Divorce

March 25, 2011

Joint Custody In Florida: Does It Work or Does It Create Problems?

As a Jacksonville, Florida custody attorney, I have seen a big shift in the ideology of the courts in providing for joint custody of children in Florida. However, couples experiencing divorce in Florida are usually unaware of the difference between shared parental responsibility (aka “joint custody”) and 50/50 timesharing. In Florida, shared parental responsibility means that both parents will retain all rights as parents and will be included in having input in any major decision involving the child’s life. Timesharing in Florida is exactly that. How much time the parents get with the child. Equal timesharing in Florida has it’s advantages for the child in some ways. The courts will always look to the child’s best interests and every case is different. Some advantages are that the child will get to spend equal time with both parents and have the opportunity to create a loving bond with both parents. Some problems that arise in 50/50 timesharing lie in scheduling conflicts as well as the child never really having one single place to call “home”. These are some conflicts to overcome when seeking “joint custody” in Florida.

March 23, 2011

Co-parenting Beyond Divorce In Florida

by David M. Goldman

When parties divorce in Jacksonville, Florida, a Florida divorce lawyer can help you through difficult issues such as co-parenting beyond divorce, financial issues including mortgage issues, division of property and most importantly, in dealing with the best interests of your child or children. Parents who divorce in Florida and everywhere for that matter, must realize that the best interests of children does not stop after the divorce of the parties. The need for children to have a loving relationship with both parties continues throughout life. In divorce in Florida, parents are now facing concerns due to mortgages on the marital home. Children need to be assured that they will have a place in which to live after the divorce is final. A Jacksonville divorce attorney can help you with solutions such a bankruptcy in Florida and/or short sales of the marital home. We can also provide advice on how best to divide your assets and liabilities as well as consumer debt protection. All is necessary information when divorcing in Florida.

March 21, 2011

Child Custody Florida: It Doesn’t Have To Mean War

by David M. Goldman

I’ve been practicing as a Jacksonville, Florida custody attorney for almost ten years, and in most of my custody cases, I can’t understand how at one point, the parties loved each other so much that they created a human being only now to glare at one another with absolute hate. Child custody in Florida does not have to be an all out war. For one thing, the parties must realize that at some point, they may be grandparents together, the former husband may be walking the daughter down the aisle or the parties may be present at the same time for birthdays and other special events. Child custody in Jacksonville, Florida is never easy and a child custody attorney in Florida is absolutely necessary, but through good counsel and good negotiations, steps can be made to allow for a future without war.

March 16, 2011

Divorce Affected by the Economy

by David M. Goldman

An article titled, “Breaking up is hard to do because of the economy,” describes how many couples although wanting to file for divorce are stuck in their marriages because of financial woe’s. The article describes a couple who made the decision to end their marriage in the fall of 2008, but are still married and living under the same roof due to a combination of employment difficulties and the depressed housing market.

However, Linda Lea Viken, a family law lawyer in South Dakota and president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers stated, “the backlog is starting to break free.” As a Florida Family Law Lawyer, I have seen the amount of divorces begin to rise again as the economy is slowly getting better. If you have held of filing for divorce because of the economy, but now find yourself in a better position to file, contact a Florida Family Law Lawyer today.

March 15, 2011

Wiretapping Teddy Bear Leads to Large Fine

by David M. Goldman

A concerned Nebraska mother learned the hard way that recording someone without his or her knowledge violates the Federal Wiretap Act. The mother and her father were hit with a combined $120,000 penalty for putting an audio recorder in the mother’s daughter’s teddy bear.

An article titled, “Modern Divorce: Wiretapped Teddy Bears, $120,000 in fines,” details how the mother and grandfather wiretapped the child’s father and inadvertently numerous other individuals with the hopes of gaining evidence to prove the child’s father was abusive during his unsupervised timesharing with the child.

As a Jacksonville Family Law Attorney I know many people would like to gain as much evidence as they can against the opposing party in a divorce or child custody case. However, it is important to learn from the above mentioned mother and grandfather that recording someone without his or her knowledge is not only likely inadmissible in court it can also be illegal. Contacting a Jacksonville Family Law Attorney can be an important first step in a divorce proceeding.

March 14, 2011

Effects of Social Networking and Divorce

by David M. Goldman

An American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) survey conducted just this past year found that four out of five lawyers reported an increasing number of their divorce cases citing evidence derived from social networking sites in the past five years, with Facebook leading the pack.

As a Jacksonville Divorce and Child Custody Attorney I have seen an increase in evidentiary exhibits derived from social networking sites in the past several months. While the legal evidentiary issues surrounding use of information obtained from such sites is somewhat controversial it can be a tool used for both for and against parties in a divorce or child custody case.

Contact a Jacksonville Divorce and Child Custody Attorney today for more information regarding this issue.

March 11, 2011

Military Divorce for Navy Spouses

by David M. Goldman

According to journalgazette.net women in the military are more than twice as likely to get divorced then their male comrades and more than three times as likely if they are enlisted.

As to the reason for this disparity, David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland suggests, “There’s a fair amount of equality in terms of their military roles, but as the military increasingly treats women the same as it treats men in terms of their work expectations, however, society still expects them to fulfill their family roles. And that’s not equally balanced between men and women.”

With the military in Atlantic Beach’s backyard there are likely many women and men service members in our area facing the possibility of divorce. Should you be a military member considering divorce contact an Atlantic Beach Divorce Lawyer today for the help you will need when filing for divorce.

March 10, 2011

Family Law, Divorce, and Child Custody

by David M. Goldman

In a recent article titled, ” Reason No. 172 Not to Practice Family Law” author Burt Likko describes how family law court can be a very unpleasant place to find oneself. Likko goes one to describe how transcripts and scenes from family law hearings can be “utterly miserable.”

Although, I agree family law court can be a place filled with a great deal of heated emotions between people who were once in love, I believe there can be resolutions that both parties are happy with. I believe a Ponte Vedra Family Law Attorney can be an essential ingredient toward insuring a satisfying outcome.

February 18, 2011

Mandatory Marriage Counseling in Divorce Proceedings

by David M. Goldman

A new North Dakota bill is getting a lot of attention in the North Dakota legislature, as it is proposing mandatory marriage counseling in all divorce cases. The drafters of the bill want all married couples, with the exemption of cases with substantiated allegations of domestic abuse, to wait one year to get a divorce while they attend mandatory marriage counseling.

Florida does not require mandatory marriage counseling when a married couple is seeking to obtain a divorce. Instead, in Florida the Court may refer parties to mediation in cases where parental responsibility, primary residence, timesharing, or child support are contested.

To find out more about what Florida courts require in regards to divorce proceedings contact a Neptune Beach Divorce Attorney.

February 16, 2011

Termination of Parental Rights in Florida

by David M. Goldman

Many parents who are frustrated with dealing with their ex-spouses or child’s other parent consider terminating the other parent’s rights. Parental termination is a legal process in which a parent’s legal rights are taken away. In the eyes of the court, that person ceases to be that child’s parent and has no more rights or responsibilities toward the child.

Termination of Parental rights in Florida is governed by Statute § 39.806. The Statute lays out the circumstances that are grounds for termination, which include:

Abandonment or Extreme Parental Disinterest,