How essential is the ability of parents to put aside their personal feelings about each other and put the needs of their children first? You only need to look to Florida Statute 61.13 to see that the Court places great importance on parents being able to separate the feelings they have for each other with […]
Tag: DOM Florida
Another Disappointing Year Without Alimony Reform In Florida
The Alimony Bill of 2015 is dead, a casualty of the budget battle in the Florida Legislature. Hopes were running high that this year the legislature would amend the alimony statute to make it more predictable and more fair to Florida citizens, but those hopes were dashed when the legislative session expired without the bill […]
How Does Reunification Work In Cases Of Alienation?
If a parent has been absent from a child’s life for a significant time, it may be helpful to hire a mental health professional to assist the temporarily absent parent to reconnect with the child. Children, especially young children, who have not seen a parent for a long time, may be unsure of the parent […]
Arquette v. Rutter
The followingis a child support modification case under UIFSA. The Florida court never obtained subject matter jurisdiction allowing it to modify the foreign court’s child support order, so the modification was void. UIFSA has specific requirements to grant a state the jurisdiction to modify a foreign court’s child support order, none of which was satisfied […]
Wood v. Blunck
The following is an alimony modification case. The substantial change of circumstances necessary to modify an alimony award must bear on either the payee spouse’s need for alimony or the payor spouse’s ability to pay it. When the payee spouse’s need decreases significantly, alimony should ordinarily be modified downward even if the payor spouse has […]
Child Support
As attorneys, we are often asked when a client should begin to pay child support, or if they should pay at all. The Court has the ability to order child support retroactively to the date of filing, the date of separation, or up to two years prior to the start of the case in a […]
Terkeurst v. Terkeurst
In the attached child support case, the award of child support and arrears is reversed and remanded for recalculation. The trial court did not use the proper method for substantial shared timesharing. The parties had a 50/50 timesharing arrangement, but the trial court failed to use the gross-up method to calculate the child support, and […]
Undifferentiated Family Support
When there are viable claims for both alimony and child support, often the Court will award “undifferentiated family support”, which is a combined number that will encompass both types of awards. This can be an opportunity to get a tax benefit normally associated with alimony but not available for child support, but one should be […]
Exclusive Use Of The Marital Home
During a marriage the parties enjoy a status that is similar to a partnership. That is, all assets and liabilities of the partnership (marriage) are jointly owned in equal proportions by the partners, including the marital home. Partners in a business venture may define their partnerships in unequal proportions (for example, one partner may have […]
Holiday Gift Giving
The holiday season is upon us. If you are in the middle of a divorce or paternity case, you are likely feeling pressure to make the holidays extra special. You may be tempted to overspend on gifts for your children in order to make up for the confusion they are feeling or for “breaking up” […]