Recent Posts in Attorney's Fees Category

With the onslaught of celebrity coverage surrounding Mel Gibson's recorded telephone rants, many divorce clients have asked whether it is legal to record their spouse or ex-spouse's telephone conversations.  The answer depends on several different factors and often varies on a case by case basis.

The general rule is, no, unless you obtain express consent.  Florida wiretapping laws are complex and can carry criminal or civil punishments if violated.  In situations where your spouse would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, it is not proper to record your spouse's telephone conversations without permission.  I typically recommend always obtaining permission from your spouse or ex-spouse before recording any telephone call or communication.

However, there are several exceptions to this general rule, that would require an in-depth analysis of the facts and circumstances of your family law case. 

Contact your expert Tampa family law attorney to discuss whether these exceptions apply to you and your case.

We previously discussed in this space that, under Florida family law, the court can order one or both parties to a child time-sharing plan post a surety bond.  The purpose of this is to prevent one of the parties from fleeing the state with the children in an attempt to hide them.  We outlined some of the circumstances under which the court might order a bond.  What happens once one party posts a bond and what are the funds used for if the court orders the bond forfeited?

Florida family law states that the court can order the bond forfeited once it finds a material violation of the time-sharing plan by removing the child or children from the state or otherwise attempting to conceal their whereabouts.  It then gives three specific examples of how these funds are to be used:  1) to reimburse the non-violating parent costs associated with enforcing the terms of the plan, 2) to locate and return the children, and 3) to reimburse reasonable fees and costs as determined by the court.  This last item seems to give the court fairly wide discretion in covering expenses incurred by the non-violating parent.

Bottom line:  Always consult with an expert Tampa family law attorney to make sure the terms of your time-sharing plan are enforced as provided by Florida divorce law.

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.

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.

The short answer is that, of course, you can.  The better answer is that you shouldn’t.

Any person can go to court without a lawyer in any legal matter.  That applies to everything from small claims court to defense of a first degree murder charge.  But the more important the issues, the less intelligent it is for you to do that.  For instance, if you are charged with a parking violation, you may be safe to represent yourself.  If you are charged with a serious crime, you wouldn’t want to risk years in prison by having an amateur defense.

Let’s look at what is at risk in divorce case.  If you have children, obviously all of the contact you will have with them until they are adults is at risk.  Everything that you own is at stake.  If you are the higher wage earner, your income is at stake in a potential alimony claim.  The Florida divorce lawyers in our office have frequently had to help people clean up the mess that they have unintentionally made as they represented themselves in family court matters before coming to us.  It is often more expensive to fix the problem than it would have been to handle it initially.

Even if you and your spouse are pretty sure of how you want to settle all of the areas of dispute, you still are at risk of drafting an agreement that doesn’t do what you think it does.  The best divorce lawyers in Tampa have all experienced many cases where people come to them to fix problems which have been created by poor draftsmanship in the agreements they reached with their spouses.  The most serious involve disagreements as to the meaning of the language of custody provisions within a marital settlement agreement.  Other serious problems occur with division of property and especially with the division of retirement plans.

When you consider what is at risk, representing yourself in a divorce should not be considered as an option.  I am frugal as to spending my own money, but when it comes to important things like filing my taxes or dealing with medical or dental issues, I let the experts handle things.  When it comes to a Florida divorce, you will have more peace of mind that you have done things the right way if you retain an expert Florida divorce lawyer to help you through the process.

Bottom: Always use a lawyer if you are in a divorce proceeding.  The risks of being stuck with a bad outcome and having to spend a great deal of money to change it are too great.

Florida divorce lawyers typically charge by the hour for what they do.  In order to save their clients money, they make use of paralegals to perform some tasks.

A paralegal is someone who has gone to school to receive training in assisting lawyers with legal research, drafting of court documents and preparing a case for presentation to the court.  Obviously, paralegals cannot give legal advice and must work under the direction of a lawyer.

One way that expert Tampa divorce lawyers use paralegals is to have them perform the initial work in preparing a financial affidavit for use in a dissolution of marriage case.  They take the account statements and other documents provided by the client and place the information in the proper locations on the financial affidavit.  By doing this, the lawyer need only review the work for accuracy and spend far less time on the task than otherwise would be spent.  Since the hourly rates of paralegals is far less than those of lawyers, the savings can be significant.

Paralegals also are very effective in making initial drafts of court documents and correspondence so that there is money saved in those tasks as well.

Bottom line:  Use of paralegals by Florida divorce lawyers can save substantial money in your divorce.

© 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