Jacksonville Divorce Lawyer Blog

April 1, 2009

Florida Child Custody Evaluations

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When going through a Florida divorce or paternity case involving children, it is important to put the children first. Florida Statute 61.122 governs child custody evaluations in Florida. When Florida parties are divorcing and custody is an issue, the court will often order the parties to obtain a custody evaluation. A custody evaluation is performed by a licensed psychologist who will interview the parties, the children, neighbors and any witnesses suggested by the parties or by the attorneys involved in the case. The psychologist will then write a recommendation as to which party should be the primary time sharing parent in the psychologist’s opinion.
The courts rely heavily on the custody evaluation in custody cases but the courts do not have to follow the evaluation’s recommendation. The cost of a custody evaluation varies ranging anywhere from $1,500.00-$5,000.00 and is usually split by the parties. It is important to obtain a Florida family law attorney prior to having a custody evaluation performed to receive counsel on statutory factors pertaining to custody.

March 30, 2009

Florida Relocation: Florida Visitation

By Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

Florida family law has a relocation statute that prohibits parents from taking children more than 50 miles from their residence without first providing notice. In accordance with the Florida statute, if you have been through a Florida divorce or paternity case and your ex has the primary timeshare of the children, there are specific acts that your ex must perform to be allowed to move more than 50 miles from the primary residence. The moving parent does not have the authority to move the parties’ children on his or her own accord even if the move is to accept that new employment position paying that dream salary.

In Florida, the primary parent MUST notify the other parent, in writing, of his or her intent to relocate. The notice is called Notice of Relocation and must be signed before a notary and sworn to and filed with the court. The secondary residential parent then has 30 days to file an Objection to Relocation which will be heard before a Judge who will then decide what is best for the children. The Judge will take testimony from both parties and will determine if the move will affect visitation between the children and secondary residential parent, whether the children’s relationship with other family members will be affected, the emotional impact of the move on the children and the relationship with the non-residential parent.

Please note that in some cases, if the primary residential parent moves without proper Notice provided to the other party and to the court, then the courts have authority to change the primary residential custody to the non-offending party. Thus, its very important to follow the relocation requirements as failure to do so could result in the loss of custody.

March 25, 2009

Postnuptials and $100 Million: Florida Divorce

By Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

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As a Jacksonville, Florida family law attorney, I have not had the privilege of seeing a case involving $100 million in assets plus alimony in the amount of $130,000 per month. While most of us would think this ridiculous, the truth is that in a Florida divorce the assets are divided 50/50 and alimony is provided under certain provisions.

Marie Douglas-David is divorcing her CEO husband, George David, and in return she is asking for a little less than half his money, a mere a $100 million. In addition, she is requesting alimony of $130,000 per month. While this divorce is causing quite a buzz in the media, in Florida, the actual lifestyle of the couple would be considered and Mrs. Douglas-David is entitled to maintain her lavish lifestyle. The problem is that she signed a post-nuptial agreement that limits her money to $38 million. While all of these numbers are excessive and most of us would be content with the $38 million the truth is that Mr. David is actually worth $329 million and in a Florida divorce (IF the post-nuptial was not valid) Mrs. Douglas-David would be entitled to on half, making her portion $164.5 million, so she’s actually letting her husband save over $60 million.

In Florida, post-nuptials are valid. Post-nuptials are entered after the marriage of the parties. It is basically a way for the parties to protect themselves after the marriage commences and the signing party must be informed of all assets. Full disclosure is necessary to make the agreement valid, because otherwise the signing party does not know exactly what they are entitled to receive without the postnuptial.

March 20, 2009

Florida Family Protection: Handling DCF Actions

By Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

In Florida, the Department of Children and Families (DCF)is designed to protect children. The goal is not to shatter the home, but to protect the safety and welfare of the children. In its protective role, DCF can act in more of a prosecutorial manner and rather than seeing an incident as a possible accident, they become more accusatory in nature.

Some of the consequences of DCF involvement is that they have the ability to remove children from your home pending an investigation and during the completion of a case plan, which could take from 6 months to a year, or more. If the case plan is not properly completed, then DCF has the ability to petition the courts to declare the child(ren) dependent on the state, terminate parental rights and place the child(ren) in foster care or up for adoption.

Our firm has represented numerous parents and grandparents who have faced DCF charges for putting a child or children in harms way. The reality is that DCF can have an awful impact and disruption on your family and representation is important.

March 19, 2009

Florida Grandparents Rights: Florida Divorce and Other Issues

By Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

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Grandparents’ rights in Florida are not easy to accomplish. The Florida Supreme Court has held that the Florida Constitution makes it a personal right to determine who parents allow around their children, even when the excluded parties are family members. In the Jacksonville, Florida area, there are attorneys working to fight against the perception of no rights for grandparents and sometimes there are creative methods that can be used.

The common scenario we receive is someone calling and stating, “My daughter isn’t allowing me or my Husband to see our grandkids! I want to file a petition for grandparent visitation with the courts! Can you help me?” While the situation is sad and usually not in the best interests of the children to cease a close familial relationship with their grandparents, the Florida law is such that grandparents do not have an inherent right to visitation with their grandchildren.

However, the situation is not completely dire. Sometimes there are ways around the issue and having someone review your particular facts may be beneficial. Recently in St. Augustine, Florida, a man was accused of killing his wife and was charged with the crime. Prior to his arrest, the man completed a Power of Attorney so that his children could be cared for by his parents. While this is an extreme example, the underlying fact remains that parents can give up their visitation with the children to their parents if they are going to be away for a length of time. This may be a “loop hole” for some looking to see the grandchild that now lives with their child’s exspouse

March 16, 2009

Florida Divorce: Alimony & Spousal Support

By Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

In Florida divorces involving alimony, several elements must be met for alimony to be awarded. The Florida Statute regarding alimony sets out 5 types of different alimony available so that different levels of support may be granted. In Florida, alimony can come in the following forms:
1.Permanent: which is self explanatory, but does have limitations for future changes.
2. Lump Sum: basically getting a large amount either at one time or over the course of years.
3. Temporary: again, self explanatory.
4. Rehabilitative: This is used when one spouse has put their career or education on hold, or is need of further training, education, etc. to get a job or a higher paying position.
5. Bridge the Gap: This is designed to provide support from married life to single life and the transitions that one goes through during that time.

March 11, 2009

It’s Prep Time for a Florida Divorce

By Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

As a Florida divorce attorney, one sees many reasons that people reach divorce. Often, unhappiness describes the general mood of your marriage and you know that divorce is the only answer, its time to get your game face on and start thinking like a business person.
If you haven’t given much thought to your finances because your spouse handles them, start looking at them. You need to know what expenses you have and what assets you have.

A Georgia lawyer who personally dealt with divorce and a certified financial planner founded the Institute for Certified Divorce Planners. They offer financial survival tips for the transition from married life to single life. It’s not a “stick-it-to-your-spouse” moment, it’s a “get a grip” momemnt. They make suggestions for what to do before the papers are filed, with the goal of easing the financial impact of the transition from wedlock to singlehood

March 9, 2009

Putting Down the Boxing Gloves: Florida Divorce

By Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

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In Florida, when going through a divorce or separation, it is important to get a lawyer that understands the importance of putting down the boxing gloves.

You are ending a marriage and going from love to shuttering at the sounds of her voice or the site of his face, an experienced divorce attorney should take control and guide the client through a constructive not destructive approach. Even though the client may want to “take him for all he’s worth” or “destroy her”, its the lawyer’s responsibility to provide a workable solution especially if there are children involved.

The members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers have proven that resolutions are often reached without the need for trial. In a 2007 poll, 58 percent of its members indicated that more of their divorce cases over the past five years were settled without trial. Only 12 percent said they were resolving fewer cases without trial. In this present economy, it has been shown that there is a clear preference among middle-income clients to reach agreements without a trial to cut down on the costs of the litigation.

March 6, 2009

Child Support and Bankruptcy: Florida Divorce, Paternity and Child Support

By Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

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In dealing with Florida family law cases with children, child support is an obvious factor. When going through a Florida divorce or paternity action child support will most likely be ordered by the court. In today’s economic times, many more Floridians are facing bankruptcy and how that affects their Florida child support obligations.

Often, one party files for bankruptcy believing that any financial obligation to the other party will be dischargeable in the bankruptcy. On October 1, 2005, the new bankruptcy law went into effect and is entitled BAPCPA. The new law changed many things in the bankruptcy code including how a “domestic support obligation” will be treated. The support obligation can come in many forms such as alimony, child support, money owed to a spouse, or a money obligation incurred during a divorce agreement. Before BAPCPA, the bankruptcy law stated that you could NOT discharge a child support obligation or alimony in a Chapter 7 but you could discharge any money owed to a spouse under a divorce agreement as long as the money wasn’t a part of the child support or alimony obligation. This is usually termed as an “equalizing payment” in the final agreement or judgment

Under the old law, if the spouse filing for bankruptcy couldn’t pay the debt or if discharging the debt would be less detrimental to the spouse receiving the funds, it could be listed and discharged. Not so with the new law. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the spouse will still have to pay and will not be able to discharge the debt so when the bankruptcy is over, the spouse will still owe the debt to the other spouse

March 2, 2009

Jacksonville, Florida’s New Parenting Plan Requirements

By Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

In Jacksonville, Florida, Family Law and Visitation took on a new role on October 1, 2008 and the way custody and family law has been practiced in Florida is no more. With the new parenting plan statute, judges are no longer to use taboo words such as custody, visitation, custody litigation, primary residence or access and contact. The words will now be replaced with the terms “parenting”, “parenting plan litigation” or “time sharing schedule litigation”, “time sharing majority of the time”, and “time sharing”.When dealing with visitation and parent-relations, “best interests” of the child factors have now changed and new factors have been implemented in Florida Family Law. The Florida parenting plan statute is designed to isolate the children from the divorce proceedings as much as possible and to emphasize drafting a plan to help parents in divorce meet the child’s needs.
The following factors are now considered when parents are divorcing and custody and children are at issue:
(a) The demonstrated capacity & disposition of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close & continuing parent-child relationship, to honor the timesharing schedule, and to be reasonable when changes are required.
(b) The anticipated division of parental responsibilities after the litigation, including the extent to which parental responsibilities will be delegated to third parties.
(c) The demonstrated capacity & disposition of each parent to determine, consider & act upon the needs of the child as opposed to the needs or desires of the parent.
(d) The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity.
(e) The geographic viability of the parenting plan, with special attention paid to the needs of school-age children and the amount of time to be spent traveling to effectuate the parenting plan. This factor does not create a presumption for or against relocation of either parent with a child The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home.
(f) The moral fitness of the parents.
(g) The mental and physical health of the parents.
(h) The home, school, and community record of the child.
(i) The reasonable preference of the child, if the child is of sufficient age.