Blog | Family Lawyer Grant J. Gisondo in Palm Beach Gardens

26 September

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Reunification Therapy

Definition of “reunification” as found in the online Dictionary: “To cause (a group, party, state, or sect) to become unified again after being divided.” Definition of “therapy” by the American Psychological Association” “Therapy is a treatment for psychological problems in which the therapist and clients work together to understand problems and come up with plans for fixing them.” When the two words, “reunification” and “therapy” are put together in the legal sense, an interesting process is becoming more and more useful, especially in Family law involving cases of dissolution of marriage where there are minor children involved. Reunification therapy, known as RT...

25 September

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Judges and Magistrates: What’s The Difference?

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Family Law

For many people the terms judge and magistrate are thought to mean the same thing. This is by no means correct. While it is true both terms denote jurisdictional functions, there are a variety of differences between a judge and a magistrate including how they arrive at their title, how long they will hold the title and what functions they are expected to perform once they accept their respective position. There are both state and federal judges and magistrates, all of which handle a variety of cases, depending on their title and, in the case of state appointments or elections,...

22 September

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Is Trial The End of The Road? What About Appeals?

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Family Law, Legal Advice

To begin this blog a definition of “legal appeal” is necessary. Online Legalzoom states the following: “An appeal is a request made to a higher court to review a decision made by a lower court. It is not a rehearing of the case you presented” No, a trial is not the mandatory end of the road in a Family Law case decision in Florida. However, as judges usually have wide latitude in making decisions, especially in dissolution of marriage, it is not likely an appellate court will reverse the judge’s decision unless there has been judicial error or the misuse of...

Is Trial The End of The Road? What About Appeals?

23 August

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Attorney Client Privilege, What Does It Mean?

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Family Law

To be brief, the attorney client privilege is the protecting, that is keeping confidential, of information, documents, and evidence given by a client to his or her attorney, much the same as when giving such details to a religious minister, a doctor, or a mental health counselor. This information can be given verbally or in writing and cannot be shared by the professional without permission of the client. In other words, the aspect of “privilege” is on behalf of the client, not the attorney. There is, however, an exception to the attorney client privilege when the intention of the information is...

21 August

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Why You Shouldn’t Text Your Attorney

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Legal Advice

As time moves more and more into the age of technology, the use of cellphones with the capability of texting is becoming almost as common as the use of what is now termed a “land line”. Particularly with the younger age group, they use cell phones almost exclusively, and studies show that many senior citizens are learning and liking the use and convenience of modern phone technology as well. While this makes for amazing speed of information gathering and communicating with others, there are some definite drawbacks when it comes to communicating with one’s attorney, especially in the area of...

Texting With Your Attorney May Not be a Good Idea

24 July

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Hold Them or Fold Them, When is it Time For a Divorce?

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Divorce Law News, Family Law

“Until death do us part”, recited for many years by most couples that are seeking wedded bliss. And, at the time of the ceremony each party (there are sometimes exceptions) sincerely believes he or she will be able to honor this statement, as surely their love will stand the test of time. Unfortunately, if you live in the United States your chance of “happily ever after” has barely a 50% chance of making it even l0 years. And, in the case of a second or more marriage the percentage rate of failure is even higher. In the world of Family...

19 July

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Moral Fitness As a Parent As Defined in 61.13

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Family Law, Paternity

Florida Family Law is Concerned With the Moral Fitness of a Minor Child’s Parents One could ask what business does the law have in determining what goes on in the private lives of a minor child’s parents. Florida Family Law says there are many areas of a parent’s private life that will directly affect the care and nurturing of children and thus influence the healthy development of a child both physically and mentally. Thus the law does have a right to be concerned with moral fitness of a child’s parents. Moral fitness as described in Florida Statute 61.13 covers several area of...

07 July

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When Does Child Support End?

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Child Support

Child support is mandatory in the state of Florida. It doesn’t matter if the parents of a minor child ever married or even lived together. “In the best interest of the child” is the standard for the Florida Statutes regarding the care and nurturing of minor children, and child support is an important part of being able to maintain that standard. Each parent is expected to participate in the life and development of any minor child they brought into this world or legally adopted. It costs money to do the job correctly and the Florida courts work hard to see...

29 June

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The Importance of Professionalism in the Legal Profession

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Family Law, Legal Advice

The very word “profession’ denotes there is supposed to be professionalism around somewhere, but where is the somewhere? Unfortunately, due to much unprofessional behavior among lawyers over the years, it is a joke in some circles that there probably isn’t a lawyer left practicing professionalism. This of course isn’t true and hopefully this blog will give some positive insight. It is interesting to note that the legal profession itself is concerned with the professionalism of its members and in April of 2015 a conference organized by the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession was held to deal directly with...

24 May

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What is a Request For Production and Interrogatories and Why Are These Discovery Vehicles So Useful?

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Alimony, Cultural Schemas, Family Law

Working with an attorney is much like meeting that special person in your life and developing a personal relationship. It takes time. During this time interrogative questions are asked and answered and evidence such as meeting parents or seeing the actual workplace come into play. This blog will take an in-depth look at both Request for Production and Interrogatories and just why they are useful for both client and attorney. Looking first at Request for Production, the legal definition found in the online Findlaw Legal Dictionary states “a discovery request issued by one party to an action on another for the...