Parental Responsibility, Modifications and Paternity

28 January

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Modifying a Parenting Plan in Florida

in Family Law, Parenting, Paternity, Time Sharing, Uncategorized

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 timesharing, will work the best in their particular case. All seems to go well for a while and then there are changes that may occur which can make the parenting plan as written become unrealistic and sometimes even...

17 January

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Holiday Timesharing

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Family Law, Parenting, Paternity, Time Sharing, Uncategorized

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, so they feel left out when compared to other children. Children and grownups alike look forward to spending time together, and as in the case of birthdays and December holidays look forward to the tradition of gift-giving. But what happens when there is a divorce? How do children and parents share those special days? In many states, Florida included, when there are minor children (children from birth to age l8) involved, the state requires a...

03 December

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How Florida Family Law Presumes Parental Love

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Family Law, Legal Advice, Parenting, Paternity, Time Sharing

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 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 statement means is that presumably a father and mother, or parents of the same sex, love each of their minor children with precisely the same amount of mental, emotional, and intellectual fervor. In reality, this is likely not quite the case for in many families one parent cares...

27 September

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How to Establish Paternity in Florida ? Part Two: Establishing Paternity in the Courts

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Family Law, Legal Advice, Paternity, Uncategorized

Sometimes the issue of deciding the biological and or legal paternity of a child is best done through the courts and thus letting a judge make the final decision. In Part one of this blog, the out-of-court ways to establish who the real and or legal father of a child are discussed. This part will tell you about using the Family Courts for a paternity matter. When filing a court case to determine paternity in the state of Florida, there are four ways the action can be initiated: • The man who is needing to know if he is or is not...

16 September

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How is Paternity Established in Florida? Part One: What is paternity, and how is it established out of court?

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Family Law, Legal Advice, Paternity, Uncategorized

Definition of “paternity” as found in Merriam-Webster dictionary, “the quality or state of being a father”. In other words, the man who fathers a child is considered to have the paternity of that child. While this may seem obvious to a man who thinks he is the father of a child, there can sometimes be a situation when his paternity or fatherhood is called into question. Unlike the mother who bears a child and so is most definitely the mother, it can be unclear as to precisely who is the true father. Frequently, in the contemporary society of our modern...

28 June

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Timesharing- what 50/50 Really Means and the Level of Parental Involvement

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Family Law, Legal Advice, Paternity, Time Sharing, Uncategorized

For many years the custody of minor children following a divorce or separation of unmarried parents was ordered by appointing one parent as the primary custodial parent and the other as a secondary custodial parent or a parent with visiting rights but not necessarily the right to have their child spend an entire night. As time has gone on and research is done in the area of what is best for a minor child in this difficult situation, it has been shown that children do best when they are cared for and nurtured by both parents on an equal basis....

18 June

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Managing Stress and Anxiety During a Family Law Case

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Divorce Law News, Family Law, Legal Advice, Paternity, Uncategorized

Managing stress and anxiety during a family law case can become a serious issue. Depending on the type of case will, to a certain extent, determine the level of stress and anxiety and the manner in which they are handled. If minor children are involved the level of concern is higher and the need for careful planning for managing stress and anxiety increases. Looking at some of the most frequent family law cases can help with managing techniques. Divorce or as it is now called, Dissolution of Marriage: In most cases the emotional involvement of both parties is high. This is...

04 June

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Forensic Accountants and How They Can Help

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Divorce Law News, Family Law, Legal Advice, Paternity, Uncategorized

Divorce, for many, is a financially devasting experience. All financial information from past to present including bank statements, credit card charges, business dealings, property ownership, asset, and debt accumulation, trip and vacation expenses, incomes, and expenses must be out in the open for both sides to see. Ideally, a couple will be open and honest and take charge of their outcomes by compromising and agreeing to a marital settlement during mediation. Unfortunately, this does not always happen, either the open and honesty or the marital settlement. If there is no marital settlement, the case will then be scheduled for Family...

24 May

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Divorce Milestones

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Divorce Law News, Family Law, Legal Advice, Paternity, Uncategorized

Filing, answer, discovery, mediation, depositions, trial, and more. It is strange to think of divorce as having milestones as these are usually associated with the life of a marriage or the growth of a child. A comprehensive definition of a milestone as it refers to divorce is provided by the Cambridge English Dictionary which defines “milestone” as “an important event in the development or history of something in someone’s life.” As with other of life’s milestones, divorce has its own set of milestones as the case moves from selecting one’s attorney to the final judgment signed by a judge. Even in...

14 May

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What not to do on social media during a divorce

Posted by Grant Gisondo

in Divorce Law News, Family Law, Legal Advice, Paternity, Uncategorized

The use of social media, which includes texting, e-mails, YouTube, Facebook, Craigslist, Twitter, Tumbler, comments, Snapchat, Instant Messenger, flicks, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn, has become almost the main way people communicate not only information but often explicit pictures and videos of how they live their lives. While this can be interesting and often entertaining, it can also provide a “not so private’ inside look at a person’s lifestyle, viewpoints, and even their physical appearance. While there is a sense of privacy for most of the social media in that you must be “invited” to view another person’s postings, that person...