Divorce can be a complex process if children are involved, or there are substantial assets to allocate. If the parties are unable to agree regarding child custody, visitation issues, alimony, or the division of assets – the keeping of accurate records can be vital for the court to issue orders that are fair and reasonable. Distribution of the Marital Assets & Debts It is always essential to keep accurate and comprehensive records of your finances, assets, and debts. If you are going through a divorce, you will need to draft, or at least attempt to draft, a settlement agreement to divide...

People enter divorce proceedings with preconceived notions of their rights, or lack of them, and of what happens regarding assets, debts, alimony, child custody and child support. Three of the more common misconceptions are discussed here. 1. Mothers by default get full custody rights to the children. Years ago, the courts did tend to favor mothers when determining custody. However, in recent years, there has been a growing movement of awarding fathers more and more custody. In fact, many judges believe it is in the children’s best interest that the parties have equal custody. In Florida, the...

Marital strife is stressful and can affect your work, children and other relationships. Few marriages are perfect and most go through periods when stress levels are high, such as when couples are experiencing financial difficulties, or a child is having developmental problems or issues at school or with the law, or a partner is having an extramarital affair. As a result, one or both partners may seek advice from a divorce lawyer. A good divorce lawyer will discuss your marital issues with you and see if counseling or mediation could help resolve your differences. Your divorce lawyer can be...

Florida is a no-fault divorce state, meaning you do not have to demonstrate grounds for a divorce or prove fault such as abandonment or neglect, but only that the marriage is irretrievably broken or that one party is mentally incapacitated. A divorce from a short-term marriage with little or no marital property and no minor children is relatively easy to obtain while a dissolution for a marital relationship of long duration, with considerable assets and liabilities, and/or one with minor children is much more involved. For any type of divorce in Florida, there are certain essential steps in...

When marriages dissolve and the parents of minor children cannot agree on which parent shall have physical and/or legal custody or if there should be a joint custody arrangement, the court will determine parental responsibility and custody/visitation based on what is in the best interests of the child. But what exactly does that mean for Florida’s parents of minor children who are going through a divorce or who were never married but wish to establish certain parental responsibilities? What are the factors that a court uses when it decides the parenting issues such as custody and visitation? What...

Divorces are traumatic for everyone no matter how bad the relationship turned out to be. If you have children, research consistently shows that the children suffer as well. Children have high expectations for their parents to meet all their needs and fully expect that they will do so. When the parents separate or divorce, their beliefs can be shattered and they consider the breakup as a betrayal of their understanding of what is normal or expected. Children may come to resent the custodial and absent parent or blame themselves for the dissolution. Family research studies have come to a number...

Prenuptial agreements (also known as ante-nuptial agreements, or premarital agreements) are contracts between marrying couples that outline what will become of their assets/debts if the marriage dissolves, along with other potential issues such as alimony, attorney’s fees, etc. Most prenuptial agreements are favored by wealthy parties who do not want their considerable assets to be claimed by their spouse in a divorce or who wish to protect them from a court order forcing them to relinquish a large percentage to their partner. Florida uses the concept of equitable distribution in determining...

There are many reasons why marriages end in divorce. Many couples feel that their partner has changed, become insensitive to their needs or is just intolerable to be around any longer. Of the numerous explanations given for why a marriage fails, here are the top 5 reasons marriages end in divorce. 1. Infidelity Statistics vary but around 25% of men and 17% of women engage in at least one extramarital affair incident during their marriage. Some studies suggest this figure is higher, especially for women. When a spouse discovers the infidelity, reactions vary from disgust, sadness and anger to...