Fort Lauderdale Divorce Lawyer Blog

Last month, a Hillsborough County Circuit judge ordered the arrest of John Dargan Stanton III, a successful Tampa area businessman, after he was found guilty of five counts of criminal contempt of court for failure to pay his child support and alimony obligations. Mr. Stanton failed to attend the contempt hearing where Judge Caroline Tesche sentenced him to almost six months in jail for repeatedly refusing to pay more than $6 million in alimony and child support.

Susan Stanton initiated divorce proceedings in 2009 and the former couple reached a final settlement agreement in July 2011. Although the couple has a 12-year-old son together, she stated her former husband has not supported them for several years. According to her attorney, Mr. Stanton now owes his ex-wife $10 million.

Mr. Stanton is a decorated Vietnam veteran, a former president of Cast-Crete, and he previously ran a building materials company which reported profits of more than $4 million per month at its height. At one point, he owned a mansion and regularly drove several high end sports cars. Now, Mr. Stanton claims he is financially insolvent. In fact, he filed for bankruptcy just three days prior to the contempt hearing. Still, Judge Tesche believes Mr. Stanton has the ability to pay.

Mr. Stanton reportedly owns stock in several large companies as well as other assets. His attorney has argued Mr. Stanton's hands are tied as the former couple's settlement agreement prohibits Mr. Stanton from selling his stock in order to generate cash. He also claims Mr. Stanton is unable to liquidate any of his assets and lives off of loans and a small monthly Department of Veterans Affairs disability check.

According to Susan Stanton, her ex-husband has the money and is merely hiding millions of dollars in assets from her. In November 2010, Mr. Stanton spent more than two weeks in jail for refusing to produce documents during the couple's divorce proceedings. When he filed for bankruptcy, Mr. Stanton estimated his assets as being in the range of $100 to $500 million and his liabilities at no more than $50 million. To further complicate the case, the Internal Revenue Service is also performing a criminal investigation into Mr. Stanton. His attorney has stated he is not aware of Mr. Stanton's current location.

Each year many Florida residents find themselves in the midst of a less than amicable divorce. Understandably, the host of emotions associated with the end of a marriage can be overwhelming. The financial damage can oftentimes make a bad situation even worse. If you are contemplating divorce, you need an experienced family law attorney to help you protect your financial interests.

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Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyers who represent wealthy clients are keeping busy. The Broward County divorce Court has seen a rise in high-end divorces because the parties' assets are currently worth less due to the recession. Wealthy Fort Lauderdale couples have realized that since their assets are worth less they will give less to the other spouse after the Broward County marital and family law court dissolves their marriage.

In theory, it is a great time for wealthy people to get divorced because their property value and investments are down. So, for a spouse who wants to keep the house and is on the verge of filing, this is a perfect time to divorce because the likelihood of keeping the marital home is high.

Nonetheless, the crashing market does present problems for the wealthy and has complicated their cases just as much as it has helped them out. This is because it is difficult to put a market value on some of their assets. In situations where the parties have been fighting over an asset for an extended period of time, that asset has been nearly lost in the stock market.