Recent Blog Posts
Are Gifts From Extended Family Members Marital Property?
If you get divorced, then you have to divide your marital property with your ex-spouse, but you get to keep your separate property. Florida is an equitable distribution state, so you don’t have to divide the marital property in half; instead, you can agree with your spouse on how to divide it, or the… Read More »
Selling Marital Assets That Have Little Or No Value
Florida’s equitable distribution laws do not apply exclusively to marital assets; in some divorce cases, the couple’s marital and nonmarital debts are an even more contentious issue than the couple’s assets. Equitable distribution means dividing the couple’s marital assets and debts to enable both spouses, to whatever extent possible, to live at a comparable… Read More »
Will The Court Reduce Your Child Support Obligations If You Are Also Financially Supporting Your Own Parents?
The court determines child support based on the number of days per year that the children spend with each parent, as well as each parent’s income and necessary expenses. The family courts of Florida have decided many cases where parents requested modification of child support based on the parent’s expenses, which included financially supporting… Read More »
It’s Still Marital Property If You Acquired It After You And Your Spouse Separated
According to Florida law, when a couple gets divorced, all their marital property is subject to equitable distribution, which means that the court will divide it in the fairest way possible. Unless you sign a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement indicating otherwise, all income the parties earn and all the assets they acquire during the… Read More »
Beware Of Loopholes In Prenuptial Agreements
If you and your fiancé can talk calmly about prenuptial agreements, that bodes well for the prognosis of your marriage. If you can easily agree on what you want the terms of the prenup to be, or even just on what your motivations are for signing the prenup, that is even better. At their… Read More »
You Don’t Have To Share Your Separate Assets With Your Ex-Spouse, But You Must Disclose Them To The Divorce Court
One of the most common sources of prolonged dispute in divorce cases is the classification and valuation of the couple’s marital and separate property. Marital property, which includes income earned and assets acquired during the marriage, is subject to equitable distribution, meaning that the court decides on a case-by-case basis the fairest way to… Read More »
Modifying Alimony Obligations After An Involuntary Reduction In Income
Permanent alimony is forever, but the amount is, by nature, modifiable. If you keep paying alimony to your ex-spouse until one of you dies, it goes without saying that your financial circumstances will change. For example, when you retire, your income will be lower than it was while you were working, but your ex’s… Read More »
Bankruptcy Filings Are A Recipe For A Messy Divorce
One of the worst things about divorce is the feeling of uncertainty about your future that it causes. Will you ever find another partner, and if you don’t, will you be lonely? How will the divorce affect your relationship with your children? How much will you have to downgrade your lifestyle? To what extent… Read More »
Mother-In-Law’s Generosity Complicates Parties’ Divorce
Personal finance advice columnists will tell you that lending money to family members is a recipe for family conflict as well as for financial stress. The only thing worse than lending money to a family member is giving a family member a substantial sum of money and leaving things ambiguous as to whether the… Read More »
Even If The House Is A Non-Marital Asset, Its Appreciation In Value May Be Subject To Equitable Distribution
Pursuant to Florida’s equitable distribution laws, the Florida family courts are not in the business of nitpicking about who earned which money during the marriage or who incurred which debts. All assets acquired and income earned during the marriage count as marital property, and unless the parties agree in a marital settlement agreement how… Read More »