Recent Blog Posts
Do You Have to Pay More Alimony Pendente Lite If Your Ex-Spouse Appeals the Court’s Decision in Your Divorce?
According to Florida law, there are a whopping six different types of alimony, but the good news is that you probably will not have to pay any of them. The court does not order divorced people to pay alimony to their former spouses unless the disadvantaged spouse has no other source of financial support;… Read More »
The Court Can Order You to Take Parenting Classes Without Also Ordering the Same for Your Ex-Spouse
If the parents of a minor child are formalizing a parenting plan, either because they are getting divorced or because they have never been married but want to establish a regular co-parenting schedule, both parents must attend a one-day class on co-parenting. It is a little bit like how anyone who wants to get… Read More »
Child Support Obligations and Contempt of Court in South Florida
If you still have your job but your employer has reduced your salary for an open-ended but temporary period as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, you are one of the lucky ones. Almost every family that created a parenting plan in or before 2019 has found that the circumstances in 2020 make it… Read More »
The Court Can Order You to Text Your Ex-Spouse Instead of Calling
When a couple with minor children gets divorced, they must finalize a parenting plan that covers many aspects of their co-parenting relationship. When you are married to your children’s other parent, you can decide at the last minute which parent is responsible for making doctors’ appointments for the children and which one should drop… Read More »
Logistical and Financial Aspects of Enrolling Children in Private School After Divorce
If you have never been divorced, you might be surprised about the length and hair-splitting level of detail in Florida parenting plans. They cover every possible point of disagreement between divorced parents regarding where children spend their time and which parent has the authority to make which decisions regarding the parenting plan. Parenting plans… Read More »
Mental Health, Medical Privacy, and Child Custody
When you read the news headlines, you see much more compassionate and realistic attitudes toward mental illness than would have been there even 20 years ago. Now that nearly a quarter of Americans have been treated for a mental illness, almost everyone knows from experience that the old stereotypes about mental illness are not… Read More »
Lamentations of the Statutory Stranger
In practice, the definition of “parent” is much broader than it is in family law. The person you consider your real mom or dad is someone who has been a consistent presence in your life since your childhood and who has provided you with moral guidance and unconditional love. The person might not be… Read More »
Courts Must Not Base Their Child Custody Decisions on Speculation About the Future
The decisions of the family courts are not just about the exchange of money to remedy prior harms or compensate one party for financial losses; by nature, court decisions about divorce and co-parenting govern how the parties will deal with each other, financially and otherwise, for at least the next several years after the… Read More »
Why Would the Court Order You to Pay $1 Per Month in Permanent Alimony?
Most alimony arrangements can be terminated early if the recipient spouse remarries, even if the alimony was originally meant to be permanent. Of course, it is possible for a couple to act as a single financial unit without being legally married. In fact, over the years, the courts heard the grievances of many divorced… Read More »
What Happens If You File for Divorce, Then Reconcile, Then File for Divorce Again?
Marriage counselors often say that their job is to help couples break up as much as to help them stay together. Sometimes people have to think all the way through how their relationship as ex-spouses would work before they decide that staying married is the best option. When couples file for the divorce but… Read More »
