Jacksonville Divorce Lawyer Blog

When people are in the process of divorce, a lot of times there is a question as to which bills get paid and by whom. If, during the pendency of the divorce, the Husband has possession of the marital home and is paying the mortgage on the home, the courts have said that the Husband should get credits for servicing the mortgage during the parties' separation before the divorce was final. In Parks v. Parks, heard in January 2009, the Second District Court of Appeal upheld this notion and ruled that reimbursements or credits for a party's payment of marital property-related expenses during the separation can be considered for credits by the court. So, if a party uses a marital asset out of necessity, such as taking out a loan on a joint home equity line of credit, during the separation, should that party be punished? It appears that absent a finding of misconduct and if the asset is used for reasonable living expenses, that it will not be held against the party using the asset at the final divorce proceeding. Is this fair and equitable? Let me hear from you. If you have a question about temporary support credits, please call our firm at 904-355-8888.

Presently, when dealing with alimony and support in a divorce in these tough economic times, the husband and wife can both be in a difficult place financially when going through the divorce process. Since alimony in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida and all counties in Florida are based on need and ability to pay, it has become more common to have the usual bread-winning spouse (the Husband) earning significantly less or being unemployed altogether. This makes the second prong of alimony, the ability to pay, unrealized. Thus, the Wife gets no alimony. However, there is now a caveat to that assumption. The Florida Second District Court of Appeal in its decision in Eisemann v. Eisemann in March 2009, says that if the Wife wants to take a shot at more alimony after the divorce proceedings are final, and the Husband has gotten back on his feet and is earning more income, she can if she puts in the final judgment of the divorce that the Wife had greater needs which the husband could not meet at the time of the final judgment AND that the Wife was thus awarded a lower alimony amount. If this sentence is in the final divorce decree then the Wie can possibly get more alimony later even without meeting the usual requirement of having significantly greater needs. If you have an alimony question, please call our firm at 904-355-8888. We look forward to helping you.

Most people know that Florida is only 1 of 2 states in the country that does not allow homosexuals to adopt. Many people who are in committed same-sex relationships come to my practice in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida, from surrounding counties such as Clay, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns to find out how they can protect their rights as a parent in the current legal market banning gay adoptions. Most of the time, I can try to protect a non-biological parent's rights through estate planning, i.e. drafting a will or parenting agreement and treating it as a contract instead of an adoption. However, the Florida Supreme Court has now decided as recently as May 13, 2009, in the case of Embry v. Ryan, that same-sex parents who have adopted a child in another state will have that parentage and adoption recognized here in Florida through the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This is a giant step for Florida in joining 48 other states who allow same-sex adoptions. Mississippi is the only other state to ban same-sex adoptions. Do you think this decision will now mean that Florida will have to recognize gay marriages? Let me hear from you. If you have an adoption issue or any other family law matter such as divorce, child custody, child support, alimony or distribution of assets and liabilities, please call our firm at 904-355-8888. I look forward to hearing from you.

In Jacksonville, Florida family law , I have clients that are facing huge changes in their life whether it is from divorce or determination of paternity. The majority have never been a parent or have never been a single parent. In addition, some have jobs that have taken them from their children. The solution may be in a service being offered by Ronnie Cage, who has a Master Trainer Certification in the “Fatherhood Development” Curriculum from the National Partnership for Community Leadership. I had the pleasure of speaking with him and finding out that he coaches fathers on how to become dads to their kids whether for the first time or the first time in a long time.
Mr. Cage has found his calling in helping individuals learn, mainly fathers, to be better communicators, listeners and parents. It's a service we could all benefit from in our lives, but we can't often find the recipe to make the proper parent pie. Mr. Cage, and others in his field, may be the missing cookbook to better parenting.

Written By: Lenorae C. Atter

Collaborative action for divorce, child support, visitation, alimony and other family law matters is not common in Jacksonville, Florida.
Collaborative Law is being practiced in most parts of the country, including South Florida, but has not found its popularity in Jacksonville yet. As a Jacksonville divorce lawyer who wants my clients walking away with a smile rather than the need for the spa, I am a huge advocate of this process. I don't think children should be the victim of their parents' inability to communicate, but should be healthier through divorce because the parents have a since of stability throughout the process. That is what is offered in a collaborative law setting. It's the attorneys and the clients, from the very beginning, agreeing that a divorce process aimed at resolving the divorce, custody, child support, marital home, assets, and finances can actually be done amicably from beginning to end.
For those of you who are skeptics, I promise it works. It brings in the two sides, but it also incorporates a neutral mental health professional, financial advisor (if needed), mental health therapists for both sides (if needed), and mental health therapists for the children (if needed). It's a way for constant fighting to be put to a halt so that you can learn to communicate, since like it or not, you are going to have issues arise during your life and the life of your children and why not figure out how to work through those than just agree to disagree for the next 80 years. Who needs the stress?

As a Jacksonville, Florida family law attorney, I have many inquiries regarding adoptions. Recently, the interest in adoptions seems to be growing, possibly due to celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Madonna. Their adoptions have made national news more than once. However, in a struggling economy, I was curious about how adoptions are being impacted and recently heard a news story on NPR related to the issue and now discovered a news article in US Today on the same topic.
According these stories, it appears that at adoption and the option for it has grown exponentially due to the economy. Many more women, especially those with children already, are choosing to place their newborns up for adoption. This decision is being exercised at a time when families are struggling to feed the ones in their home, but also want to provide life and a family to others. Those unable to have children are grateful for the influx in available babies right here in the U.S. and in Florida. At a time when people are struggling to put gas in their cars, the country's women have decided the ultimate sacrifice is their calling and these women and their families are providing others with a chance at what was once perceived as virtually impossible.
There really is a silver lining for a recession.

So often I hear the same questions in my family law practice in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. One of those recurring questions is how does my wife or husband's affair or marital misconduct affect the divorce proceedings? Will he or she be punished for cheating on me and this marriage? While that issue is quite emotional and understandably the slighted spouse wants some vindication in court, in counties like Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns as well as other Florida counties, fault just doesn't matter. Florida is considered a "no fault" divorce state. As such, a spouse could have 100 affairs and it won't matter to a judge in Florida. It simply is not relevant. We can, however, attack marital misconduct financially. If your spouse spent marital funds in the furtherance of the affair, then the Florida courts allow for an unequal distribution of assets and debts to make up for the money spent on the affair. There are other areas in which marital misconduct may be relevant in a divorce proceeding including the determination of alimony. But don't expect the courts to vindicate you by "punishing" your spouse for marital misconduct. It simply won't happen in Florida. Do you think this is good law in Florida or do you think a spouse should be held legally accountable for marital misconduct? I look forward to reading your comments. If you have any questions about the divorce process please call our firm at 904-355-8888.

Oftentimes, a biological parent has been out of the child's life and the step-parent wishes to adopt the child. In those cases, the courts sometimes require the consent of an unmarried biological parent. Florida Statute 63.062 governs the rule requiring consent in adoptions. The consent of the unmarried biological father is only required if the unmarried biological father was married to the mother at the time the child was born, adopted the child, has had a paternity determination by a court or has acknowledged in writing that he is the father of the child and has had that acknowledgement witnessed by a competent witness and filed the acknowledgement with the Office of the Vital Statistics. If any of these requirements have been performed by the unmarried biological father, our firm can help in obtaining the required consent from the biological father when filing the step-parent adoption. Please call us at 904-355-8888 should you require any assistance with this matter.

As a divorce and family law attorney in Jacksonville, Florida, I am aware that even in today's world, custody battles still have judicial biases. As an attorney who represents both men and women, moms and dads, I am disturbed by this court bias that exists. In determining custody, the judge is supposed to look at which parent is most likely going to foster a caring, loving and affectionate relationship between the child and the other parent. In addtion, it is important for the custodial or primary parent to work with the other regarding visitation or timesharing. However, in many cases the court can be given all inforamtion showing that the father is the right parent to provide these things and the mother is actually not fostering the relationship with the other parent, but the judge will still name the mother the primary residential parent.
I am shocked by the idea that one gender can still be given more weight than the other in a modern day judicial system. For the benefit and justice of the child, this prejudice seems unfair and archaic. So, how does one combat it? Truthfully, there is no silver bullet, simply evidence. The more you have on your side the better your case. However, the bias remains true and fast in today's world and it is one that can really only be corrected, in time, by the general public's involvment in the judicial campaigns in their area and state.

The dissolution has been finalized and child custody has been determined but now one party is infringing on the other party's relationship with the minor child or children. What is that parent to do? This happens quite a bit after the finalization of custody in Florida, but the Courts have provided the parent who's relationship is being infringed upon with a solution. That parent can bring an action to modify custody before the Court and normally, the Court will strongly consider changing custody to the parent who is most likely to continue fostering a strong and loving relationship with the non-custodial parent. The infringement must be severe, however and should accompany violations of other factors. Please contact our firm if you believe your relationship with your children is being affected due to the actions of your former spouse. There may be a remedy for you.

If you are going through a dissolution proceeding or any family law proceeding that includes modifications of final judgements, child support issues, child custody issues, alimony issues, then most likely you will be required by the courts to attend a mediation. A mediation is a formal settlement conference where the parties sit down with a mediator who is an impartial person designed to help the parties reach an agreement regarding the issues in a case. To mediate issues properly, you should have your financials available such as cost of children's health insurance, cost of your own health insurance, the cost of daycare, if any, the cost of private school expenses, the cost of extra-curricular expenses for the child and decide who will get the IRS deduction. You should also have the values of any real property as well as the value of any personal property in dispute. If there is any debt in dispute, you should know who's name the debt is in, proof of the amount owed, and whether the debt was acquired during the marriage or before the marriage or acquired during the separation of the parties. Having all of this information available for the mediator will make the mediation run more smoothly and give you a better chance to reach a settlement with which each party can live.

For more information regarding mediation services, please call our firm at 904-355-8888.

In my experience as a divorce attorney in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida, nothing can bring on acts of insanity in otherwise reasonable people like a nasty divorce proceeding. Whether the issues are child custody, child support, alimony or the division of assets and liabilities, when parties split, emotions run high and otherwise reasonable people can tend to engage in some insane antics. Here are the top three stories gathered from other dissolution proceedings to show the importance of keeping your cool as well as your mind when going through a dissolution proceeding.
#3 A Couple in Cambodia Divides the Marital Home: After a Cambodian man suspected that his wife was having an affair with a local police officer, he and his extended family loaded up some chain saws and literally drove to the marital home and cut the house in half right down the middle. The Husband then took his half of the house and transported it to his parent's house for safe keeping.

#2 Japanese Wife May Face Criminal Charges for Killing Off Her Husband's Online Gaming Character: After a Japanese Wife discovered her Husband was having an online gaming affair by having his online character have relations with another online gaming character, the Wife hacked into the Husband's computer and "killed off" i.e. "deleted" his online character and over a year's worth of purchasing costumes for the character and buying weapons for online battles and such. The Husband contacted the police who realized that in Japan this was actually a crime. Now the Wife is facing serious criminal charges for "murdering" the Husband's online gaming character.

#1 Wife Discovers Husband's Intent to Divorce on Facebook: Oftentimes its difficult to tell the other spouse that one spouse has the intent to seek a divorce. A Wife in the U.S. was checking her Husband's facebook status and saw: "Neil Brady is ending his marriage to Emma Brady". The Wife had no other indications that the Husband intended to seek a divorce. The Husband indicated that the Wife should have known as he had deleted her from his "friends" on facebook.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding dissolution proceedings, contact our firm to help you get through the process and to help keep you sane while doing so. Although the above article has some humorous aspects to it, the dissolution process is in noway a laughing matter. Please contact our firm to seriously handle your case and to give you good care throughout the process.

Florida Family Law has a new requirement for a Florida Parenting Plan for any divorce involving children. As a Florida Family Law attorney, I think this is a great way for parents to put the children first in their divorce. However, it's just as important to communicate with your children when you're going through a divorce.
We all think that divorce or issues involving our kids is an "adult" issue. The truth is that children feel the affects from beginning to end. As much as divorce may have impacted your life, their life is impacted even more. During a divorce, it is important to keep an open line of communication with your children. Remind them that this is not their fault, remind them that you are both their parents regardless of what mom and dad decide to do. Remind your children that they will still see the other parent.
Think of divorce as a way to learn new communication skills with not only your soon to be ex-spouse, but your children too.
Intentional conversation, open conversation, can make the difference for you and the children. Do not be afraid to let them in, just do not use the opportunity to put the other parent down. Open communication does not equal negative communication. The trick is to remain positive, but realistic. Do not promise things that you cannot deliver, simply let them know what is happening and how things will change, but also how some things will stay the same.
The boxing gloves, while they should never be put on, should be reserved for the attorneys and the other parent, NOT the children.