Want to know more about Florida divorce? The DIY Divorce TeleTest Drive is a great way to learn more about Florida divorce law. It is also a great way to sample our tele-classes.
To accommodate those who cannot make it to an evening class, we will have a Basic Divorce Law class this Saturday, October 4th at noon. To sign up click here.
The Basic Florida Divorce Law class is FREE. Here are the topics we cover:
Types of Divorce Proceedings
The Court Process
Child Issues - Parenting Plans
Equitable Distribution of Property & Debt
Alimony
Procedural Issues in Florida Divorce
Join us this Saturday for Basic Florida Divorce Law.
When alimony is mentioned in a Florida divorce, most people think of what is called “permanent alimony.” Permanent
alimony is a monthly payment that continues until death or remarriage of the recipient.
“Rehabilitative alimony” allows a spouse to
regain financial independence after divorce. Rehabilitative alimony requires one spouse to pay for the other spouse to
obtain a skill, education, or other rehabilitation so that s/he can
eventually support his or her self.
If you seek rehabilitative alimony, it
is important that during the divorce proceeding that you present
detailed evidence of the cost of completing your education,
your prospects for future employment, and the amount of time you will
need to obtain the income you need to be self-supporting. This “rehabilitation plan,” must be credible and complete, so it is important to make your Florida rehabiliative alimony plan as accurate as possible.
The Florida divorce financial affidavit has a section for listing
"contingent assets." Contingent assets are those assets that are likely
to come into existence but are not certain yet. One of the most common
contingent assets is a lawsuit that is in progress at the time of the
divorce.
How the potential award is treated depends on what the award
represents. If the judgment is simply a joint award to both of you and
does not specify what the damages represent, the entire award will
likely be marital property. If the judgment is for lost wages or past
earning capacity, it will be
considered a marital asset because it replaces marital earnings that
would have been made during the marriage.
Even if the award is considered a marital asset, portions of it may be
non-marital and not subject to division in a divorce. For example,
compensation for future losses or pain and suffering typically belong
Divorce court is not an uncommon place to find a couple after one of them has had a failed business
venture. Financial pressure is often cited as a factor in filing for divorce. When one spouse's business goes under during the marriage and owes taxes, that tax debt is a marital debt. And since Florida is a "no-fault" state, the court will not punish one spouse for poor business decisions.
During your Florida divorce, the court will equitably distribute
marital assets and marital debts. The issue of when a debt will be classified as marital is one of timing. If the debt was incurred
during the marriage, it will be classified as marital debt even if the debt is only
in the name of one spouse and even if the debt is a result of one spouse's poor business decisions. So, if the tax debt covers the period of the marriage, it will be a marital debt and divided by the court.
Bottom line: a tax debt incurred during the marriage is a marital debt that will be divided between the spouses - even if incurred only by one spouse - in the Florida divorce process.
Florida's equitable distribution process divides marital assets, but when non-marital assets are combined or "co-mingled" with marital assets, at least part of the asset becomes marital. It happens more easily than people realize.
Florida courts routinely rule that
when marital money is used to pay the mortgage on non-marital property, the increase in equity is marital (Remember: during marriage your earnings are marital, so unless you pay from a non-marital account, the increase in equity is marital).
when marital effort results in increased value of a non-marital, that increase is marital.
when someone else manages non-marital investments and they increase in value, it is not marital
when non-marital money is deposited into a joint account, it becomes marital
If you have non-marital assets and have used marital money to improve them, realize that the increased value will be considered marital. If your spouse had a non-marital asset, like a house, and earnings or other marital funds were used to pay the mortgage you are entitled to half of the increased value. It is tricky to work through this issue and you will need to agree to a value or have an expert testify in your Florida divorce trial.
Child support was awarded, but payments are not being made. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, you are not
alone. Enforcing child support orders can be an intimidating process, but you do not have to go it alone. This is one situation when the government CAN help you. The Florida Department of Revenue is responsible for child support enforcement. You can apply for DOR services by filing an application and paying a small ($25) fee.
Here are the actions that DOR can take on your behalf:
Suspend licenses - driver's, hunting, professional
Put a lien on the non-paying parent's property
Intercept payments
federal tax refunds (and stimulus checks)
unemployment benefits
worker's compensation awards
lottery winnings over $600
File motions for contempt
In Florida, both parents have a duty to support their children. If child support payments are being made as ordered, get help through the Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Unit.
Florida parenting plans will need to cover some basic areas. Of course, the primary area will be the
timesharing schedule of the plan. When will each of you have the children with you? Holidays, school vacation days, special occasions, illnesses, and travel logistics all need to be considered when developing your schedule. An economical software program can help you see how the schedule looks on a color-coded calendar.
Some other areas related to the timesharing schedule include:
Pick up & drop off arrangements
Right of first refusal
Telephone, email and webcam contact
Transfer of clothing, toys and other child accessories
Time with extended family members on both sides
Keep in mind your family's unique situation when developing the timesharing schedule. Each family must now develop a timesharing schedule for their Florida Parenting Plan.
DIYDivorce now offers a downloadable Comprehensive Florida Parenting Plan. In Word 2003 format, the Parenting Plan is easy to customize for your family. Simply check the boxes in each section according to your agreement. The plan covers:
Florida has a strong public policy about children and divorce.
It is the public policy of this state to assure that each minor child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents
after the parents separate or the marriage of the parties is dissolved
and to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities, and
joys of childrearing.
If you cannot reach agreement about your children, the judge will consider the factors in Florida Statute 61.13(2) [scroll half way down, look below (2)(a)] when deciding whow much time the children will spend with each parent after the divorce. When you look at the factors there are two factors that relate to
fostering a relationship between the child and the other parent. This has traditionally been the most important factor for divorce judges. Now the new legal best interest factors, effective on October 1, 2008, also have a focus on past parenting behaviors.
Florida divorce judges will be looking at how parental responsibilities have been divided in the intact family when making decisions about parental timesharing in a divorce or paternity case.
To learn more about Florida divorce, parenting plans and custody, check out our free Tele-Test Drive divorce class.
DIY Divorce added new forms for your Florida divorce or other family law case this weekend. Students told us that they want easy to use forms and instructions. We worked on various forms in August and then sent them out for testing - with people just like you. The results are in. The forms ARE easy to use. The instructions are easy to understand.
At this time DIY Divorce offers:
Florida Financial Affidavit in Excel. Easy to use! NO MATH! The form calculates itself.
Florida Parenting Plan in Word 2003. Decision-making & timesharing options all included.
The prices are reasonable - only $17 for the Financial Affidavit and $87 for the Parenting Plan.
Visit the DIY Divorce in Florida site to check out all our new features. Remember, we teach you to do it yourself and do it right in your Florida divorce or other family law case.
Relocating your child after a Florida final court order, without following Florida's child relocation procedures can cause severe problems for a parent who wants to move more than 50 miles from s/he lived at the time the final order was signed. Whether you are in the divorce/ paternity phase of your case or already have a court order about the kids, the court has authority over you and can punish you for not following the rules. Here are five good reasons to follow Florida's child relocation procedures.
First, you can be held in contempt of court if you don’t follow the rules. Contempt means you willfully did not obey a court order. It's serious. Once you are found in contempt of court, the judge can order you to jail. If that happens, you will first have the opportunity to “purge” or comply with the original order. Most likely in a relocation matter, that means returning the child to your original location. But it is not only the contempt issue because part of the relocation procedure is to make new timesharing arrangements. You will have to prove to the judge that you will follow through on those arrangements. If
In a child relocation case in Florida, a judge must evaluate three different areas when one parent objects to the move: child-related factors, the relationship between the child and each parent, and parental concerns. The last post covered the child-related factors. Now we’ll cover the parenting factors that the judge must consider.
The Parent-Child Relationships
The nature, quality, extent of involvement, and duration of the child's relationship with each parent, and with siblings, half-siblings, and other significant people in the child's life. How involved has each parent been in the child's life? For how long? What activities do they do together? What's the child's relationship with step brothers and sisters and brothers and sisters?
The feasibility of preserving the relationship between the objecting parent and the child through substitute arrangements that consider “how” the contact, access, visitation, and time-sharing will
