Recent Blog Posts in March 2010

When there are minor children involved in your Florida divorce, you are required to take a parenting course before you can obtain a court ordered Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage.

Back in 1994, the Florida legislature decided that far too many parents were going through the entire divorce process without realizing some of the harm that they were doing to their children.  Judges were hearing many stories of one parent badmouthing the other parent in the presence of their children and otherwise doing and saying things which were unhealthy for the children to see and hear.

A parenting course lasts four hours and can be taken either separately or together by the divorcing parents.  The Florida family law rules allow that it may be taken in person or online, but judges in some parts of the state require that it be in person. 

For many people, the course serves as a reminder of things that you already know.  It deals with treating the other parent with respect in the presence of the children, keeping good communication lines open, the effect of domestic violence on children, being mindful of the stress that children are under during the separation process and other aspects of the family dynamic.  For some people, it is a wakeup call to start being the better parent that they never knew how to be.

Your expert Tampa family law attorney will have a list of the parenting courses near you.

Bottom line:  Early in the divorce process, it is a good idea to comply with the requirement that you attend a parenting course.  You just might learn something that will help you to be a better parent during this difficult time.

Child custody battles are the most stressful experiences that parents have in a Florida divorce.  Often the parents involved are so concerned with success or failure that their judgement gets clouded.  They sometimes take actions which they think will help their cause, but which actually have the opposite effect.

As you go through the process of arguing with the other parent over the children, there is sometimes a temptation to try to influence the children to take sides with you.  This often takes the form of saying negative things about the other parent in the presence of the children.  "I would love to buy that new television you want for your room, but your father is not giving us enough money to buy anything."  "I am so sad because your mother ruined my life.  She is interested in another man, you know."  "If you spend more time at my house, you will not be subjected to all of those ridiculous restrictions that you have to live with at your Mom's"

Those are just some of the many examples of how people try to win over the children by talking the other parent down.  This happens so often that the mental health community has given it a name, 'Parental Alienation Syndrome".

If you are the one engaging in this strategy to win a custody battle, you may just find yourself on the losing end of a child custody evaluation because you are not the parent who is most likely to "encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship" when it come to the other parent.

Bottom line:  Be honest with your expert Tampa child custody attorney as to how you interact with your children and ask if you are in danger of being labeled a parental alienator.

Many people are in a hurry to get a divorce in Florida.  The reasons vary.  Some people are anxious to marry someone else.  Some want to stop sharing their large incomes with their lower income spouses.  Some just want out of the relationship.  For whatever the reason, many are hopeful of getting the speediest divorce possible.

In Florida, as in all states, divorces can last for many months and sometimes even years.  There are times, however, when each person in the marriage wishes to get on with things and an agreement on all issues is not a long, drawn out process.  When that occurs, it is possible to obtain a quick Florida divorce.

Once you and your spouse have decided that you want to get things over with and move on with your lives, you can contact your expert Tampa family law attorney and find out just how quickly the process can be completed.

Florida family law allows that, once you have reached an agreement on all issues, you can get a dissolution of marriage in as few as 20 days from the filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage.  You can even get it done more quickly if you can show the court that an injustice would occur by waiting the required 20 days.

Bottom line:  If you are anxious to finalize your Florida divorce, you can accomplish this in as few as  20 days from the filing the petition for dissolution of marriage once you and your spouse have resolved all of your differences regarding parenting issues, distribution of property, spousal support and reimbursement of attorney's fees.

Suppose that a Florida family law court has ordered that the other parent of your child must pay child support to you until your child reaches the eighteenth birthday.  What if the other parent, over the years, has steadily become farther and farther behind in payments and your child is approaching age eighteen?  Is it time to worry that you will never get your money?

In Florida, the law allows you to continue to collect child support from the other parent if there is a delinquency in the support due when the normal child support period ends.  Your expert Tampa family law attorney can ask the court to order the full amount to be paid from funds available to the other parent or order that the monthly regular payments must continue.

If there is a court order that the regular child support payments should be paid out of the other parent’s paycheck, the court can even order that the paycheck deduction continue until the child support arrearage is made up.

Bottom line:  Just because your child reaches age eighteen before all of the child support is paid doesn’t mean that you can’t collect it.

When there is a court order requiring someone to pay child support or alimony in a Florida divorce or paternity case, there are consequences for non-payment.  If you are involved in a court proceeding of this type, the first thing to keep in mind is that a court order is not just a suggestion.  It is a binding obligation requiring that the order be followed or that consequences shall occur.

If there is a delinquency in the payment of court ordered child support or alimony in your court proceeding, a paper will typically be filed with the court asking that the delinquent person be required to live up to the obligation or face those consequences.  If the person is not paying, the court will typically order the person to pay or to suffer a punishment.  If the person still does not pay, then the court can order that the person funds be garnished or that the person go to jail until the delinquent amount is paid.  In addition, the court can assess a further penalty against the person by requiring that the attorney’s fees of the enforcing party be paid.

Not all cases are subject to incarceration, however.  In order to send someone to jail for non-payment, the court must have proof that the person actually has the money to pay the amounts ordered.  So if someone is required to pay, but has no income or assets from which the order can be paid, then the court will fashion an enforcement order that persuades the delinquent person to pay what is available but which falls short of jail time.

Bottom line:  If there are alimony or child support payments which have not been made, contact your expert Florida family law attorney to ask what can be done in your case.

After the divorce is over and the former spouses have moved on with their lives, often the spouse receiving alimony develops a new love interest.   Sometimes that leads to another marriage.   What happens to the alimony award required in the Florida divorce court order?

The best Tampa family law attorneys will tell you that the alimony will end when there is a remarriage by the receiving spouse unless there is an agreement and court order specifically to the contrary.   Those types of agreements and orders are extremely rare.

Suppose, though, that there is no remarriage.   Suppose instead that the alimony receiving spouse merely becomes involved in a live-in arrangement with the new love interest.   What happens then?

Florida divorce law allows that alimony can be reduced or even terminated if the receiving spouse becomes involved in a “supportive relationship” with another person.   The court will look at a number of factors: whether the two people in the relationship have held themselves out as husband and wife even though not married, used the same last name, shared a mailing address, lived together for a long time, pooled their assets, supported each other, performed valuable services for each other or for the other’s company or employer, worked together to create or enhance something of value, purchased real or personal property together, or provided support to each other’s children.

In the distant past it was not nearly as common for people to live together without marriage.   Because it is now so common, the law recognizes that the circumstances of living together can justify termination of an alimony obligation just as in a case of the spouse getting married again.

Bottom line:   If there is alimony involved with your former spouse, you need to contact the best Florida family law attorneys if you are receiving the alimony and are thinking of moving in with someone else or if you are paying alimony and your spouse has moved in with someone.

In a Florida divorce or paternity case, sometimes the person required to pay child support fails to pay.   When that happens there are a number of ways to punish the non-paying parent and inspire that parent to resume payments and make up any past missed payments.

In previous blog posts, we have discussed suspension of driver’s licenses and suspension of professional licenses as a means of punishing someone for non-payment of child support.   Of course, the most direct influence to pay child support is an order of contempt of court and requirement that the non-paying spouse go to jail by a certain date if the arrearages are unpaid.

The Florida Statutes provide that someone who is behind in child support payments may have that reported to a credit reporting agency.   It provides that, before reporting it to such an agency, the state would give the delinquent parent notice ahead of time and an opportunity to pay the delinquency current.   If it is not then paid current, then the agency of the state which keeps track of child support arrearages is free to notify all credit reporting agencies.

As with any unpaid debt, notification to a credit reporting agency has the effect of changing your credit rating and reducing your chances of obtaining a loan of any kind.   Before that happens, you may wish to consult your Tampa family law attorney to find out what you can do to avoid the harm you may be causing yourself.

Bottom line:   Failure to pay child support can seriously affect your lifestyle and may affect your freedom and your ability to borrow money.

If you feel that a modification of alimony might be appropriate, you have a choice where you file your motion to modify alimony.  You can file a motion to modify alimony in either the circuit court of the circuit in which either you or your ex-spouse resided at the date of the execution of your original agreement, or in which the original alimony order was rendered, or where either of you currently reside.

If it has been a few years since alimony was originally ordered in your case, chances are you may not know the amount of income your ex-spouse currently earns.  The rules of Florida family law courts provide that your ex-spouse must complete a new financial affidavit if you request a modification of your current support amount.  If you have reason to believe that either your circumstances or those of your ex-spouse have substantially changed, and a modification of alimony might be appropriate, contact an expert Florida alimony attorney to discuss your case.

After a domestic violence injunction has been granted, it remains in effect according to the terms and conditions of the judge’s ruling.  These terms and conditions of a domestic violence injunction can have a severe impact on person’s daily life.  The impact can be felt in the following areas; timesharing schedules with their children, imposition of child support obligations, restrictions on a person’s ability to visit certain people and places, and conditions on attending counseling sessions.

Often times a party fails to abide by the judge’s ruling and a violation occurs.  Florida Statute § 741.30(9)(a) provides that a violation of the protective provisions of an injunction against domestic violence may be prosecuted in a contempt hearing before the domestic violence judge or as a criminal violation.  Many people are unaware of the significance of a violation and the criminal prosecution which may follow.

A person may be charged with a misdemeanor in the event they have violated the terms and conditions of their domestic violence injunction.  The most common type of violation leading to a criminal prosecution includes a scenario where the Respondent (whom the injunction has been entered against) has illegally contacted or interfered with the Petitioner (whom the injunction was designed to protect).  In this case, the State Attorney’s Office would have the discretion to file a criminal domestic violence charge against the Respondent. 

In the event the State Attorney’s Office filed a criminal charge, the Respondent would face additional criminal sanctions.  These sanctions include a jail sentence, probation, fines, community service, and other restrictions imposed by the criminal judge.  It is important to note that while the criminal case is pending, the original conditions of the domestic violence injunction remain in place and the Respondent is still subject to the civil court’s contempt powers.

Because of the criminal charges a violation may bring, it is important for a party to work with his or her attorney in order to ensure that they understand the conditions of the injunction, the severity of a violation, and what is required by the court in regard to the terms and conditions of their particular injunction.  If you have been served with a domestic violence injunction, seek the representation of a skilled and experienced Tampa domestic violence attorney immediately.

If the other parent of your child fails to make timely child support payments, there are several ways that you can try to persuade them to pay.   The first thing that you can do is speak to your expert Florida divorce lawyer about filing a motion for contempt where you ask the court to hold the other parent in contempt of court.   There are a number of things that a court can do in that setting.   The first thing the court can do is require the delinquent parent to pay within a certain set period of time or else go to jail.  

After that, the court can also require that the various state licenses issued to the delinquent parent be suspended until the parent pays the child support current.   The most damaging penalty for most parents would be the loss of a driver’s license.   The court can go even further.   The state issues many other types of licenses.   The parent could have a license to practice medicine or law, a license to be an engineer or a contractor or school teacher.

A very inspiring penalty to persuade a parent to pay child support current is to take away the parent’s ability to earn a living.   In our experience, these types of orders are very persuasive and result in immediate payment of past child support amounts due.   Just imagine being faced with a choice of paying your child support obligation or losing your ability to make a living.   The choice is pretty clear.   Most people are not going to risk their livelihood when they can simply borrow some money to pay the support obligation up to date.

Bottom line:   If the other parent is behind in payment of child support, ask your expert Tampa divorce lawyer how to take the proper steps to make sure that the support is paid up to date.

At the end of almost every divorce consultation, a Florida family law attorney is posed with the same question. How much is my divorce going to cost?   While this question appears to be straightforward, the unknown factors of divorce make it almost impossible to answer.   Your Florida divorce attorney should, however, be able to analyze the issues of each particular case and address the related expenses.

In the State of Florida, there are two primary types of divorce cases, the first of which is an uncontested divorce.   In an uncontested divorce, the parties have been able to work through all issues even before filing the divorce petition.   In this scenario, all that remains is for the parties to complete and file the required pleadings.   Due to the limited nature of work involved, the divorce attorney’s role is to assist the client rather than advocate a legal position.   Thus, the attorney’s role in an uncontested divorce is typically limited to the preparation of the pleadings, drafting the applicable marital settlement agreement and parenting plan, and scheduling and attending an uncontested final hearing in order to obtain the final judgment of divorce.   Because the attorney’s role is limited the expense a party faces is reduced.

The second type of divorce is referred to as a contested case.   A contested divorce means the parties are unable to agree or settle all of the issues of their divorce and need the assistance of an attorney to help bring about a final resolution.   This final resolution can come in the form of a settlement during the course of the divorce or at a trial.   The expenses involved in a contested case derive from the issues the parties are facing, and the time involved in resolving those issues.

Examples of contested, and sometimes expensive, issues include timesharing plans with minor children, support provisions, including child support and alimony, the division of assets, including homes and marital businesses, and a spouse’s request for an attorney fees contribution.   All of the above case issues can require extensive work not only by an attorney but also an expert who assists the client and attorney in advancing their particular position.   With the complexity of each case issue and with each additional contested issue, the cost of the divorce grows.

It is important for each client to discuss and address all possible case issues with their Florida divorce attorney during the initial consult.   At that time, the client can be fully aware of what issues they may face and thus can have a better understanding of what expenses lie ahead.   One constant will remain: the sooner the parties can settle, the less expensive the divorce will be.

Computer technology has advanced greatly in the past twenty years.  Years ago, if a parent had to move away from their former spouse and child, telephone contact and writing letters was the only way to maintain contact.  With the advent of the internet, cell phones, skype, and so on, the family that is separated by distance is no longer restricted to infrequent visits. 

Florida Divorce law recently caught up with this new technology.  New laws allow a court to order electronic communication between a parent and a child.  The court must first consider if the communication is in the child's best interests and whether or not the technology is available to the parent and child.  The court must also consider whether there is a history of substance abuse or domestic violence.  The presumption is that it is in the child's best interest to communicate electronically with the other parent if no other outlet is available.

While these new means of electronic communication are not as good as seeing your child in person, they are better than the old options.  Contact an expert Florida divorce attorney to discuss these, and other issues.