Divorce Lawyer Attorney Jacksonville Family Law Florida

Divorce

If you have been served with a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage or if you are just thinking about a divorce, you need to think about the short term and long term stability and safety of your family. A Divorce can be a very emotional event and you need a dedicated and experienced divorce lawyer working for you.

A divorce can be a confusing ordeal.

Parenting Plans and Parental Responsibility

In most cases parents will share custody and will be jointly responsible for ensuring that major decisions affecting the welfare of the child will be determined jointly. One parent may have the child for a majority of the time, meaning that parent’s home will be the primary residence of the child. The other parent would normally be ensured frequent and continuing contact with the child. When the parents can’t agree on which parent should have the majority of the child's time, the court will order an evaluation.

The evaluator will be a person jointly agreed on by the parties (or appointed by the judge), who is recognized by the judge and the attorneys for both parties as someone whose training and background make them uniquely able to help the court determine which parent would be best suited to have primary custody. Both parties will share the cost of the evaluator unless ordered otherwise. For more detailed information about what’s involved in a child custody evaluation, please call the office.

In today’s Divorce proceedings, both mother and father are given the same consideration in determining custody regardless of the children’s age or sex. Because of historical experiences, there is a public perception that the mother has automatic custody unless she is judged to be unfit. This is no longer true. The father has an equal opportunity to gain primary custody, depending on the unique aspects of the case and on the best interests of the children.

If the court determines that shared parental custody would not be in the best interests of the child, then one parent may be given sole parental responsibility and custody.
Child Support

The parent with whom the child does not spend a majority of its time will be required to provide a reasonable share of the cost of housing, food, clothing, education, medical and other needs typically provided by Florida parents. Guidelines for child support are provided in Florida Statutes. [Florida Statute 61.30].

A party's child support obligation can be affected by the amount of time they spend with the child. If the parent who does not spend a majority of his/her time with the child has the children more than 40% overnights, then his/her child support obligation will be reduced or eliminated, depending on the specific financial circumstances of the parties.

The child support amount that one party pays to the other can also be impacted by: (1) the day care or after school expense paid by a parent, and (2) the cost of medical insurance for the child.

Expenses such as rent, mortgage, car payment, gas, food, clothing, and utilities are not relevant when determining a party's child support obligation.
Relocation

Parents must consult each other on the issue of relocation. The primary custodial parent can no longer relocate more than 50 miles away from his or her current residence without the agreement of the secondary custodial parent and by following the procedures outlined in Florida Statute. [Florida Statute 61.13001]. Since the statute became law in 2006, relocation is now a hot issue in the family court and strict compliance is followed.
Division of Property (Equitable Distribution)

The primary focus of many cases is the division of marital property. The judge will consider the following factors when dividing marital property: contribution to the marriage by each party, economic circumstances of each party, duration of the marriage, desirability of retaining an asset, intentional dissipation or depletion of an asset or any other factor that is needed to obtain a fair result. The date on which property was acquired is essential in determining whether as asset is
"marital" or "non-marital." In general, these non-marital assets are no subject to division by the court and remain the sole property of the purchasing party.
Alimony

The judge can award alimony (spousal support) to a spouse after considering the relevant economic facts: standard of living while married, length of marriage, age and health of the parties, financial resources and assets of each party, contribution of each party to the marriage, and any other factor that is needed to obtain a fair result. Alimony can be permanent, lump sum, or temporary. If one of the spouses lacks the skills to achieve financial independence, then the court may award alimony for a period of time to give that spouse the opportunity to obtain the necessary training or education. In a long term marriage, it is possible that the court could decide that a spouse is unable to reach financial independence and order permanent alimony.