Articles Posted in 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.

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In Higginbotham v. Higginbotham, the parties entered into a antenuptial agreement that limited the wife’s attorney’s fees to $5,000. The divorce court in Miami, Florida upheld the validity of the antenuptial agreement and subsequently awarded the wife $305,640 in temporary attorney’s fees and $18,963.16 in temporary costs.

While the Third District Court of Appeal agreed with the Wife that the $5,000 limit on the husband’s liability to pay attorney’s fees was unenforceable, it held that the temporary attorney fee award was excessive. The Court reasoned that given the facts and circumstances of this case the amount requested for litigating the validity of a antenuptial agreement was unreasonable especially in light of the result obtained and the fact that the Husband’s attorney’s fees were $138,442. Accordingly, the matter was remanded to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Stanford Blake for a substantial reduction of the fee award.

The purpose of your Broward divorce attorney requesting temporary attorney’s fees ad costs is to ensure that both parties have similar ability to secure competent legal counsel. Temporary attorney’s fees are often needed to mitigate the harm that an impecunious spouse would suffer as a result of the other spouse’s potential financial advantage. Temporary attorney’s fees and costs are based upon need and ability to pay. The court is also required to determine the reasonableness of the award of temporary attorney’s fees and costs.

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Fort Lauderdale divorce attorneys often explain to clients that their marital home may be sold by the court or agreement of the parties as part of the equitable distribution of marital assets and liabilities. Often the marital home is the only asset owned by a divorcing couple and must be sold to divide the equity amongst the parties. Other times the parties cannot afford to maintain the home after their divorce is finalized and the marital home must be sold.

Out of the one million divorces per year, most cases require the sale of the marital residence. This can assist buyers in finding bargains. However, purchasing a home from a divorced couple can often be difficult. While one spouse may want to sell the home, the other spouse may frustrate the deal due to the fact that they are angry with their spouse or unwilling to leave the marital residence.

In order to avoid a problem when buying a home from a divorcing couple, a buyer should inquire if they are purchasing a home from a couple who has gone through a contested divorce. A buyer does not want to deal with any last minute problems such as a spouse who disappears in order to prevent real property from being sold. Buyers should speak to their real estate agent so that the necessary language to protect them can be insterted into any offer.

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A recent study from the University of Toronto found the children of divorced parents had twice the odds of having a stroke than people of the same age whose parents remained married. The link does not appear to have a correlation with adult health behaviors, adult socioeconomic status, mental health problems or diabetes. Researchers did not investigate diet, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, family history of a stroke or childhood socioeconomic status. While the research team at the University of Toronto believe that a couple’s divorce will cause their child to have a stroke, they do want to analyze a larger representative community.

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The Sun Sentinel is reporting that Broward Circuit Judge Cheryl Aleman died from lung cancer, an illness that was discovered several weeks ago. Divorce attorneys in Fort Lauderdale have recently appeared before Aleman since she began serving in the Unified Family Court hearing paternity, dissolution of marriage, alimony, domestic violence and child support cases.

Judge Aleman’s death was confirmed by her friends and courthouse officials today. Members of the bar, bench and legal community are in shock since she chose to keep her recently discovered illness a secret. She was appointed as a Circuit Judge in January, 2020 by former Governor Bush. Prior to her appointment, she was a prosecutor.

Judge Aleman, 52, was a committed Christian. She is survived by her husband, Omar.

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People is reporting that Charlie Sheen will be filing for divorce from former Florida resident, Brooke Mueller. The parties were married in 2008 and have twins. After separating in April, 2010 during an incident in which Charlie Sheen was arrested, both Sheen and Mueller entered rehabilitation programs. Mr. Sheen was required to enroll in domestic violence counseling and is presently on probation. Recent accusations allege that Sheen was naked in a New York hotel room and subsequently transported to a New York hospitla. However, Sheen alleges that he had an allergic reaction to medication.

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A recent survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers revealed that 73% of attorney’s who practice marital and family law are reporting an increase in the demand for prenuptial agreements. Broward divorce attorneys believe that the recession has effected people’s assets which now require protection in the event of a dissolution of marriage. Nowadays, the demand for prenuptial agreements is seen in the middle class and those individuals with substantial assets. While some individual’s want no responsibility for their spouse’s dent, others are protecting their pensions, 401k and retirement from equitable distribution.

An entrepreneur has recently created divorce insurance called WedLock. Customers are able to decide the size of the policy and the monthly premium based upon the selected plan. Divorce insurance polices range from $99 to $1,073 per month. Claims can not be submitted until a policy holder has had the plan for 36 months.

Marriage rates in the USA continue to drop. In 2000, 34.5% of individuals aged 25-34 had never been married. In 2009, the number increased to 46.3%. While marriage rates have dropped, many couples have just decided to live together and enter into a cohabitation agreement.

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Before you decide to hire a divorce attorney in Ft. Lauderdale, it is essential that either you or your spouse has been a resident of Florida for 6 months before the filing of the petition. While marital and family lawyers in Broward refer to this as the “residency requirement”, the legal term is referred to as subject matter jurisdiction.

A court acquires subject matter jurisdiction over a lawsuit either by the constitution or a specific statute. A husband and wife cannot create subject matter jurisdiction by waiver, acquiescence or agreement. In a divorce case, Florida Statute 61.021, confers subject matter jurisdiction upon the court and requires that either the husband or wife must reside in Florida for 6 months before the filing of the divorce petition. This residency requirement is not only jurisdictional but must be proved in every case by the filing party either by a Florida drivers license, voter’s registration card or even an affidavit of a corroborating witness.

In Mikulec v Mikulec, the husband filed a petition for writ of prohibition and alleged that the divorce court did not have subject matter jurisdiction since he was not a resident of Florida for six months prior to the filing of the petition. While the trial court denied his motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the order did not contain any findings as to where the husband resided before the wife filed the divorce action. In grating the writ of certiorari, the Fourth District Court of Appeal remanded the case to the trial court with instructions to make a specific finding that the husband has been a resident of the State of Florida for six months prior to the filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage.