Articles Posted in Divorce

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The Sun Sentinel is reporting that a husband attacked his wife in the chambers of Broward Circuit Judge Ronald Rothschild during a final divorce hearing today causing her to have serious injuries which required hospitalization. Paul Henry Gonzalez, 23, committed domestic violence on his wife without any advanced provocation. He hit her numerous times with closed fists causing her to sustain a torn lip and injuries to her head.

When law enforcement officers arrived in the courtroom, the husband was being restrained by a Broward divorce attorney. After refusing to put his hand into handcuffs, Broward Sheriff Officers tasered him two times before taking him to a hospital for examination.

Mr. Gonzalez is being held in the Broward County Jail on pending charges of felony domestic violence and resisting arrest without violence. The Wife, 23 year old Catherine Ann Scott-Gonzalez, is at Holy Cross Hospital. She will be kept overnight to monitor brain trauma, a broken nose and a broken facial bone by her eye.

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The Sun Sentinel is reporting that Caroline Jenne, wife of former broward sheriff, Ken Jenne, has filed for divorce in Broward County. The parties, both 64 years of age, have been married for 35 years. However, over the past 18 months they have both been living separate and apart.

Through her Fort Lauderdale divorce attorney, Ms. Jenne claims that the marriage is irretrievably broken. She has requested alimony, equitable distribution of the marital assets and liabilities and attorney’s fees and costs. Ms. Jenne also wants to be awarded the marital residence and continued payment of her health and life insurance.

After pleading guilty to mail fraud conspiracy and income tax evasion, Ken Jenne served 10 months in federal prison. He lost his Florida state pension and was disbarred by The Florida Bar. He previously worked for Scott Rothstein’s law firm and is now a business consultant.

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The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that an improved economy has more couples feeling freer to end their marriage. Many people who are in troubled marriages have waited until the financial problems have settled to hire a Florida divorce lawyer. Now that individuals are more comfortable with the improved economic outlook, they are deciding to file for divorce. In 2010, a city in Florida in close proximity to Fort Lauderdale saw divorce cases rise 12% after falling 5% in 2008.

While couples have stayed together during the financial crisis, divorce attorneys in Miami-Dade and Broward now see a demand in clients wanting to proceed with a divorce. In fact, this is similar to the type of divorce filing activity that occurred after the Great Depression in the 1930s and during the recession in 1990 and 1991.

For more affluent couples, the decision to file for a divorce is based less on the economy and more on how they perceive their net worth. Now that the stock market has begun to recover, individuals feel free to move ahead and file for divorce

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Many clients never ask their divorce lawyer in Broward about their entitlement to their spouse’s social security retirement benefit. However, your Florida marital and family law attorney should advise you as to your entitlement to your spouse’s Social Security retirmenet benefit as an incident to your divorce since you may be entitled to receive additional money.

If you are divorced, you may be entitled to your former spouse’s Social Security retirement. This would increase your benefit without reducing your former spouse’s benefit. If you were married for 10 years, are at least 62 years old and have not remarried when you apply, Social Security will look at both your benefit and your spouse’s benefit. If 50% of your former spouse’s benefit is more then your benefit, you are entitled to the larger share of the benefit. While you do not have to wait until your former spouse retires, he or she must be 62 years of age.

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Many individuals hire a divorce lawyer in Broward when their spouse is deployed overseas as a result of military service. For women, their marriage is twice as likely to end in divorce then men and up to three times as likely for enlisted women.

Approximately 220,000 women have been deployed to countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pentagon reports that in 2010, 7.8% of women and 3% of men in the military divorced. Even worse, 9% of women and 3% of men in the military who who were enlisted corps divorced.

Women in the military divorce at higher rates than civilian women. On the otherhand, men in the military divorce at lower rates than civilian men. The rate of divorce for women in the military has been on the rise for the past ten years.

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Divorce attorneys in Miami have learned that a recent study found that teenagers who are happy are more likely to file for divorce when they are adults. Researchers believe that the correlation is a positive sign indicative of the fact that individuals who are happy, have good social support and high self-esteem, making them more likely to leave an unhappy marriage.

The study involved 2,776 individuals who had been followed since they were born. During their teenage years, the individuals were evaluated for energy levels, friendships, happiness and whether or not they were popular. In the adult years, the same individuals were evaluated for happiness, work experience, relationships, mental health status and social activities. While it is unknown how these individuals ended up in a bad marriage, the researchers did find that teenagers who were happy were more likley to be divorced in adulthood than unhappy teenagers.

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In what appears to be a sign of the beginning of the economic recovery, the divorce rate appears to be increasing in South Florida. During the recession, many couples in Miami and Fort Lauderdale did not file for divorce since they could not sell their home and their assets had decreased in value. As the divorce rate fell about 7% between 2008 and 2009, divorce attorneys in Broward saw business decline.

Marital and family lawyers now see banks lending money, stock market gains and individuals tired of waiting to file for divorce as reasons why the increase in filings is occurring. In addition, spouses retirement portfolios have increased and they are also able to borrow money in order to buy out the other spouse from the equitable distribution of marital assets.

Nonetheless, the economy still plays an important role during a divorce. Banks may pursue debt collection against both spouses even though one has agreed to make payment on a marital liability. For some couples, the recession improved their marriage. For others, the financial pressure was tough on the family and has now resulted in a divorce.

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The Sun Sentinel is reporting that a man entered the Broward County Courthouse today at 9:25 A.M., pointed a gun at his chest and demanded to speak to a judge about his divorce. After being informed about the situation, retired Circuit Judge Joel Lazarus agreed to speak to the man provided that he gave the gun, which was loaded with a bullet, to authorities. Judge Lazarus spoke to Marin Stroia, 59, of Oakland Park for approximately 10-15 minutes. After complaining about his divorce case, Judge Lazarus advised Stroia that he could provide his written concerns about his divorce case to the judge and that they would be forwarded to Chief Judge Victor Tobin. Stroia was taken into police custody without any further problems.

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It was only two weeks ago that I saw Judge Maynard A. Gross before my hearing at the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center in Miami, Florida. Judge Gross was enjoying the fresh air before the start of his docket. I waived hello and approached Judge Gross to shake his hand and say good morning, something that had become a habit for me during the past 6 years. In fact, for many divorce attorneys in Miami, this became a tradition. Judge Gross proceeded to tell me how much he enjoyed reading this website. The last thing that I expected was to be writing a blog about the untimely passing of one of the friendliest, respected and most intelligent Judges in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court.

Judge Gross passed away on Wednesday evening. He was 70 years old. Since he was elected to the bench in 1994, Judge Gross primarily presided as a Family Court Judge in Miami-Dade county where he heard divorce, paternity, child support, enforcement and modification cases. Prior to his election to the bench, he was a civil litigator for 20 years, a prosecutor and public defender.

While presiding in the family division, Judge Gross was assigned to high profile cases including professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez and tennis great Boris Becker. He also received an award in 2006 by The First Family Law American Inns of Court.

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While divorce attorneys in Broward county often address the needs of minor children during the case, adults whose parents file for divorce after they have reached the age of majority may experience psychological difficulties in dealing with this matter. While the impact on younger children often includes invasion into a college fund or a parent’s new spouse or paramour residing in the former marital home, adults often are faced with the financial responsibility of taking care of an older parent. This can result in a failure to finish school, have an appropriate job and fund their own savings account.

Adults faced with parents who divorce later in life should not forget about their education, career or savings. Their parents should consult with tax experts and financial planners in equitably dividing the marital assets. Once your parents are divorced, it is important to have them consider purchasing long-term care insurance. While it may be important to ensure that family heirlooms do not disappear during a divorce, it is important to look after your divorced parents by providing financial advice and education.