Recent Blog Posts in August 2009

When you have your first conversation with your expert Tampa Bay divorce lawyer, the subject of paying for the services will, and should, come up.  A number of lawyers charge non-refundable fees as a requirement for retaining them to represent you.

A non-refundable retainer fee is just that.  No matter what happens you will not get that money back.  Sometimes people reconcile after hiring lawyers to start a divorce.  Sometimes people find out that they don’t have a good personality fit with their lawyers.  Other times, both sides come to a quick agreement in far less time and with far less effort spent by the lawyers than originally expected.  The case is over and you have paid far more than enough to compensate the lawyer at a reasonable hourly rate, but you don’t get any of your money back.

All Florida divorce lawyers with any experience at all are going to charge some form of retainer to begin your divorce.  There is certainly nothing unfair about that.  But go with the ones whose retainers are refundable.  These are basically just fee and cost deposits into your account at their offices.  If they do the work and spend the time, they get paid from the account.  If there is money left when the case is over, you get it all back.

With the money you get back, you can use it to improve your life after divorce.

Bottom line:  Don’t pay your expert Tampa divorce attorney a non-refundable retainer.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

Quite often expert accountants are used by Florida divorce lawyers to assist in the representation of their clients who are going through the family law process.  They are certainly not needed in every case, though.

If you have a marriage where there is a significant difference in the income of the two spouses and the spouse with the lower income needs permanent support, temporary support or even just help getting back into the job market, you may be headed for a dispute over alimony.  If your marriage involves ownership of all or a portion of a private business, you may be headed for a dispute over its value.  In both of these situations, it is often more persuasive to the court for your expert Tampa divorce attorney to use a forensic accountant to give an opinion to the judge as to your standard of living or the value of the business.

Even if your lawyer has substantial experience in proving the marital standard of living and investigating the value of business, the lawyer cannot be a witness in your divorce trial.  It is often well worth the cost involved to hire an expert accountant to analyze the numbers involved in either situation and express an opinion to the court on those subjects.  Your experienced Tampa divorce lawyer will know which accountants have appeared before, and are considered experts in their field by, your local judges.  They will have worked together in the past and have a plan of attack for showing the judge the best evidence to support your position.

Bottom line:  It is often in your best interest to have your Florida divorce lawyer bring in an accountant to help in supporting your case.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

You have an appointment with the best family law attorney in Tampa Bay.  How do you make the most of your limited time in the consultation?

Hopefully, you have prepared a written list of assets, debts, income and expenses for both you and your spouse.  After you provide the expert Tampa divorce lawyer the history of your marriage and hear the explanation of the law and the process, you should have a chance to ask questions.

How much will this cost?  Are you recognized as an expert divorce lawyer by the Florida Bar by having earned Board Certification in Marital and Family Law?  What can I be doing to improve my child custody chances?  How will the marital and non-marital assets and debts be divided?  How much child support will be paid?  How much alimony and for how long?  Will one of us have to pay the other's attorney's fees?

We have all written notes to ourselves so we don't forget to ask a question at our next doctor's visit.  Do the same with you divorce and child custody lawyer.

Bottom line:  Some advance preparation can help you get the most out of the meeting with your Florida family law attorney.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

Before you see your divorce lawyer for the first time, there are some things that you can commit to writing that will help in the initial consultation.

You should start with a list of all marital and non-marital assets, debts and income for both you and your spouse.  A history of your marriage would also be helpful.  It should include the date and place of marriage, all of the jobs either of you has had (including dates), anything either has done which could be considered a sacrifice for the benefit of the marriage, any affairs, medical or psychological problems, ages and activities of your children (including what role each parent plays in their lives) and what your vocational and other plans are for the future.

If you have an appointment with an expert Tampa divorce lawyer and are able to provide this information at the first meeting, you will save time and money and get the most out of your visit.

Bottom line:  Writing out the details of your marriage will be helpful to your Florida divorce attorney at your first meeting.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

We are frequently asked if it is okay to date someone while a divorce is pending.

Florida is a no-fault state and even if you date during the marriage it does not affect the legal outcome of your divorce with one notable exception.  If you spend marital money on a date, the court may give your spouse the same sum of money before the court divides the rest of your property during the property distribution.

Equally important as the legal rules of your divorce are the strategy considerations. I'll explain. Although there is nothing legally wrong with you dating someone while you are going through the divorce process, you may not wish to do so.  Expert psychologists have verified that, in a divorce, your spouse wants you to feel just as miserable as your spouse feels.  If your spouse sees that you are happy in a new relationship, it may be very difficult to negotiate with that spouse to reasonably settle your case.  Your spouse may have the tendency to try to drag the case out.  When that happens, you spend substantially more in attorneys fees and costs getting to the conclusion of your divorce and on with your life.

Bottom line:  From my experience as a Tampa divorce attorney, it is legally okay to date during your divorce, but don't do it.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

Divorce is obviously a difficult time in the lives of both spouses.  When children are involved, it is even more stressful.

Often this leads to times when things are said about the other spouse out of anger or frustration.  Many times this takes place in the presence of the children.

A very important thing to consider is that your children love both of their parents and do not want to choose sides in the divorce.  Expert psychologists tell us that children absorb a personal hurt when someone says something bad about a parent.  Even if it is the other parent saying it.

In more serious cases, children suffer from Parental Alienation Syndrome and for a while may in fact begin to believe what the complaining spouse is saying.  But when the children become adults and are governed more by their own independent judgment, they often are resentful of the complaining parent who brought on this dysfunction to their childhood.

Bottom line:  From my experience as a Tampa Child Custody Attorney, don't expose your children to the details of the disagreements you have with your spouse.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

Most people think that the time to talk to a lawyer for the first time about a divorce is when they have finally made up their minds to file the court papers and start the process or when they have received the court papers filed by their spouse.  Sometimes that may be too late.

Let me start with kind of a silly example.  Most of us in this country have never played a game they play in England and other countries called cricket.  If someone were to invite you to play cricket next weekend, you would probably want to take the time to have someone explain the rules to you.  It's the same, and much more important, in divorce.

There are many financial moves which should be avoided if you think there is a possibility of becoming divorced.  For example, if the house that you owned in just your name before the marriage needs refinancing.  You may just place the house into joint names and have your spouse join with you on the new mortgage papers as a normal routine of the refinancing process.  Only later do you find out that you may well have donated to the marriage the equity you had built up individually in the home.

There are also thing you may wish to monitor so that you know if your spouse is rearranging assets in anticipation of divorce.  Sometimes by the time the divorce papers are filed, it is too late to undo the damage.

A consultation with a divorce lawyer is confidential and can save you a lot of future heartache.

Bottom line:  From my experience as a Tampa Property Rights Lawyer, if you think that there is even the possibility that your marriage is heading for a divorce, consult with a qualified divorce lawyer as soon as possible.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

It used to be that you had to say bad things about your spouse in order to get a divorce.  You had to accuse your spouse of abandonment, adultery, physically abuse, mental cruelty or some other harmful act.

The state of Florida decided many years ago that requiring you to sling mud at your spouse in order to get divorced was not a good idea - especially when there are kids involved.  They determined that spouses with children were going to have a difficult enough time co-parenting after the divorce without first having to go through a legal brawl just to prove that the divorce should take place.

They changed the law to require only a statement that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" in order to get a divorce.  That is, the marriage is broken and can't be fixed.  It only takes one of the spouses to say it in order for it to be so.  If your spouse tells the judge that the two of you could go to counseling and work out the marriage, but you say that counseling won't work, the judge will tell your spouse, "I'm sorry ma'am, but he says the marriage is irretrievably broken and therefore it is."

When they changed that law, they also changed the name of the process from "divorce" to "dissolution of marriage".  Nowhere in the Florida Statutes is the word "divorce" used anymore.  People (even lawyers and judges) still call it "divorce" because that has fewer syllables and is easier to say, but the proper term is "dissolution of marriage".

Bottom line:  From this Tampa Divorce Attorney, to get divorced in Florida, only one spouse needs to say that the marriage is broken and can't be fixed.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

Most of us have known a relative or a close friend whose marriage is breaking up.  During those times they may come to you for moral support.  What do you do?

In addition to just listening to them and being someone to lean on, there may be more help that you can provide.

We often meet with friends and relatives of people going through a marriage breakup to answer questions they have about the divorce process.  Many times parents of a divorcing spouse will seek advice from us as to how the court system will handle the dispute involving their grandchildren.  Other times, friends with intimate knowledge of someone's finances will air their concerns as to the best way to protect assets.  Gaining knowledge of the law and the procedure involved in a divorce can make you a valuable asset to your friend or relative when it comes time for that person to plan a strategy for negotiating a settlement.

If an asset is being overlooked or if you have questions as to the difference between what you have heard from a divorce lawyer and what you hear from the divorcing spouse as to how the matter will be resolved, speaking up could save your friend or relative from making a mistake.

The bottom line from this Florida Divorce Attorney is that relatives and friends of people going through a divorce sometimes come to us for advice so they can be of help.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

When you go through a divorce, it is bad enough that you have to reduce your lifestyle because you are dividing your assets by two.  Having to spend money unnecessarily on a lawyer's hourly fees just adds to your woes.

If you and your spouse are able to come to a general consensus of how you wish to resolve your differences, there is a cheaper solution to the cost of attorneys.  It is called flat fee divorce.

It works like this:  Your lawyer agrees to charge you a fixed fee for taking your general notions about settling your case and working them into a written agreement which meets all the necessary court requirements for divorce where you live.

In our firm, our flat fee divorce lawyers represent people all over the State of Florida in reaching these kinds of settlements.  In order to save hassle for you, we can even communicate by e-mail, snail mail or phone to accomplish your needs.  You only have to leave your house once and that is to appear for the five minute hearing where the judge rubber stamps your agreement.

It is important to have a lawyer handle this for you.  Often, if you try to do it yourself, mistakes are made and you may end up paying even more to a lawyer to straighten out your mistakes.  There is just too much at risk to do it yourself.

If you are close to reaching an agreement, contacting a law firm that handles divorces on a flat fee basis is the way to go.

Bottom line from this Tampa Flat Fee Divorce Attorney:  If you and your spouse have a general idea of how to resolve your case, a flat fee divorce can save you money in attorney's fees.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

Many years ago, there was no way to get your spouse to pay for your Florida divorce lawyer.  This was at a time when the difference between the income of the average man and the average woman was much greater than it is today.  The result was that the husbands would hire experienced divorce lawyers and the wives could only afford inexperience lawyers right out of law school.  It was not a fair fight.

The legislature changed all of that and now Florida divorce courts look to the respective financial abilities of the divorcing spouses to determine if it would be fair for one spouse to pay any of the other spouse's attorney's fees and costs.

At the end of the case, the judge will look at how much in assets and debts each spouse is taking from the marriage, how much each has in non-marital assets and debts and how much income each has.  If one spouse is notably better off than the other by this comparison, the court will order the wealthier spouse to pay some or all of the attorney's fees and costs of the more needy spouse.

Even before the end of the case, Florida divorce law provides for a judge to award temporary attorney's fees and costs based upon work done to that point in the case or for the predicted amount of future work to be done in the case.

The result of these changes in the law is that the spouse with the lower income has better access to an expert Florida divorce attorney than ever before.

The bottom line is that even though you earn less money than your spouse, you should be able to hire a Florida divorce lawyer who is just as skilled as your spouse's attorney.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

Florida divorce law requires that permanent periodic alimony (a fixed amount per month which lasts until one spouse dies or the receiving spouse remarries) is restricted to long term marriages.  So what do you do if you have not been married for a long time?  The concept of transitional alimony was created precisely to accommodate this situation.

What if you are going through a Florida divorce after a three year marriage and your spouse earns substantially more income than you do?  If you are fully employed to your highest potential, rehabilitative alimony is not appropriate and will not be awarded by the court.  Your marriage is also too short in duration to be considered for permanent periodic alimony.  For this precise situation, Florida law allows a judge to award transitional alimony.

Transitional alimony is awarded for the purpose of getting a divorcing person from married life to single life without unreasonable financial difficulties.  The Florida divorce judges have awarded sums of money for the purpose of paying first and last month's rent on a new apartment, for making a down payment on a new house, for hiring a moving company to take furniture to a new residence or even for buying furniture to place there.

It is awarded when one spouse is better off financially than the other spouse going out of the marriage.  The court will determine this by looking at both the marital and non-marital assets that each party has at the time of the divorce and also at the income each has.  The court will also consider things such as the amount of sacrifice the requesting party went through to join in the marriage, such as giving up an apartment or changing jobs.

Bottom line:  Even though you may not have a marriage long enough to qualify for permanent periodic alimony and your employment is sufficient to disqualify you from rehabilitative alimony, you may want to speak one of our Florida divorce lawyers about being awarded money to help you go from being married to being single under the right circumstances.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

Rehabilitative alimony is one of the forms of support available to a spouse in a Florida divorce.  It is paid by the spouse who has the greater income and it is paid to the spouse who has a temporary need for it until that spouse can get back to full earning potential.

The classic example is a situation where a spouse was a nurse before the marriage.  During the marriage the couple had children and that spouse quit being a nurse in order to stay home with the children.  At the time the divorce was filed, the nurse found that there was a need to go back to school for several months in order to re-qualify for the nursing license and then spend additional time finding a job back in that occupational field.

In that situation, if the other spouse is able to pay it, the court may require that the greater income earning spouse pay the nurse's schooling and living expenses until the time comes when the nurse is re-certified and fully employed.  Sometimes this solution to the financial problem makes it unnecessary to require permanent periodic alimony because, once the nurse is fully employed, the incomes of the two spouses are close to equal.

In order to qualify for rehabilitative alimony, the underemployed spouse must set out a specific plan of how long the rehabilitation will take and how much the education and living expenses will be.  If it takes additional time through no fault of the rehabilitating spouse, the court may extend the time through which the alimony will be paid.  If that spouse does not make the effort to complete the rehabilitation, the court may relieve the other spouse from the obligation to continue paying.

Bottom line from this Florida Alimony Attorney:  If in your divorce you need funds to get back into the workplace, your Florida rehabilitative alimony lawyer may be able to help you get them.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

The most common form of alimony in a divorce is permanent periodic alimony.

In a Florida divorce, the court must consider the following alimony factors:

1. The standard of living established during the marriage.
2. The duration of the marriage.
3. The age and the physical and emotional condition of each party.
4. The financial resources of each party, the non-marital and the marital assets and liabilities distributed to each.
5. When applicable, the time necessary for either party to acquire sufficient education or training to enable such party to find appropriate employment.
6. The contribution of each party to the marriage, including, but not limited to, services rendered in homemaking, child care, education, and career building of the other party.
7. All sources of income available to either party.
8. Any other factor necessary to do equity and justice between the parties.

While in the distant past, a marriage of at least twenty years was required to qualify for permanent periodic alimony, more recently a marriage of thirteen years will qualify in most cases.

The main factor considered after you establish that you have had a long term marriage is that of the difference in your abilities to earn an income.  Assuming a long term marriage, the court will require a greater earning spouse to provide monthly support to the lesser earning spouse so that one spouse doesn't go from wealth to poverty while the other remains wealthy.

We will talk more about these factors in future blogs.

The bottom line from this Florida Alimony Attorney is that there are many details to an alimony consideration.  Consult with us to get an evaluation of your alimony prospects.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

There are probably more myths in existence about alimony than any other factor in a divorce.

The concept of alimony was created many years ago at a time when the percentage of women who were either not working at all or were working in relatively low paying jobs was extremely high.  The idea was that the husband in those divorces should be required to pay support to those women so that they would not end up on the welfare rolls and be forever supported by the taxpayers.

In a Florida divorce, alimony comes in three forms:  Permanent periodic, Rehabilitative and Transitional. 

For now, please understand that permanent periodic alimony is for long term marriages where one spouse is financially better off than the other.  Rehabilitative alimony is to provide funds for a spouse to go from the present underemployed status to one of full employment at the highest potential.  The purpose of transitional alimony is give a needy spouse a one-time amount of money so that the spouse can go from married life to single life without suffering severe financial difficulties in the transition.

We will go into greater detail as to each of these three forms of alimony in future blog posts.

Bottom line from this Florida Alimony Lawyer:  Give us a call and talk to us about whether the facts surrounding your marriage support a claim for alimony.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

A common question we hear in Florida divorces is, "Does the property always get divided 50/50?

The law requires that the assets and debts of the marriage are to be divided "equitably".  That technically means that it will be done fairly, but not necessarily equally.  If a family court judge has a "substantial" reason to divide your marital property other than 50/50, the judge may do so.

But history shows that many, many family court judges in the past have had their rulings dividing marital property other than 50/50 reversed on appeal.  On the flip side, when judges divide property 50/50, they have very rarely had those rulings overturned.

Keep in mind that Florida family court judges run for reelection every six years.  When they run, the local newspapers inform the public as to how many times they have been reversed on appeal as compared to other judges.  If you were a judge and liked job security, wouldn't you be inclined to almost always divide marital property 50/50 despite the leeway allowed in the law?

Bottom line:  Based on my experience as a Florida Divorce Attorney, although it is not technically required by the statute, you can expect your family court judge to divide your marital property 50/50 almost all of the time.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens

A question we typically ask our clients at the initial consultation is, "Are you seeing someone for individual counseling?"  If the answer is, "No", then we talk about the benefits of doing that.

As anyone who has been through it can tell you, divorce is a stressful, life-changing process.  Think about it, you are dividing all of your worldly possessions and beginning a new and different relationship with your children.  Life doesn't get any more stressful than that!

Even folks who come to us having worked out all of the legal details of how to divide property and how to create a parenting plan to care for their children have been through the devastating process of ending a relationship that they thought at one point would last forever. 

If your marriage is at a place where you are even thinking of consulting a divorce attorney, you should be talking to someone about the emotional changes in your life.  Obviously the best choice is an experienced mental health professional.  If you don't know one, your lawyer can recommend someone.  If you cannot afford one, you may look to a religious institution or other social service agency for free or financially assisted support.  If you don't want to do that, have some deep conversations with a personal friend or a brother or sister.

Bottom line from this Florida Family Law Attorney:  A marriage breakup is hard on you.  You don't have to go through it alone.

© Copyright 2009 by Stann Givens