Fort Lauderdale Divorce Lawyer Blog

Many times when a client meets with their family law attorney in Fort Lauderdale, they question whether an asset is marital or non-marital. They also question their rights to the future income of marital and non-marital assets. In the case of Morenberg v. Morenberg, the Fourth District Court of Appeal recently addressed the wife's entitlement to equitable distribution of royalties from labor which took place after she filed her Florida marital and family law case.

On August 20, 2008, the wife filed for divorce after being married for 46 years to the husband, an English professor. After the filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage, the husband began working on the fourth edition of one of his books. In the final judgment of dissolution of marriage, the trial court ordered that the parties were to equally divide the royalties from two books that he wrote while he was an English professor, one of which he wrote after the filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage.

At the trial, the husband testified that he began working on the second book in December 2008 or January 2009. He also testified that he finished the book one day before trial. On the otherhand, the wife testified that there was no post-dissolution of marriage labor related to the husband's second book. She believed that all of the husband's labor occurred prior to trial and the final judgment of dissolution of marriage.

The Husband appealed the final judgment of dissolution of marriage which was entered by the trial court. His main argument on appeal was that the trial court erred in requiring him to share the post-dissolution royalties with the wife since he earned after she filed for divorce.

In reversing the decision of the trial court, the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that any future royalties from the husband's book which were started, completed and submitted after the petition for dissolution of marriage are post-dissolution income and should be excluded from income that must be split with the wife.

During a trial, your Broward divorce attorney will ask the court to achieve an equitable distribution by dividing all assets acquired during the marriage, individually by either spouse or jointly by them. A former spouse is not entitled to receive any financial benefits which accrue after the divorce. Based upon the clear language of Florida Statute 61.075, the date of filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage is generally the latest date for identifying marital assets.

Here, the royalties from the the book written during the marriage would be considered a marital asset subject to equitable distribution. New editions of the books which are written by the husband after the date of filing or post-dissolution are not marital assets subject to equitable distribution.

Many years ago, men worked while most women stayed at the home taking care of the household and children. The attitiudes of how society views women working has changed. Yet, the pressure for men to remain the breadwinners remains strong.

A recent study in the American Journal of Sociology indicats that unemployment in a marriage is a strong predictor of divorce. For some men, they do not feel that it is acceptable to stay home and raise the children while their wife is the sole financial provider.

Women who are unhappily married are more likely to hire a divorce attorney in Broward when they are working instead of if they are unemployed. The study indicated that employment had no bearing on whether or not a woman would proceed with a dissolution of marriage.

Men who are not employed have a greater chance that their spouse will file for divorce even if they were happily married. While the role of a wife has changed, it remains unacceptable in this culture if the husband is not earning a majority of the money to support the household.

It was also recently discovered that men who lost their jobs during the recession have been suffering from depression. Unemployment has impacted their self-esteem and have caused them to feel overwhelmed. All in all, when men are unemployed it increases the chance that they will leave their marriage and it also increases the chance that their wife will leave the marriage and file for divorce in South Florida.

Last Friday a ten year old autistic boy was abandoned at Broward General Medical Center. This weekend the mother of this child appeared before Circuit Judge Marina Garcia-Wood, a marital and family law Judge, at the Broward Courthouse for a child custody hearing. At thea hearing, the court wanted an explanation why her ten year old son, Benjamin, was found wandering around an emergency room on Friday.

The mother told the judge that she suffers from bipolar depression and recently separated from her husband. She has two other children, is unemployed and was recently evicted from her foreclosed home. Mrs. Benjamin dropped the minor child off at the hospital because she could not take care of him or find assistance to help her with the minor child.

While the boy's father travelled from his residence in Islamorada after hearing that his son was abandoned, the minor child has been placed in the custody of the Department of Children and Families pending a complete investigation. He has been taken to a foster home for children with special needs so that he can receive the services that he needs.

The next court appearance will be in two weeks where both parties may appear with Fort Lauderdale child custody attorneys. In the meantime, both parents are permitted to have unsupervised time-sharing with the minor child.

Often parents do not know what to expect during their divorce. Wifes tend to believe that their divorce lawyer in Miami are their emotional therapists. Husbands tend to treat their divorce as a business transaction. If child custody, time-sharing or a parenting plan is at issue, mothers often exhibit anxiety and outrage which inhibits their ability to think clearly.

Unfortunately, some South Florida divorce litigants have difficulty compromising. If your case involves a violent or abusive spouse or one who is intentionally impoverishing his or her family by not providing alimony or child support, you should considering hiring an attorney to handle the complex legal issues involved in your divorce in Fort Lauderdale.

In some cases, a husband can take the wife's jewelry, pictures and inherited gifts. He can cancel a credit card so when the wife attempts to buy groceries the transaction is declined. Even worse, the husband can take all of the financial data prior to the filing of a divorce.

It is important to learn about the family finances prior to filing for your divorce in Miami-Dade. You should know where the checkbook is located, how the bills are paid, what type of investments you and your spouse have and where the tax returns and important financial documents are stored.

In many cases, a spouse naively relies upon the other spouse to handle the finances. If you do not look at credit card and bank statements, question the expenses or manage your family expenses, it can be extremely shocking when you discover IRS tax liens, that real property you own is in foreclosure or that your spouse has gambled away your family fortune.

When you meet with your Broward alimony lawyer, it is important to educate yourself about the law so that you do not have unrealistic expecations. You may not be able to continue to live at the same standard of living which was once established during the intact marriage. You may not understand the benefits of having a parenting plan which includes shared parental responsibility.

It is also important to understand that your marital and family law attorney expects to be paid for the hard work that he or she does for your case. Yet, sometimes resolving tough financial matters such as business valuation, alimony and child custody issues can be time consuming and expensive.

Last but not lease, a spouse who has been traumatized and betrayed must understand that their lawyer and the judge assigned to their case are not conspiring against them. Lawyers do not "cut deals" with a judge. A competent South Florida divorce attorney is always aware of the ethical boundaries which are necessary in order to do what is best for your case.

There is a stigma about being married in your 20's, and it is not that your getting married too young, it is that being getting married while in your 20's has a high divorce rate. The divorce rate is not 70, or even 80% it is somewhere near 50% for people married in their 20's. That means that almost 50% of people you know who get married in their 20's will need a divorce attorney in Fort Lauderdale.

Broward divorce attorneys are seeing an increase of people in their 20's coming to their office. Is there a stigma for those people who are divorced in their 20's? The short answer is no. There is no sign over your head at that says you are recently divorced. But it is difficult for someone who has been dating the same person for 8 years to get back into the single life. Clearly it is easier for someone who lives in an urban environment to meet new people, but it cannot be very simple. Before you get back to dating make sure you confirm with your Florida marital and family lawyer that your divorce is finalized.

A divorce in your 20's is still a divorce. It is just like any other breakup except that there are legal issues involved such as alimony and equitable distribution. But once you resolve those issues, you are a single individual who can choose whether or not you will date again.

But what does a newly divorced individual do to get back into the dating scene? Some people have no problem being set up by friends. Do you ask your friends to tell the person you're being set up with that you were divorced? Do you know how to be single? Are they looking for a serious relationship that quickly? These are all normal thoughts to have. Don't get bogged down by these questions, and don't blurt out that you were recently divorced. Let those conversations happen naturally.

Just because your first marriage failed, it does not mean your next will not last a lifetime. There is no need to paint a picture of yourself before someone is getting to know you, not the fact you were divorced. One of the ways to meet new people is to change your habits that you got accustomed to while you were married. Maybe change gyms, and start taking exercise classes, or join a basketball league. Change the time in which you go to the grocery store, go when there are more people, and you can strike up a conversation with a stranger. Be open to being set up by friends. Any route you choose will be a positive step into putting your life back together.

The goal is to let someone get to know you for you, and not for your past relationships. It is also beneficial for you to possibly see a divorce attorney who can relate to being divorced in your 20's. A young family law attorney is very suited to helping you deal with being 20's and newly single. So when you are looking for an alimony attorney, ask for references, ask for their experience, and ask if they are suited to handle your specific case. And remember being divorced in your 20's isn't the end of the world, just a new chapter in your book of life.