Recent Blog Posts
Alimony from Underemployed or Unemployed Spouses
Florida courts have typically held that voluntary unemployment or underemployment of a spouse or parent will be considered when determining whether to impute (or to assign) income for awarding child support or alimony. If an ex-spouse has the ability to contribute to support, he or she must try to do so. Florida law says… Read More »
Ex-Wife Claws Back Hidden Assets
Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal recently heard the appeal of an ex-wife (“Susan”) concerning the division of marital property with her ex-husband (“Jared”). As part of her petition for the dissolution of her marriage, she joined additional parties, including her stepson (“Isaac”) and various corporations that her ex-husband formed during the marriage. In… Read More »
Judge Splitting Siblings? Florida Court Reviews
Florida law doesn’t favor separating siblings from each other—sending some children to live with the mother and one or more to live with the father—whenever possible the family unit shouldn’t be further fractured by divorce. Typically, courts shouldn’t deprive brother and sisters from growing up together with some common denominator of discipline and the… Read More »
Mother Appeals Loss of Unsupervised Visits
In a recent Florida case, a mother asks the Second District Court of Appeal to review the order denying her emergency motion to modify the temporary time-sharing order for her children with their father. The trial court’s denial of the Mother’s request for a change in the time-sharing schedule was affirmed without discussion, but… Read More »
Homestead & Insurance for Unpaid Alimony
Florida has a rule that a homestead is exempt from a forced sale which been in effect for many years. But in a recent case, a former wife appealed a trial court’s finding that homestead property and insurance policies of her ex were always exempt from the contempt powers of the court—even if fraud… Read More »
Proving Under-the-Table Income for Support
A former husband and wife both challenged a final judgment dissolving their 17-year marriage recently in Florida. During the marriage, the Husband operated several marine-related businesses. His wife was a stay-at-home mom. They enjoyed a comfortable middle-class lifestyle throughout the marriage. From the start of the dissolution proceedings, the Husband was “less than cooperative”… Read More »
Paternity Test for Child Support Order
The Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) asked the District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach to review a judge’s order directing the parties and minor child to submit to paternity testing to register and enforce a child support obligation from a court in Texas. The mother, in this case, Erin, had a child in… Read More »
Emergency Child Pick-Up Across State Lines
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJEA) controls inter-state custody disputes, which are common in today’s society. One parent may live in Florida, while the other now lives in Oregon or another state. The UCCJEA helps with this situation by establishing jurisdiction over a child custody case in only one state and protecting that… Read More »
Splitting Home & Debt in Divorce
Credit card debt accumulated during a marriage can be a major point of contention in divorce negotiations, just like the equitable distribution of the marital home. Both items may be thought of as worth more or less, depending on the party’s viewpoint. Recently, a former wife in Orlando, Judith, appealed the final judgment dissolving… Read More »
No Big Change for Temp Orders
The wife in a divorce action appealed a trial court order granting her husband’s motion to modify a prior temporary relief order and designating him the primary residential parent. The couple had two minor children, with one in elementary school and the other in daycare. After the wife filed for divorce, the trial judge… Read More »
