DIY Divorce in Florida

Free Help for Your Florida Divorce!

Representing yourself in a Florida divorce or other family law case can be confusing and scary.

If you're not sure whether you can represent yourself, check out our Special Report: Do You Have What It Takes To Represent Yourself? Avoiding the 3 Most Common Mistakes Divorcing Parents Make.

Welcome to the DIY Divorce(sm) in Florida blog. We provide legal information and tips for people representing themselves in Florida divorces and other family law cases like paternity.

We also offer courses and materials to help you feel confident that you understand what to do and when to do it in your Florida divorce case. Check out our Florida DIY Divorce FREE tele-class on Florida Divorce if you think you've got what it takes to represent yourself.

Materials and classes are prepared and presented by Pamela S. Wynn, a licensed Florida family law attorney with more than 24 years of experience.

Check back often for more tips and learning opportunities!

Ms. Wynn does not accept representation through this blog and cannot be your attorney, but she will share what she has learned with you and teach you to do-it-yourself and do it right!

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Travel Planning for Life

Today's post is from Carolyn Ellis, creator of the Thrive After Divorce program.

Traveling to a new place brings out the explorer spirit of curiosity in us. But what would life be like if we treated every day as one big adventure? To thrive in life means to bring a sense of wonder and excitement to each day, and not just for those few weeks when we may travel to some new destination. We can adapt some of the strategies we use when planning a trip in our daily life as well.

Set a Course and Get Prepared

In real life, many of us don’t have a clear plan or itinerary for where we want to go. Without a clear destination in mind, it’s no wonder sometimes people feel like life is passing them by.

The first step is to decide where you want to go… What itinerary are you planning for your life? Once you consciously choose your destination, you get prepared. You figure out how to get there, what kind of currency and immunizations you’ll need, and what kind of clothing you need to bring.

Create an Itinerary

In our day-to-day lives, we tend to not give our plans the kind of persistent and consistent action needed to realize the results we want. In terms of preparation, we leave ourselves ill-informed or under-resourced to tackle the plans we do have.

Once the vacation destination has been selected, most of us will come up with at least a rough game plan or itinerary. What do you want to see and experience? How long will you want to stay there?

Pack along our Curiosity

Curiosity broadens our horizons, so be sure to bring it with you. An important ingredient of any adventure is a strong sense of curiosity. Pretend you are an explorer, setting off to find out something new and wondrous. Be open and present.

It’s not Personal

When you travel, you just know that unexpected things are bound to happen. The hotel you booked is a dive. The only day you have to visit that world-famous museum is the one day of the year it’s closed.

2009 Florida Laws About Divorce & Kids

The Florida legislature passed the Children's Issues Bill (catchy title, eh?) in the session that just ended. The bill was sent to Governor Crist on June 3rd. Unless vetoed, it will become law on June 18th.

•  -- The bill recognizes and authorizes the parenting coordination process and provides long-overdue qualifications for those serving as parenting coordinators and standards and safeguards for the process itself. 

•  -- The bill corrects a mistaken interpretation of last year's parenting bill that modification actions no longer required a showing of a substantial, material and unanticipated change in circumstances.  

• -- The bill provides needed clarification that there is no presumption for or against any particular time-sharing schedule. 

•  -- The bill clarifies and streamlines the process to be followed when a parent seeks to relocate his or her residence.  

So, stay tuned. When/if the bill actually becomes law, we'll break it all down for you.

Update: Gov. Crist signed the law. It becomes effective October 1, 2009.

Do It For Your Kids - And Yourself

If you've been wondering where I've been, I quit smoking last week. And I used to blog and smoke. So right now being at the computer is dangerous territory for me. 

Today, people on Twitter reminded me that I'm worth it and gave me encouragement, as they have each of the past 7 days. And they pointed out that President Obama is still sneak smoking  and it's bad for his kids - and yours. He is the Example-in-Chief. That's how your kids think of you too.

I've quit twice before. This time I tried all the usual ways that worked before, but they didn't work. Quit dates came and went. I did not have a burning desire to quit. In fact, I LOVED smoking. But the facts are the facts and smoking IS dumb.

So enrolled in a class. The material wasn't new, but being accountable to the class members and teacher helped motivate me. It's been 7 days now. I don't recall it being this intense the other two times. If you are smoking, quit. It's an amazing, hellish, worthwhile thing to do- For your kids and for yourself. If you're interested in the teleclass I took, let me know.

So each day I have a little more concentration. I'll be back here soon. For now, I'm taking it one smoke-free day at a time and getting ready for the next Tele Test Drive Florida divorce class on Saturday.

If you are thinking about representing yourself in a Florida divorce, you should enroll in our complimentary Tele Test Drive class "Do You Have What It Takes to Represent Yourself in a Florida Divorce?"

Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force Wants YOU

Many of you are facing foreclosure issues during your divorce. We're always looking for information to help you. Now, the Florida Supreme Court’s Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force is offering you a chance to be heard. The Task Force has online surveys about mortgage foreclosure cases for borrowers, lawyers and lenders/holders at http://www.flcourts.org/gen_public/adr/index.shtml.  The borrowers survey is available in English, Spanish and Creole.

Is There a HARP in Your Divorce?

Today's post is from Delores Moore, a Home Mortgage Consultant with the Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Office in West Palm Beach.

You may have heard in the news recently that several new mortgage refinance programs have been released through the Federal Stimulus package. These programs  -- called the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) - will no doubt be very instrumental in helping struggling home owners restructure their housing debt with more long-term manageable loans. Please note that only individuals whose existing mortgage is owned by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will be eligible for these programs.

 

The guidelines for these refinances are uniform across the industry, and have some unique characteristics and requirements that could impact divorcing couples who need of mortgage relief.  In an effort to help empower you with the knowledge to make a sound decision, I have itemized below a few of the specific parameters of these programs that will directly impact any refinance of your marital home.

 

• RATE/TERM REFINANCE ONLY – The customer can only rewrite the existing balance of their first mortgage. They can not combine an existing 1^st and 2^nd mortgage into a new single loan amount.  They can not take out any cash, even if the purpose of that cash is to pay off a former spouse. Any existing 2^nd lien must be subordinated. 

• LOAN PARTIES ON THE REFINANCE –  In short,  additional parties can be ADDED to a loan (the new spouse, for example), but never can any parties be REMOVED as a result of the refinancing, even if