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Family law matters in Florida
Why Holiday Parenting Plans Matter The holiday season is often stressful for separated or divorced parents. With school breaks, family travel, and yearly traditions, emotions can run high. Having a clear holiday parenting plans helps families avoid conflict and ensures consistency for children. A well-structured plan—often part of your ...
Parenting plans are vital in outlining how divorced or separated parents share responsibilities and time with their children in Florida. However, life circumstances can change, necessitating adjustments to these plans. Florida law provides a structured process for modifying parenting plans to reflect new realities while prioritizing the child...
Tips for Success Co-parenting after a divorce can be challenging, but with the right strategies, it’s possible to create a healthy, supportive environment for your children. In South Florida, as in other parts of the country, co-parenting requires communication, cooperation, and a focus on the well-being of your children. Whether you’re ...
How to manage when your school-age children are not in school Trying to figure out how to manage timesharing with your school-age children when they are not in school, especially during the several weeks of summer vacation, is a challenge. Typically, when parents of minor children (children from birth to l8 years and beyond if a child is u...
For many years when there was a permanent separation or a divorce, if there were minor children, either biological or adopted, the court would appoint or order one parent to have primary custody while the other parent had visitation rights. Minor children were all children ages birth to age l8, and beyond if there were medical or mental reaso...
Peace on earth and a Happy New Year is wished to many from family and friends. However, for those who have minor children (children born or adopted to the couple from birth to age 18 and beyond if a child cannot support themselves for physical or mental reasons) and have gone through a divorce, there is often not such a peaceful outlook for t...
For many years it seemed when it came to parents of minor children seeking custody and child support following a divorce or separation that the courts generally ruled in favor of the mother receiving primary custody and the father paying child support. Times have changed. There is no longer favoritism when it comes to the care and nurturing o...
Before looking at the role of a forensic psychologist in child custody cases, it makes sense to look at the definition of a forensic psychologist and what their role is. As defined by the American Psychology Association, it is “the application of clinical specialties to the legal arena.” In other words, according to author Jane Tyler Ward...
Mediation is the agreeing of two parties to solving a legal issue such as a divorce or child support modification by the process of compromise. Each party is usually represented by their attorney, who helps the party look at all offers and consider if a compromise can be reached, and the issue solved. Reaching an agreement in mediation is les...
The answer to this question is really more when you should tell your children you are getting divorced. Eventually, even a very young child will find out Mommy and Daddy do not live together anymore. What is important is to think about a number of considerations before sharing the sad news with your children. Here are some tips to help you th...
Dissolution refers to the now used term dissolution of marriage that replaces the term divorce. Dissolution comes from the word dissolve, which in effect is what happens to a couple’s relationship. When minor children are involved by virtue of the fact they were born to or adopted by the couple, there are dynamics involved requiring co-pare...
In Florida, when it is determined that biological or legally adoptive parents are fit physically, mentally, and have not been convicted of child abuse or domestic violence, or are incarcerated, the care and nurturing of minor children (children birth through eighteen or longer if a child cannot support themselves) will be granted by a timesha...
In many states, including Florida, mediation is required for most cases before the case can be scheduled for a court date. This is done for a variety of reasons which, in the end, if mediation is successful, can be a win, win for both parties. Mediation is where both parties and their attorneys try to agree on the outcome of the case in quest...
Living with a spouse while going through a divorce is rarely an easy thing to do. To begin with, the very fact you and your spouse have deemed your marriage irrevocably broken means you no longer desire to be together permanently. This being said, it would not usually be the desire of a couple to continue to live together in the same home. In...
Social media, the blessing, and curse of the modern world. YouTube, Facebook, Tumbler, Twitter, Snapchat, Instant Messenger, Linkedin, Instagram, and Pinterest are examples of social media options. It is amazing to be able to talk with and see people around the world. You can take videos of activities, people, and just about anything the mind...
A retainer, in the legal sense, is an up-front fee paid by a potential client to ‘’retain” or hold the time and expenses an attorney may need to litigate a case properly. The definition of payment by retainer provided by the Legal Information Institute is “A fee that the client pays up-front to an attorney before the attorney has begu...
Due to the COVID pandemic, working from home and virtual learning has now been in effect for many months and, in some areas, is still an everyday occurrence. In fact, some soothsayers are predicting that this change in the way we live is becoming the new norm. In many instances, schools and businesses are finding it financially beneficial to ...
To better understand what you should bring to your initial consultation, it Is necessary to understand what an initial consultation with an attorney is designed to accomplish. There are several things to consider: An initial consultation is not a time when an attorney will be giving direct advice involving your potential case. Instead, i...
When considering this question, the first thing to clarify is the difference between advice and information. Advice: as defined by online Find Law states, “Legal advice refers to the written or oral counsel about a legal matter that would affect the rights and responsibilities of the person receiving the advice. In addition, actual legal...
Life must go on even during the current COVID pandemic. This life includes the timesharing orders between parents of minor children. When it is nice if both parents live in the same geographical area, it today’s transient society, it often happens that parents live miles and sometimes states apart. As most parental timesharing plans include...
Parental timesharing for minor children has, in most states, including Florida, replaced the practice of custody for minor children where there is a primary or residential parent and a secondary or nonresidential parent. Over the years of experience and research, it has been proven that children develop to their best potential when they are c...
It’s hard to believe that another year, particularly such a difficult one, is fast approaching what is called the “holiday season.” These special times of celebration include Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. All these events are traditionally family-oriented, and children play a large part in the celebrations. All ages...
Over the past few years, in most states, parental timesharing has taken the place of ordering primary and secondary custody for minor children. Minor children are children from birth to l8 years, and any child past that age who is mentally or physically unable to provide for themselves. Having both parents involved in the care and nurturing o...
Must we attend mediation? If you live in the state of Florida and plan to divorce (dissolution of marriage), have a minor child (child under the age of l8 or a child who is unable to provide and care for him or herself) and are looking to set child support and or timesharing including developing a parenting plan, or are needing to return to c...
Dress for success. This can be said emphatically for those who are having their day in court, be it attorney, client, or witness. So often, people form judgments based almost entirely on their first impression of another person and can be a plus or a minus depending on the opinion formed. For example, should a client be dressed in poorly fitt...
All parenting plans in the state of Florida must be approved by the court. This fact is important as not only must the parenting plan be approved by the judge when shared parenting, parental timesharing case is heard in court but also when a parenting plan is part of a marital agreement signed following a mediation. Parenting plans created du...
Time marches on, and so do people. No matter how much a person would like to look into the future and find out what will happen, this just isn’t possible. When a parenting plan is drawn up both parties do so with the limited knowledge of what will happen in the future and how each thinks the requirements of shared parenting, including times...
Holidays are, for most families, some of the best times of the year. This is especially true for young children unless their family is extremely poor and they feel left out compared to other children. Children and grownups alike look forward to spending time together and, in the case of birthdays and December holidays, to the tradition of gif...
Parents love their children equally, and there is no presumption in favor of the mother or father. These words are the premise on which Florida Family law courts build their statutes regarding the care and nurturing of minor children following a dissolution of marriage (divorce) or separation of parents not married. What this st...
Divorce, or dissolution of marriage as it is termed in most states, has, with little exception, been on the rise since the early 1900s when the divorce rate was around 5%. Back then, women had few rights and were usually not in a position to support themselves should they seek a divorce. Men were even allowed to abuse their wives as in the ey...
