DIY Divorce in Florida

Marital Home Appreciation - Florida Supreme Court Charts New Course

For years most Florida courts have found that passive appreciation of a nonmarital home is not a marital asset subject to equitable distribution. It used to be that when the mortgage on a non-marital home was paid from marital funds, only the decrease in the mortgage principle was treated as a marital asset and split at the divorce. Those days are gone - both the passive appreciation days and the days of only splitting the mortgage pay-down.

In Kaaa v. Kaaa, the Florida Supreme Court declared that when marital funds paid down a mortgage on a nonmarital home, the passive appreciation of the home is a marital asset subject to equitable distribution.  This is a big change, unless you are in the 1st District Court of Appeals area in the Panhandle. Read the case carefully - it changes property distribution in Florida divorces.

Imputed Income Child Support Procedures Set to Change in Florida

On October 1, 2010 some big changes are coming to the way Florida calculates child support. One of those changes has to do with the amount of and procedure to use "imputed income" when a parent fails to participate in the court process The new law change requires a court use the amount specified in the census population survey of the "full time wage" which I've been told is "PINC01," or the current population survey if a parent is not participating.

If you are interested, the general full-time worker wage in the United States is $41,945 per year in the most recent survey.

If you would like to know the answers to the Top 5 Florida Child Support Questions, provide your email address below and I'll send them to your inbox, along with the Florida Child Support Worksheet.

Big Changes Coming to Florida Child Support

The 2010 Florida Legislature made some really big changes to the way Florida child support is calculated. The Some changes become effective on October 1, 2010, but most take effect in January 2011. Under current law, the "gross up" method of calculating child support is required when the parent with less time has 40% of annual overnight (144 nights per year) time with the child. The new law requires this calculation when the parent with less time has at least 20% (73 nights) of the yearly overnights. (This will take effect in January).

Here's an example (not adjusted for tax effects): Father earns $3,000/month and Mother earns $2,000. They have 2 kids. Mother pays $100/week for after-care and Father pays $150/month for health insurance for the kids. Under current law, Father owes Mother $955/month. Under the gross up method he owes $504/month total for two children (not each). That's a bit more than a foster parent receives per child per month.

So go ahead and do the math. This is a big change in Florida child support calculation.

Child Support & Turning 18

The 2010 Florida Legislature finally changed the requirement that your child support case go back to court to petition to stop support payments when one of kids turns 18. That's the good news. The bad news is that it doesn't take effect until October 2010.

Once the change in Florida's child support law takes effect, your final judgment or settlement agreement must spell out what the new child support amounts will be as each child ages out. It must also specify when the change will take effect, eg., first month following the 18th birthday, month of 18th birthday, etc.

With the Crash Course on Florida Divorce Law, you will always know what the law requires in your Do it yourself Florida divorce. Don't be fooled by document prep companies that only fill in the blanks and don't have lawyers on staff. The Crash Course was prepared by me, a licensed Florida divorce lawyer for more than 25 years.

If you want to know the answers to the Top Five Florida Child Support Questions, provide your email address below and I will send them to your inbox along with a Florida Child Support Guidelines Wroksheet.