Jacksonville Divorce Lawyer Blog

An attorney in our Jacksonville, Florida law firm was the first attorney to get an individual's name removed from the Florida Sex Offender List based on the 2007 Romeo and Juliet Law. In Florida, criminal convictions of 17 to 18 year olds placed the tee on the Sex Offender List for having intercourse with their younger boyfriend or girlfriend. Prior to Florida adopting the Romeo & Juliet law, the law failed to distinguish between consenting teenagers and molestation of an adult with a child.
If an 18 year old, senior in high school dated a 16 year old, junior, and participated in consensual sex with that partner, the law deemed the 18 year old a sex offender or predator. Usually, the mother and/or father of the younger participant disapproved of the relationship and filed charges against the 18 year old. Upon the 18 year old's admittance of intercourse, the teen would be convicted and required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his/her life and face the day-to-tay difficulties of any other sex offender.
In July 2007, the Florida legislature passed Florida Statute 943.04354, the Romeo and Juliet Law. Persons may qualify to petition for removal from the sex offender registry if prior to the enactment of this law, teenagers were convicted of a violation of a Sexual Battery under Florida Statute 794.011 or convicted as a Lewd and Lascivious person less than 16 years of age, under Florida Statute 800.04 . Under both of these laws, the teen was required to register as a sexual offender SOLELY on the basis of a conviction for one of those offenses. A harsh punishment for someone less than 4 years older than the "victim" that was their boyfriend or girlfriend at the time.
Many laws are not retroactive, meaning they do not change what has been done in the past, however, the Romeo and Juliet Law can sometimes be used to remove individals that were victims of the old law, from the Sex Offender list . Contacting a Florida lawyer is the first step to detemrining whether you or someone you know qualifies for name restoration.

When you have children, going through a Florida divorce or Florida paternity action requires the calculation of child support. If you are going through a divorce and wondering how much child support you will receive or will be repsonsible for, a Florida divorce lawyer will be able to assist. In Florida, child support is calculated by a statute, which only consideres certain numbers.
Florida Statute 61.30 governs child support and establishes the amount which shall be ordered for support in any initial proceedings and subsequent modifications. There is a specific formula used in determining the child support amount and there are several steps used in the formula to get to the final number. Knowing how the guideline calculations work and how they relate to the unique circumstances of each case is key. Calculating child support is not a matter of blindly entering numbers into the formula discussed. It is a complicated process and it is critical for one to understand the various income types and components relative to the case at hand to accurately calculate the amounts. If you are engaged in divorce or child support proceedings, I encourage you to contact an expert to guide you through this formulaic process to ensure that you are either receiving enough income or not paying more than you should be.

In Florida divorces, Injunctions are prevalent. A Florida Injunction can be handled by your Florida Divorce Lawyer. There are specific criteria that must be met before a court can enter a permanent injunction. Section 741.30 of the Florida Statutes lays out exactly what must be argued to have a temporary injunction entered as a permanent injunction. The statute says that the petitioner must have been a victim of domestic violence OR have reasonable cause to believe that he or she is in imminent danger of becoming the victim of any act of domestic violence. The Elements which must be proven at a hearing before the Circuit Court are as follows:
1. Must be between family or household members.
2. The petitioner must claim to have been the victim of DV or is in fear of imminent DV attack. 3. The sworn petition shall allege the existence of such domestic violence and shall include the specific facts and circumstances.
4. Jurisdiction: Where petitioner currently resides, temporarily resides, where respondent resides, where domestic violence occurred.
There are specific ramifications of a temporary injunction being made permanent. If the petition is granted the respondent will be required to complete a 26 week Batterers' Intervention Program (and pay for it) if (a) the respondent has willfully violated the temporary injunction or (2) has ever been found guilt of a crime involving violence (batteries) or threat of violence (assaults). You should contact a Florida Family Law attorney regarding your needs for an injunction or to defend against allegations made against you.

Navigating your way through unchartered divorce territory can lead to trouble. Often, paying for a divorce can be difficult, especially when one of you makes little to no money. Normally, one spouse ends up footing the bill and incurring extra expenses while the other spouse pays for very little. What can you do when you're waiting for the divorce to be finalized??? TEMPORARY NEEDS HEARING is the answer!

In a temporary needs hearing, a judge will look at each party's income to debt ratio and order a temporary spousal support, child support and marital debt payments. The temporary needs hearing is probably the most important hearing during the dissolution process before finalization occurs. It helps to set the tone for the rest of the divorce process and it also identifies the responsibilities of each party regarding the marital liabilities.

In Florida, rising tides of economic instability play a dramatic role in divorce. During their pending divorce, couples are remaining under the same roof due to the housing market. Divorce lawyers recognize that the marital home has transformed from an asset to a liability. However, the idea of splitting the debt associated with the home can be very appealing.

Divorce is affected by the economy because it plays a roled in factoring spousal support, debt division, living arrangements and tax consequences of the parties. In a Florida divorce, the parties assets and liabilities are divided equally, the marital home is the major asset in most cases. The slow market has created difficulties for the parties because most of the time, the marital home has not sold by the time the divorce is being finalized. With difficult time, often there are difficult questions, divorce is no different. Questions range from: Who is going to be responsible for the mortgage? to Who gets to live in the home while it is on the market? Hard times need creative solutions,just as Congress, and divorce lawyers can help divorcing parties navigate through the muddy waters of the present market.

Florida law requires that all divorcing couples with children have a parenting plan, which includes support obligations for both parents. How do the courts in Florida determine a parent’s child support responsibility? The formula, outlined in Florida Statute 61.30, uses the parents monthly income to figure the total child support payment amount. Then each parent is assigned a percentage of responsibility based on their income as a percentage of the total income of both parents. There are some other factors that come into play as well.

Child care: 100% of child care costs due to employment must be added to the support amount.

Health insurance: Any premiums and ongoing medical expenses not covered by insurance must be added in.

Determine the actual amount of support: Florida allows parents to increase or decrease support obligations by as much as 5% without court approval.

Adjust for overnight visits: Child support must be calculated based on the number of nights the child regularly stays with each parent.

Add a provision for terminating child support: In order to automatically end support payments when the child turns eighteen, joins the military, or other recognized events, parents must include a provision for this in the parenting plan. Otherwise the parents will have to return to court to reduce or eliminate the payments.

Consider insurance: The court may require a payer to obtain life insurance. The court cannot require disability insurance, but parents can include a provision to maintain an existing policy.

If you are considering divorce and have children, please contact our firm for legal counsel. Find out more about Florida child support law at Florida Parenting Plans - Child Support Issues to Consider.

In Jacksonville, Florida, police are losing the "war" on drugs. According to the FBI, in 2007, almost 2 million people were arrested on drug charges. Marijuana was the cause of almost 1 million of those arrests. Of those nearly 1 million arrested for marijuana related offenses, 89% were arrested for mere possession of marijuana.

Marijuana charges can result in drivers license revocation, job loss, professional licensing revocations, governmental aid revocations and more. Additionally, an arrest requires a defense in court. In the United States, the government has spent billions on the war on drugs which has created the additional expense of prosecuting all of the increased arrests. According to the FBI, 20% of the inmates in State prisons are there for drug related offenses. In 2008, Jacksonville has seen a dramatic increase in drug related arrests due to the increase of law enforcement in high drug areas. The drugs business is a big business for all involved including the government. In 2008, First Coast News 12 reported that a local man entered a McDonald's and attempted to pay for his meal with marijuana! The McDonald's employee called 911 and the man was arrested and in need of a good defense.

In a majority of Florida visitation cases, stopping the relocation of a custodial parent is difficult. After a divorce, determining paternity, or separating, relocating or moving with a child is not as easy as hiring a moving van. In Florida, there is a relocation statute requiring the relocating parent to inform the other parent of his or her intention to relocate and file that notice with the courts.
Once notice is provided, the parent that is not relocating has the option to file an objection to the move, with the court. Once that objection is filed, the judge must have a hearing to determine if the move will be permitted.
At the hearing, the parent that is relocating must show the court that the move is in the child's best interest and that it will not infringe on the non-relocating parent's visitation and relationship with the minor child. Also, there has to be a showing that the parties are able to afford travel expenses involved in continuing that visitation.
The courts want to preserve the non-relocating parent's relationship with the minor child and if the relocation would significantly diminish that relationship then the courts may be more apt to preserve the visitation rather than allow the relocation.

Written by: Whitney R. Lonker
Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

In Florida, an economic recession with a child support obligation is not easily overcome. Bankruptcy does not discharge a child support obligation.
Section 523(a)(15) of 11 U.S.C. Sec. 23 now says that debts incurred by a debtor to a spouse, former spouse or child, in the course of a divorce or dissolution action, cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. Notice how the law includes debts owed to a child. In Florida, the law states that the child support belongs to the child, and the parent acts as a trustee over that money to use for the care and benefit of the child prior to the child attaining the age of the majority which is usually eighteen (18) years of age. The child support obligation cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.

Written by: Whitney R. Lonker
Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

In Florida, when couples divorce they often seek alimony. The economic situation is now leading to bankruptcy as a common divorce issue. If the filing former spouse has an alimony obligation, the question becomes, is that obligation dischargeable in the bankruptcy? Dischargeable bankruptcy debts are outline in United States Code, Title 11, Chapter 13. The old version of the law stated that the alimony obligation was not dischargeable unless the payor did not have the ability to pay the debt and the discharge benefit to the payor out-weighed the harm to the spouse receiving the alimony. That is not the case anymore in Florida. The new section maintains that debts such as alimony to a former spouse or spouse on a temporary basis in the course of a divorce cannot be discharged at all. So this means that if you have an alimony obligation or are receiving alimony, the alimony obligation cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy action. These issues can be extremely complicated and obtaining a family law attorney would be beneficial.

Written by Whitney R. Lonker
Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.

A Jacksonville, Florida man was arrested in April 2008, on charges of child pornography. Having committed a crime in the home, the man's $280,000 home was seized by the government.

In Florida and throughout the country, the police can seize a person's property such as a home, vehicle, money, etc. if it can be determined that the property was used in the commission of the crime for which the defendant was arrested. It appears that the Jacksonville man had almost 20,000 photographs and videos of minors engaging in sexually explicit acts. Since the man viewed these pictures and videos in his home, and the crime was furthered in his home, the state had the right to seize the entire home. Now he is living in an even bigger house as he was sentenced to four years in Florida State Prison.

Written by: Whitney Lonker
Family and Criminal Law Attorney

Super Bowl XLIII was played in Tampa, Florida, but real-life drama unfolded on the televisions across the Tucson-area Sunday night. Tuning into watch the biggest game of the year amounted to viewing a lot more for Comcast viewers. During a portion of the Steelers v. Cardinals game, the game was interrupted with a 30-second clip of adult content and many saw full male nudity. While this incident is most likely the cause of “malicious acts,” pornography and football comes up in Florida divorces regularly.

Florida is a “no-fault” divorce state, but using money to purchase pornography, place bets on football (Super Bowl XLII), or have extramarital relationships can really come back with a vengeance. Thankfully, the men and women tuning in on Sunday will not be accused of such behavior for their brief encounter with a "malicious act" at the cable company.

Written By: Lenorae Atter
Family Law Attorney

New York Yankee fans can rest assured that Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) will be able to focus on baseball this year. His Florida divorce is over after less than a year battling with his (ex) wife, Cynthia Rodriguez. The couple was able to reach a settlement agreement, trumping the need to go to court.

Cynthia Rodriguez filed for divorce in Miami, Florida in July, 2008. The petition filed with the court stated, “The marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken because of the husband’s extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct.” Florida is a “no-fault” divorce state, meaning that the affairs really held no legal bearing on alimony. However, any money A-Rod used in advancing the relationships could come back to pad the pocket of Mrs. A-Rod. For example, a trip to England to visit a certain pop star could be fully reimbursed depending on the settlement reached by the couple.

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