Fort Lauderdale Divorce Lawyer Blog

This week, Florida's Third District Court of Appeal declined to disqualify Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Maria Espinosa Dennis from a child custody case between two prominent area lawyers. After attorneys Paul Calli and Sarah Mourer divorced in 2005, the former couple agreed to share custody of their two small children equally. Since that time, their relationship deteriorated so much so that Mourer, a University of Miami law professor who also oversees the school's Death Penalty Clinic, asked Judge Espinosa Dennis to hold Calli, a partner at Carlton Fields, in contempt for allegedly violating provisions in their divorce agreement. According to Mourer, Calli has continuously and repeatedly sent her abusive emails. Mourer also asked the judge to modify the former couple's custody agreement.

Last November, Calli filed a motion asking Judge Espinosa Dennis to recuse herself from the custody case after the law firm at which Mourer's attorney is employed co-sponsored a fundraising event and donated $500 to Judge Espinosa Dennis' re-election campaign. Judge Espinosa Dennis called Calli's motion legally insufficient and denied his request. Calli then appealed to Florida's Third District Court of Appeal seeking her removal from the case. According to Calli, it would be impossible for Judge Espinosa Dennis to treat him fairly due to the donations made to her campaign. Interestingly, Calli's own law firm also donated $500 to the judge's re-election campaign last December.

Mourer's appellate attorney, Craig J. Trocino, argued Calli is simply unhappy with Judge Espinosa Dennis' prior rulings against him. He also claims Calli has continued the litigation in an attempt to drain Mourer's financial resources. Because of this, Mourer asked the appellate court to award her approximately $100,000 in attorney's fees. In a judgment which offered no legal reasoning except a citation to a 1991 Supreme Court of Florida case, a panel of Third District Court judges denied Calli's petition to remove Judge Espinosa Dennis from the case. Judges Richard J. Suarez, Judges Juan Ramirez Jr., and Vance E. Salter also provisionally approved Mourer's request for legal fees.

Florida is a no-fault divorce state. If you have minor children, your final judgment of divorce will include a parenting plan and a custody arrangement, also called a time-sharing plan. Such a plan will outline which parent a child will spends holidays, overnights, and all other days with each week. If parents cannot agree on a time-sharing plan, one will be ordered by the court. The modification of a time-sharing plan can be difficult as a parent who is seeking modification must demonstrate changed circumstances justify the modification. If you are seeking to establish or modify your child's time-sharing plan, a capable Broward County family law lawyer can assist you.

Continue reading "Florida's Third District Court of Appeal Refuses to Disqualify Miami-Dade Circuit Judge from Heated Custody Dispute" »

A Miami-Dade judge has refused to recuse herself in a heated Florida custody dispute between two prominent attorneys, despite her ties to the law firm representing the former wife. Attorneys Paul Calli and Sarah Mourer divorced in 2005 after seven years of marriage. At the time of their divorce, the couple agreed to share equal custody of their two sons. Since then, Mourer has accused Calli of violating provisions in the former couple's divorce agreement by repeatedly calling her names in emails. Mourer has asked Judge Maria Espinosa Dennis to hold Calli in contempt and amend the custody agreement.

According to Florida election records, the law firm at which Mourer's attorney is employed donated $500 to Judge Espinosa Dennis' re-election campaign on November 15th. The day before, the firm also co-sponsored a fundraiser for Espinosa Dennis at a restaurant in South Miami. Calli filed a motion asking Judge Espinosa Dennis to recuse herself on November 1st after invitations to the re-election fundraiser were distributed. Judge Espinosa Dennis denied his request and Calli appealed to Florida's Third District Court of Appeal. Calli purportedly feels he will be unable to receive a fair hearing before the lower court judge.

Mourer's law firm is also seeking an award of approximately $100,000 in costs and attorney's fees against Calli. Her appellate attorney, Craig J. Trocino, has stated Calli's recusal argument has no merit and is legally indefensible. According to Trocino, Mourer's law firm took no substantive part in the re-election fundraiser and only attended the event. He also said that the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee only requires a judge to analyze an attorney's campaign involvement when faced with a recusal request. No employee at Mourer's law firm is on Judge Espinosa Dennis' campaign committee.

Although Calli claims Judge Espinosa Dennis had an obligation to disclose the law firm's fundraising efforts as a possible conflict of interest, Trocino argues Calli is merely upset with the judge's prior rulings against him. He also alleges that Calli has continued litigation for more than two years in an attempt to drain Mourer's financial resources. Calli's attorney stated the judge's decision to continue to preside over the case is insensitive and fails to take into account how any reasonable individual would react given the situation.

Custody arrangements in Florida are referred to as time-sharing plans. A time-sharing plan will specify the amount of time a child will spend with each parent each week. The plan will also specify where children will spend overnights and holidays. If a child's parents are unable to agree on a time-sharing schedule, the court will set a schedule for them. A court ordered time-sharing plan will take into account statutory factors such as the child's preference and any instances of abuse or violence. In order to modify a time-sharing plan, Florida law requires the parent seeking modification to show substantially changed circumstances.

Continue reading "Miami-Dade Judge Refuses to Recuse Herself from Custody Dispute Following Re-Election Fundraiser" »

A Lee County judge signed an order Thursday demanding the return of Country singer Mindy McCready's 5-year-old son, Zander, to his maternal grandmother's care in Florida. McCready took the boy to her home in Tennessee after visiting him late last month at her father's Florida home. McCready, who is currently seven months pregnant with twins, said she was currently incapable of travel and refused to return her son to Florida.

McCready's mother was named Zander's guardian in 2007. Since then, the two have engaged in a long battle over his custody. The 36-year-old singer recently accused her mother of abusing Zander and stated she took the child in an effort to protect him. Her mother denies the allegations. In August, McCready also filed a libel lawsuit against her mother.

Early Saturday morning, Arkansas authorities took Zander into custody at a previously unoccupied summer home in Heber Springs. McCready apparently did not have permission to be on the property and was found hiding in a bedroom closet with her son. The Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services are currently making arrangements to return the child to his grandmother in Florida. McCready later told her half-brother via text message their mother would never see her again.

McCready has led a complicated life since finding fame. She reportedly suffers from severe depression, has publicly battled a drug addiction, and she spent time in the hospital three years ago for an alleged suicide attempt. It is unclear whether McCready will now face criminal charges for violating the custody arrangement and the judge's order.

Clearly, it was not in McCready's best interests to ignore the judge's custody order. Highly disputed child custody arrangements such as this must be approved by the courts. In Florida, a parent must show substantially changed circumstances since the original arrangement was created before a court will modify a child custody arrangement. Additionally, the child's best interests must justify any change. A parent's fitness to raise the child, the child's age, the parent primarily responsible for the child's upbringing, and the child's preference are all factors a court will look at when determining the best interests of a child. The court will also look at other factors such as the moral fitness of the parents, any evidence of sexual violence, child abuse, child neglect or child abandonment, and various other statutory factors.

Continue reading " Judge Orders Country Singer Mindy McCready to Return Son to Florida" »

Today, Broward marital and family law Circuit Judge Susan Greenhawt appointed a guardian ad litem for two girls and ordered an expedited study to determine if a relative is capable of having temporary child custody of the minor children. While the court waits to learn whether or not the young girls, ages 6 months and 5 years old, have a relative who they can reside with they have been placed in foster care. The court also ordered supervised time-sharing between the mother and the minor children when she is released from jail.

On Tuesday, an anonymous tip led Broward Sherrif's officers to a home where they discovered roaches in three rooms, trash and mold in the living room, foul odors in the kitchen and piles of garbage on the floor. The two minor children were sleeping in a roach infested bedroom without sheets on their bed. An animal control officer also discovered filthy and malnourished pitbulls in the back yard.

When child protective services investigators arrived at the home, they were unable to locate any responsible adults to watch the two children. The children were immediately placed in protective child custody.

The mother of the two children pictured above, 22 year old Lindsay Wallin, has been charged with cruelty towards a child, child neglect without great harm, animal abandonment and violation of probation. She is being held without bond at the Broward County Jail.

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.

Many children from divorced parents experience difficulties with math and social skills. Emotionally, they experience anxiety and depression. While parents predivorce problems do not influence their kid's social and academic progress, children fall behind and fail to catch up for at least two years after their parents divorce in Miami or Fort Lauderdale.

Research now shows that divorce is very difficult for children. The stress can double a kid's risk of a stroke. In a recent university study, children were followed from kindergarten until eighth grade. Researchers followed children whose parents divorced between their kindergarten and third-grade years compared with 3,433 children from intact homes.

Children from divorced families and intact families were compared based upon math and reading tests, ratings of social skills and ratings of behavior. The study found that children began to struggle at the commencement of their parents divorce. Over the next two years, children of divorced parents fell behind on math and social skills and displayed behavioral signs of sadness, loneliness, depression and anxiety.

The sample of children was not large enough to analyze the effects of a dissolution of marriage by gender, age or ethnicity. Researchers plan to replicate this study with a different group of children.

There are good reasons why divorce may be difficult for children in comparison to predivorce problems between parents. These include child custody and time-sharing litigation in Fort Lauderdale when children are moving back and forth between both parties homes.

According to WPLG Local 10 News, Jorge Barahona, whose adopted daughter, Nubia, was found dead in the back of his pickup truck has been charged with attempted murder after her 10 year old twin brother, Victor Barahona, was found badly burned by a chemical in the same truck. The minor child is at the pediatric intensive care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital. While Barahona, 53, faces child abuse and attempted murder charges in Palm Beach County his daughter, Jennifer Perez, appeared before Judge Sandy Karlan in Miami for an emergency child custody hearing.

Judge Sandy Karlan heard testimony that Jennifer Perez, daughter of Jorge Barahona, knew that the twins were being abused. Allesandra Perez, the 7 year old grandaughter of Jorge Barahona, told her father, Yovani Perez, that the 10 year old twins Victor and Nubia were required to stay in a bathroom at the Barahona home with their hands and feet tied together.

On February 18, 2011, Judge Sandy Karlan commenced proceedings to terminate Jennifer Perez's parental rights on a permanent basis. In the interim, she temporary changed custody to the father, Yovani Perez, and ordered that Jennifer Perez was to have no visitation, time-sharing or contact with her daughter, either directly or indirectly. Judge Karlan warned Ms. Perez that any violations of the court's directives would result in her being held in contempt of court.