Recent Blog Posts
Same Sex Couples and Child Custody: Whether Your Name Is on the Birth Certificate Is More Important Than Your Genetic Relationship to the Child
LGBT families have existed much longer than the law has acknowledged them. Now that same sex couples can legally marry in Florida, the family courts must treat the co-parenting rights of same sex couples who divorce the same way that they treat the co-parenting rights of opposite sex couples. Meanwhile, advances in assisted reproductive… Read More »
If You Owe Past Due Child Support, Your Coronavirus Stimulus Check Could Go Straight to Your Ex
Couples who do not have children together can often make a clean break after their divorce, unless they were married for many years or their marital property is very valuable. If you and your ex-spouse have children together, your disagreements with your ex about how much money is required to meet your children’s basic… Read More »
The Florida Stay at Home Order and Your Parenting Plan: Do Be Flexible, but Don’t Make Unilateral Decisions
Gov. DeSantis has issued a statewide order for Floridians to stay at home except to give or receive essential services, such as buying or delivering food, seeking medical care, or working at a job the government has deemed essential. Staying at home for weeks on end is hard enough when you are an adult… Read More »
Can the Court Stop Your Ex-Spouse from Bad Mouthing You?
The desire to talk trash about your ex-spouse, especially while your divorce is still pending, is virtually universal, and in most cases, the freedom of speech clause in the First amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects your right to do so. In certain cases, though, saying negative things about your ex-spouse can cross the… Read More »
Frequent in-Person Contact with Both Parents Is Essential for Young Children, So Your Plans to Relocate Might Have to Wait Until Your Children Are Older
Have you ever tried to have a phone conversation or video chat session with a toddler? It isn’t easy. If you can get the child to pay attention at all, you can only interact with the child when an adult who knows how to operate the phone is acting as an intermediary. The best-case… Read More »
You Can Hold Your Ex-Spouse in Contempt of Court for Failure to Pay Child Support but Not for Distribution of Property
By the early twentieth century, the prevailing sentiment was that debtors’ prisons do not belong in a just, democratic society. While the idea that no one should face criminal penalties because of financial hardships beyond their control is a noble one, there are some instances where the courts can treat you like a criminal… Read More »
How to Make the Law Recognize You and Your Wife Both as Mothers of Your Child
As assisted reproductive technologies become more reliable and more widespread, the definition of the phrase “biological parent” is changing. If a child is conceived from one woman’s egg but gestated in another woman’s uterus, which one is the biological mother? In short, it depends. In some cases, one woman is the mother, and the… Read More »
Supervised Visitation Arrangements Should Be Temporary
When courts determine how much parenting time to allot to each parent in a divorce, one of the factors they consider is whether the children are at risk of witnessing or becoming victims of domestic violence or any other kind of abuse in each parent’s house. Even if, before or after you filed for… Read More »
What Happens to Your Alimony Obligations When One Former Spouse Assumes Responsibility for the Adult Children’s College Tuition?
Florida laws regarding alimony aim to enable both spouses to maintain their pre-divorce standard of living. Therefore, if one spouse was a stay-at-home parent throughout the marriage, the other spouse might have to make hefty alimony payments. If the marriage lasted longer than 17 years, the alimony obligations could even be permanent, ending only… Read More »
Reasons for Marriage Annulment in Florida
If asked to name what the family courts do in Florida, the first things that come to mind are probably divorce, child custody and child support decisions, and adoption. You probably do not think of annulment. Today, we most often hear of marriage annulment in a religious context, such as if a church annuls… Read More »
