certainly a military community. As a result, family law practitioners are seeing a great many changes in the law with regard to servicemembers who have children. One such change is the ability of the servicemember to delegate timesharing to others while the servicemember is gone due… Read More »
Pets and Visitation
For many years, divorcing couples have wanted to fight for “custody” of the family pet or pets; however, these couples were frustrated by the law. As a general rule, legislation in all states has historically considered pets as property, just like couches and cars. Thus, since pets are property, the court does not have… Read More »
How can a divorcing parent in Florida understand child support?
We are going to discuss child support during a series of multiple blogs. Child support in Florida is often misunderstand, which is not surprising because it is truly complex. First, child support is not just a percentage amount. Instead, it is a mathematical calculation which takes into account many financial factors, including but not… Read More »
What is mediation?
Most people do not know much about mediation despite the fact that it is a very important component of all family law cases. First it is best to understand that mediation is not a type of arbitration. Mediation is an alternate dispute resolution option which is used in virtually all family law cases. It… Read More »
Are You a Parent Who Is Thinking About Relocating?
Before you move, you must read this . . . If you are a parent who has custody of a child or children in a paternity or divorce case, you cannot relocate your child or children more than fifty miles without express written permission of the other parent or an order from the court… Read More »
Sweeping Changes in the Alimony Laws
As you are all aware, Congress recently passed major changes to the tax laws. It appears that one aspect of the changes will impact divorcing couples on the issue of alimony. The initial proposal was to eliminate the alimony tax deduction for payer spouses effective January 1, 2018; however, that deadline has been extended… Read More »
What rights do Military Family Members have with regard to visitation of children?
Even though the family member visitation statute was found to be unconstitutional years ago, there is still a type of family member visitation, which has survived. This statute addresses visitation rights for military family members and the benefit inures to the military member. Specifically, Florida Statute Section 61.13002 generally provides that when a military… Read More »
Do Family Members Have Rights to Visitation and Custody of Children?
Family Rights to a Child In Florida, we have Chapter 751, which is titled, “Temporary Custody of Minor Children by Extended Family.” The purpose of the statute is to allow extended family members to care for a child or children within the family structure. This provides a level of security and familiarly for children…. Read More »