Whether marriage dissolution, child custody, or any family-oriented issue, anyone seeking resolution in the Florida Family Court system often begins the process at a disadvantage. In addition to the likely unfamiliarity with family law and legal procedures, you must usually contend with the emotional stress arising from the issue(s).
Florida Family Law Matters: Choosing the Right Attorney for Your Legal Needs
Everyone knows that a skilled attorney can prove instrumental in securing favorable outcomes in criminal and civil court. But what about family law court? Other than contested divorces and contentious child custody issues, do you really need a lawyer?
Florida Child Custody Proceedings—How Children’s Preferences May Affect the Outcome
Among the numerous challenges that arise when a couple separates or divorces, the issue of child custody often proves the most contentious. Splitting up the furniture and other possessions is difficult enough, but the powerful emotional bond between parent and child can make child custody decisions exceptionally tumultuous.
The Different Aspects of Family Law in Florida
If you’re looking for legal representation in a family law case in the Tallahassee area you should consult with Cowhey + Ward Attorneys at Law. The firm’s attorney Adam Cowhey takes a hands-on and passionate approach to every element of each family law case. He has extensive experience guiding clients through divorce proceedings and related civil cases heard before the Florida Family Court system. Additionally, Mr. Cowhey is a member of the Florida Family Law Rules Committee, which provides him additional insights into the practice of family law in the state, as well as the most up-to-date...
Video // When Does Child Support End?
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All parents have an obligation to support their children, whether married or not. If separated or divorced, the noncustodial parent is often ordered to make child support payments either directly to the custodial parent or through the state. The amount paid is generally based on the number of children, the respective incomes of both parents and the degree of parenting time though other statutory factors are considered.
Under Florida law, child support typically ends when the child turns 18 but...
Video // How Florida Courts Determine Parenting Plans
Few issues are more wrenching in a divorce than those concerning child custody and time-share arrangements. Divorcing parents may want joint physical custody or primary physical custody. This all depends on if an agreement can be made over summer schedules, school breaks, weekdays and weekends, pickups, and other logistical arrangements. To help avoid uncertainty and chaos in some instances, the Florida courts require the parents to create a parenting plan to resolve these issues.
In any divorce, it is to the benefit of all parties to work out their differences short of litigation. This minimizes...
Video // Types of Alimony and Considerations in Calculating Payments
A dissolution can mean a drastic change in the parties’ social situation and financial status. Family friends may take sides, and routines regarding vacations and holidays will change as will the time spent with children. If the household depended on two incomes, that can prompt the sale of the marital home in some cases and a move to a smaller home or rental unit. For a party who has fewer financial resources than the other spouse or who may not be working, the breakup can be frightening. To alleviate and remedy an unfair financial situation, alimony in a divorce case may be awarded.
Many...
Steps in Pursuing a Stepparent Adoption
Stepparent adoptions are a relatively easy process in Florida so long as the stepparent is the spouse of the child’s parent. Florida law once prohibited gays from adopting children but that provision was struck down as unconstitutional as violating the due process rights of the person wishing to adopt.
Still, prior to the 2014 US Supreme Court decision that allowed same-sex couples to legally marry, a partner of a gay parent was unable to adopt the parent’s child under traditional means since gay marriages were still invalid. But since the court decision that legalized same-sex marriages in...
Requesting an Increase in Child Support Payments
Child support is an obligation of every parent. When the parents are unmarried, separated or divorced, then the parent who has the smallest percentage of parenting time or the one with whom the children do not primarily reside, will generally have to make child support payments to the other parent.
These payments contribute to the child’s well-being by helping with medical care, educational expenses, recreational and other activities for the child’s benefit. At some point during the divorce proceedings, or when the parents separate or paternity is established, the court will set the amount of...
Considerations for Parenting Plan Modifications
When parents with minor children divorce or separate, Florida law requires they draft a parenting plan that establishes, among other things, a time-sharing schedule and parental responsibility. The parenting plan also sets out a schedule as to when each parent has parenting time, means of communication with the children, financial responsibilities relative to the children, etc..
A court-approved parenting plan is a court order and if violated can result in a party having to pay court costs and attorney fees as well as possibly relinquishing legal or primary custody and other sanctions. However,...