Jacksonville Divorce Attorney Blog

January 8, 2013

How to handle life insurance during a Florida divorce

Negotiating a divorce settlement can be stressful, especially when tension is high and your spouse insists on contesting every last detail. One thing that often is last on people’s priority list, but which should not be overlooked, is insurance.

Insurance policies are standard parts of settlement agreements. The spouse who pays alimony or child support is commonly expected to maintain a life insurance policy that would cover the debt owed to the spouse or children on the receiving end of the money, in case the payer dies while a debt is owed.

If you’re the spouse who is the beneficiary, you must be certain that the policy amount is sufficient to cover your children’s educations, your mortgage and related debt. It’s important to consider sticking in guarantees that forbid a lapse, cancellation or change of beneficiaries to the life insurance policy.

January 7, 2013

The impact of divorce on a Florida small business

by David M. Goldman

Divorce is a hard enough process for anyone to go through and there are lots of complicated financial decisions that must be made. The money worries can multiply for small business owners who have the added concern of how the divorce will affect their livelihood and even employees.

First things first, your business will likely need to be valued in connection with the distribution of marital assets. This will mean a financial expert may need to go over the records of the company and ask questions about expenses and revenue streams. You’ll need to produce extensive documents to verify the numbers in this process. Sometimes valuations, especially complicated ones, can be expensive. Many times each party insists on having their own expert look at the books. The process can be time consuming and can serve as a distraction for employees who must spend time gathering documents.

Though the worst-case scenario in many business owners’ minds is that the company will have to be sold to pay the spouse his or her share of the marital assets, there are ways to minimize the impact of divorce on a small business.

January 4, 2013

Don’t Put Your Drama on Facebook!

by David M. Goldman

Facebook is a good resource to communicate with old friends. Some people find it useful for such odd things as improving your heart rate or landing a job by networking. But one thing using Facebook may hurt is your chances of getting a fair hearing if you are going through a Florida Divorce or a Child Custody proceeding.

Facebook based circumstantial evidence has been used by 81percent of its members according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

You are probably thinking that you set your facebook account’s privacy settings high and you’ve blocked your ex, so they can’t see damaging information. But that does not stop your “friends” from forwarding damaging information.

January 4, 2013

Winter – Usually the Busiest Season for Divorce in Florida

by David M. Goldman

While most of us look forward to a happy New Year as we head into January, many couples in Jacksonville marital problems are thinking about taking the first steps towards separation.

Winter is widely regarded in the legal profession as the busiest time of year. Jacksonville Divorce lawyers find that a lot of people who are having marriage difficulties try to get through Christmas, especially if they have children to think about, but once the stressful festivities are over, they see the New Year as the ideal time to make a fresh start.

Legal Seperation in Florida is not valid so the decision and implementation of a separate is one of the most important step in ending a relationship. the decisions you may during seperation or without advice of counsel can affect you for the rest of your life. It can change the division of assets, child custody, child support and even who gets to keep the marital home. The emotional upheaval, worries about how much the divorce will cost, and how it will affect your children make it a time fraught with worry and uncertainty.

January 3, 2013

Russian Ban on Adoptions Will Hurt Families Seeking To Adopt

by David M. Goldman

On December 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law Russian Federal Law No. 186614-6, which prohibits the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens. This law went into effect on January 1, 2013.

Prior to traveling to Russia, The United States State Department strongly encourages families, in cooperation with their adoption service providers, to confirm that Russian authorities will process their adoptions to conclusion and provide all required documents.

It remains unclear whether Russian immigration authorities will allow adoptees to depart the country and whether families in this situation will encounter legal complications with Russian authorities. Because of the Russian Christmas Holidays, which are celebrated later than in the United States, Russian Government offices will remain closed until January 8th.

January 3, 2013

Florida Millionaire Dad Gets Jail Time After Custody Dispute

by David M. Goldman

As most everyone realizes, some child custody cases can quickly become heated between the two feuding parents. More often than one might like to admit, one of the parents might engage in some less than honorable behavior. One millionaire father in Florida recently did just that and is now finding himself in hot water.

The Florida dad decided to take his custody case into his own hands, ignoring the ruling by the judge presiding over his divorce. While his actions did help resolve the dispute in his favor, it also ended with a jail sentence of 180 days. Not quite the bargain he was hoping for.

So what did the dad do to warrant such severe criminal sanctions? He made the mistake of ignoring a judge. Family law judges have tremendous power in custody cases and when they issue an order requiring specific action, failure to follow that order can result in an individual being held in contempt of court. In the Florida case, the father was ordered to enroll his son in a boarding school across the country. Apparently believing that he knew best, the father ignored the judge and instead consented to the minor son’s marriage.

December 28, 2012

Spouse Stops Paying Out of State Child Support: What to Do?

by David M. Goldman

So what do you do when your Ex Spouse decides that since you are now out of state, he or she can ignore his or her child support order or obligations? An out of state child support order can be “domesticated” in Florida even if the obligation was created from another state. What domestication does is bring the out of state child support order into Florida’s Jurisdiction so the court system here can enforce it. Once the child support order is domesticated, the Florida court can determine how much is owed, how much interest is owed and potentially hold your ex-spouse in contempt of court for failure to meet their child support obligations. One prerequisite, the children must be living with you.

A contempt order can send the nonpayer to jail until they make arrangement to pay if it is shown that they have the ability to pay and are refusing to make child support payments. The judge is much more likely to order them to enter into a payment plan with a deduction order so the child support is taken out of their paycheck each payday.

If you have any questions about Domestication of an out of state child support order or any other family law issues, please give us a call at 904-685-1200 or fill out the contact us form on right hand side of this page.

December 27, 2012

DNA Doesn’t Always Determine Paternity Of The Legal Father

by David M. Goldman

Few Floridians realize that although the DNA test is the strongest evidence we can get to prove actual genetic relationships that there is a difference between Legal Fatherhood and Genetic Fatherhood in Florida.

For instance if a Legal Father finds out that he is not the Genetic Father of the child and despite this fact allowed himself to be listed on the child’s birth certificate, he cannot disestablish his paternity. Any even trickier provision states that a Legal Father cannot disestablish his paternity if a government agency directed him to take a DNA test and he refused. The reason for the refusal appears to be irrelevant, so if he doesn’t want to pay the cost of a DNA test, he loses his right to deny that the child is his.

December 24, 2012

Family Law Attorneys Promote Balanced Approach to Alimony Reform for 2013 Session of the Florida Legislature

by David M. Goldman

From the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar:

As the start of the 2013 legislative session approaches, one of the items for debate among advocates will be Florida’s alimony statutes. Florida currently enjoys some of the most progressive alimony laws in the nation and the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar has worked closely with members of the legislature to pass good public policy that is fair and equitable to all parties. As a result of the efforts of the Section through changes made to the alimony statutes in 2010 and 2011, fewer cases are litigated and more are settled.

“The Family Law Section believes any new legislation should set a reasonable approach toward improvements,” said Carin M. Porras, chair of the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar. “In the upcoming legislative session, we will be working to educate policy makers and the general public to clarify misconceptions about Florida’s alimony statutes; misconceptions such as permanent alimony payors are prohibited from retiring or the income of a second husband or wife creates a basis for an upward modification of alimony.”

December 21, 2012

Can DCF Terminate My Parental Rights?

by David M. Goldman

As a Jacksonville custody lawyer, I often deal with cases where the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Florida has started an investigation of parents because someone has anonymously called in an allegation of abuse on the child. When DCF begins an investigation, often the Department will remove the child from the parent’s home. This is called a “shelter”. If you or someone you know has been accused of harming a child and DCF is investigating, you need a custody attorney in Jacksonville, Florida to help you. There is a chance that the Department could terminate your parental rights and place your child up for adoption in the future without the help of a skilled Jacksonville, Florida custody lawyer who is trained in dependency in Florida.