DIY Divorce in Florida

Florida Divorce: Are Your Parents on Your Deed?

In a Florida divorce, one of the tasks is to divide your marital property. Many couples starting out have their parents co-sign the mortgage, which often requires that your parents be co-owners of the property. So they're on the deed to your marital home. And now you're getting a divorce.

If your parents are on the deed to the marital home, they are co-owners of the property. In fact, one half is owned by the two of you and one half is owned by your parents. Even if only one parent is on the deed, that parent owns half of the property; it's not one-third each!

Your case could be made more complicated if parents also provided part of the down payment for the marital home as a "loan" with the expectation that someday it would be repaid. Especially if you didn't sign a note for the loan.

What all this means is that your parents must be made parties to your divorce if they're on your deed.

This point of Florida divorce law actually inspired DIY Divorce in Florida. My client's dad was on the deed but not a party to the divorce case. Different interpretations of their homemade settlement agreement arose. And nearly $20,000 in attorney fees and costs and 2 years later, the court finally removed the house provisions from the divorce final judgment because the dad was not a party.

This post illustrates 4 important points:

1. Florida divorce law sometimes defies logic
2. It's expensive to fix a do-it-yourself mistake
3. It's important to find out what the law is before representing yourself in a Florida divorce
4. It's far cheaper to get expert advice before you have a final judgment

In fact, it didn't cost you a cent to learn this important point of Florida divorce law. Use the categories to your right to explore other Florida divorce law and procedure topics for your do it yourself Florida divorce case.

If you think you've got what it takes to represent yourself, get our Special Report: Do You Have What it Takes? Avoiding the 3 Most Common Mistakes Divorcing Parents Make. It's free too. You can't afford not to be educated when you're representing yourself in a Florida divorce.

In a Florida divorce, one of the tasks is to divide your marital property. Many couples starting out have their parents co-sign the mortgage, which often requires that your parents be co-owners of the property. So they're on the deed to your marital home. And now you're getting a divorce.

If your parents are on the deed to the marital home, they are co-owners of the property. In fact, one half is owned by the two of you and one half is owned by your parents. Even if only one parent is on the deed, that parent owns half of the property; it's not one-third each!

Your case could be made more complicated if parents also provided part of the down payment for the marital home as a "loan" with the expectation that someday it would be repaid. Especially if you didn't sign a note for the loan.

What all this means is that your parents must be made parties to your divorce if they're on your deed.

This point of Florida divorce law actually inspired DIY Divorce in Florida. My client's dad was on the deed but not a party to the divorce case. Different interpretations of their homemade settlement agreement arose. And nearly $20,000 in attorney fees and costs and 2 years later, the court finally removed the house provisions from the divorce final judgment because the dad was not a party.

This post illustrates 4 important points:

1. Florida divorce law sometimes defies logic
2. It's expensive to fix a do-it-yourself mistake
3. It's important to find out what the law is before representing yourself in a Florida divorce
4. It's far cheaper to get expert advice before you have a final judgment

In fact, it didn't cost you a cent to learn this important point of Florida divorce law. Use the categories to your right to explore other Florida divorce law and procedure topics for your do it yourself Florida divorce case.

If you think you've got what it takes to represent yourself, get our Special Report: Do You Have What it Takes? Avoiding the 3 Most Common Mistakes Divorcing Parents Make. It's free too. You can't afford not to be educated when you're representing yourself in a Florida divorce.

Florida Divorce: What Exactly IS Co-Mingling?

Determining what are marital assets can be confusing during a divorce. "Co-mingling" is a term you  hear. So what exactly is it?

Co-mingling, in the true sense, is mixing marital and non-marital assets together. A second scenario is often called co-mingling: using marital money to enhance the value of non-marital assets or, the opposite, using non-marital assets to support or enhance the marriage. Today we talk about true co-mingling.

First, as of July 1, 2008, if an asset is titled jointly as tenants by the entireties, (sometimes called JTWROS) no matter when it was received, it is presumed to be a marital asset. The spouse who wants to claim it is non-marital has to prove it by clear and convincing evidence.

Second, if the asset is money, depositing it into any joint account means that it will likely be treated as marital. As we've discussed before, depositing your inheritance into a joint account is a prime example of this type of co-mingling.

Third, for assets other than money, they must remain traceable to a non-marital source. That means there must be a clear "paper trail" for the asset. As of July 2008, even if traceable, there will still be a presumption that the asset is marital if it is titled by the entireties.

If it all sounds confusing, join us in a free teleclass to see if you have what it takes to represent yourself.

Related Posts

Florida Divorce : Marital & Non-Marital Assets
Florida Equitable Distribution: I Do, You Sue, What's Mine?
Florida Marital Debt - Taxes & Bad Business Deals
Florida Divorce & Lawsuit Awards
But It Was My Inheritance!
In Florida It Is Easy To Co-Mingle

Florida Equitable Distribution: I Do, You Sue, What's Mine?

During a Florida divorce, marital assets are equitably divided. Personal injury and worker’s compensation lawsuit awards are not specifically addressed in Florida divorce law, but Florida courts analyze these awards to determine what portion, if any, is considered marital property to be divided during the divorce.    

The portions of the award that include lost wages or lost earning capacity, awards from medical expenses that have been paid from marital funds and awards for which no allocation can be made are considered marital. Portions that are solely property of the injured spouse include damages for pain and suffering, and any economic damages occurring in the future (i.e. future lost wages and/or medical expenses).

Unlike personal injury and worker’s compensation awards, disability benefits are not subject to equitable distribution between spouses at time of divorce, even if the disability benefits are paid through a private disability insurance policy purchased with marital funds during the marriage. It is
true even when the spouse’s interest in retirement benefits is extinguished by that spouse’s entitlement
to disability benefits.

Florida Divorce Trend Continues: Unequal Distribution Reversed

After twenty-one years of marriage, the wife filed a petition for dissolution of marriage. She asked for an unequal distribution because a substantial portion of the parties' assets was derived from gifts and inheritances she received from her family both before and during the marriage. The problem was, the Husband managed the assets so they became co-mingled. Co-mingled assets are considered marital assets in Florida.

The court used the Wife's financial contribution as a basis for an unequal distribution of the marital assets. The court reasoned that, because the wife contributed $2,227,167 of her separate assets to the marriage, while the husband contributed less than $100,000, it would be equitable for the wife to receive more than half of the marital assets. The net effect of the trial court's division was that the wife received approximately 72% of the marital assets, while the husband received about 28% of the marital assets.

On appeal, the court reversed the unequal distribution of assets and liabilities. Here the Wife co-mingled her nonmarital assets so her unequal contribution cannot be used to support an unequal distribution. Continuing a 10 year trend, the appeals court vetoed the unequal distribution of marital assets in Florida.

Florida Lemon Law and Divorce

Today, Sergei Lemberg, a lemon law attorney, discusses what you need to know about new car lemons and their implications for your divorce.

With all of the cars, SUVs, trucks, motorcycles, and RVs being manufactured in the U.S. and abroad, it’s reasonable to expect that some will have defects. After all, vehicles are incredibly complex pieces of machinery and a lot of things can go wrong. In the best-case scenario, any defects that weren’t caught by quality assurance are quickly repaired by the dealer. In the worst-case scenario, you have a vehicle with pronounced defects that make it run poorly, that constitute a safety hazard, or that reduces its value – and the dealer or manufacturer refuse to buy back or replace it.

When that happens, Florida lemon law can come to the rescue. Florida lemon law new passenger vehicles, SUVs, vans, and trucks under 10,000 pounds that are purchased in Florida. It also covers

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