Articles Posted in Divorce

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When you get a divorce in Miami or Fort Lauderdale, it may be one of the most damaging financial events of you life. However, this is not always clear to a person who is about to higher a divorce lawyer. Often one is overwhelmed with exhaustion and sadness after marital problems or shock when their spouse leaves the marriage. However, financial implications will soon begin during your Broward divorce.

If you are on your spouse’s health insurance, you will not be able to use it after your divorce. While the government permits you to have CORA coverage for up to three years, you are required to pay the premium yourself. Some people who are older or have pre-existing conditions find that they can not get health insurance after their divorce. Whether you hire a Broward divorce lawyer in Hollywood, Hallandale, Cooper City, Plantation or Weston, make sure that you know how much health insurance will cost after your divorce so that this can be considered prior to mediation.

The mourning and trauma that results from a divorce may make therapy necessary. If you do not have health insurance, you may need to locate a low cost therapist. Alternatively, you may have to pay upwards of $100.00 for a therapist.

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The Miami Herald is reporting that many couples in Miami-Dade, Broward and South Florida are staying together or appearing pro se (without a lawyer) because they are unable to pay a divorce attorney. Some divorce lawyers in Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami, Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale state that their divorce business is down as much as 35%. In addition, many potential new clients do not appear for their consultation because they are embarrassed that they can not afford the consultation fee.

According to court records, 16,868 divorces were granted in 2006 in Miami-Dade, 16,005 in 2007 and 14,631 in 2008. In Broward, 11,179 cases were filed in 200, 9,876 in 2007 and 8,924 in 2008. Circuit Court Judge Sandy Karlan, administrative judge of the family division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Miami-Dade, believes that there has been an increase in modification of divorce agreements and support payments as well as spouses seeking contempt remedies to enforce their alimony and child support. In addition, Judge Karlan has observed couples continuing to live in their marital residence after the entry of the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage.

The economy appears to have a greater effect on the lower and middle class more than the wealthy. Many potential clients are requesting free consultations but have no intentions of retaining a Miami or Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyer. Marital and family law attorneys are also dealing with many cases where a spouse is unable to live up to the terms and conditions of their marital settlement agreement.

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During a Broward divorce, your Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyer may request that you be awarded alimony. A Florida marital and family court can award you bridge-the-gap, temporary, lump sum, rehabilitative or permanent periodic alimony. However, after the conclusion of your Broward divorce case, one spouse may have their Broward child support, child custody and divorce attorney ask the judge to reduce or terminate the alimony because of a statutorily created supportive relationship.

In determining whether an existing award of alimony should be reduced or terminated because of an alleged supportive relationship between an obligee and a person who is not related by consanguinity or affinity and with whom the obligee resides, the court shall elicit the nature and extent of the relationship in question. The court shall give consideration, without limitation, to circumstances, including, but not limited to, the following, in determining the relationship of an obligee to another person: the extent to which the obligee and the other person have held themselves out as a married couple by engaging in conduct such as using the same last name, using a common mailing address, referring to each other in terms such as “my husband” or “my wife,” or otherwise conducting themselves in a manner that evidences a permanent supportive relationship; the period of time that the obligee has resided with the other person in a permanent place of abode; the extent to which the obligee and the other person have pooled their assets or income or otherwise exhibited financial interdependence; the extent to which the obligee or the other person has supported the other, in whole or in part; the extent to which the obligee or the other person has performed valuable services for the other; the extent to which the obligee or the other person has performed valuable services for the other’s company or employer; whether the obligee and the other person have worked together to create or enhance anything of value; whether the obligee and the other person have jointly contributed to the purchase of any real or personal property; evidence in support of a claim that the obligee and the other person have an express agreement regarding property sharing or support; evidence in support of a claim that the obligee and the other person have an implied agreement regarding property sharing or support and whether the obligee and the other person have provided support to the children of one another, regardless of any legal duty to do so.

In Baumann v Baumann, the Second District Court of Appeal reversed the decision of a Florida divorce court that reduced the former husband’s alimony obligation to the Former Wife. The former husband was required to pay the former wife $1800 per month in permanent periodic alimony. In 2007, the former husband petitioned the Florida marital and family law court to reduce or terminate his alimony obligation since the Former Wife was involved in a supportive relationship.

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Your divorce in Broward was most likely an extremely difficult process. While your Fort Lauderdale divorce attorney is not your therapist, it is important for you to let go and move on after your divorce. You should learn to incorporate different specific skills to assist you with emotionally recovering after the child custody, time-sharing, alimony and child support aspects of your Cooper City divorce.

You should take back control of your life by letting go of the pain, resentment and regret. You must also fully accept and take responsibility of your new reality and feelings. It is also important to handle your emotions in a healthy way to avoid collateral damage. During your Broward divorce, you must make the decisions about how you will handle your divorce and how it will affect you and your child’s life.

While 50% of marriages in the United States end in a divorce, a divorce does not have to resemble a war with various casualties. Your Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyer will recommend you to be civil and respectful after your marital and family case to ensure a stable and bright future for all interested parties. When a divorce is not overwhelming, a marital and family lawyer can easily settle different parts of your Broward divorce case including , child custody, child support and alimony.

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Even though divorce in Fort Lauderdale can be a tremendous burden, with the right tools, information and resources it can also be a great opportunity for personal growth.

As the fourth most populous state in the nation, Florida also has one of the highest per capita divorce rates. Floridians don’t call it divorce however; they call it dissolution of marriage.

Whatever you call it, initiating a divorce with your lawyer could be the single most important emotional and financial decision a person residing in Broward can make in their lifetime. Although dissolution is never the most desirable outcome of a marriage, it is sometimes the best way to preserve the quality of life. A bad marriage can be resolved with a divorce, but a bad divorce might never be resolved. A bad divorce can result in expensive child custody, child support and alimony battles, unfair property settlements and life-long detrimental economic effects for both adults and children.

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The troubling economy may be downsizing the number of divorce filings in Miami-Dade and Broward county. According to a recent survery of lawyers involved with the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 57% of attorneys have reported fewer divorce filings since the last quarter of 2008. On the contrary, 14% reported an increase in divorce filings.
The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers encourages the study, improving practice, eleveating the standards and advancing the cause of marital and family law in the United States and Fort Lauderdale. However, if you are not receiving any child support from your spouse, you should talk to a Broward divorce lawyer about the different options that are available to you. Staying in a marriage as a result of the recession may be detrimental to both you and your minor children.

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A Florida divorce court has finalized the dissolution of marriage action for Ronald Cummings, father of Haleigh Cummings, a young girl who disappeared in February 2009. Ronald Cummings cited an irretrievable breakdown in the marriage to his wife, Misty Cummings, who he married one month after his daughter went missing from his Florida home. Under the terms of the marital settlement agreement which was approved by the St. Johns County Court, a divorce court north of Fort Lauderdale, the parties waived any rights to alimony, child support and other financial payments from each other.

Misty Cummings was the last person that saw Haleigh Cummings before she disappeared from her father’s home in Putnam County. After placing the child to bed, the following morning she woke up and realized that the child was missing. Police do not believe that Misty Cummings has told them all of the information that she may know related to the child’s disappearance. They believe that she holds important clues in the case since she has neglected to provide an accounting of the later evening before and early morning of the child’s disappearance. In addition, physical evidence has contradicted Misty Cumming’s account of the evening activities. She has yet to be named a person of interest or a suspect in this investigation.

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The purpose of a parenting coordinator during your child custody litigation is to provide an alternative dispute resolution to assist with your Broward parenting plan and time-sharing schedule. Your Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyer may recommend parenting coordination in your marital and family law case to assist you and your spouse with the resolution of your child related disputes by providing education, making recommendations, and, with prior approval, making limited decisions.

If you and your spouse have a history of domestic violence prior to or during your Broward divorce, your lawyer may not request that the court order parenting coordination unless you and your spouse consent. If both parties consent to parenting coordination during a divorce or paternity case, the Fort Lauderdale divorce court will require safeguards to protect the safety of the participants.

Absent a written agreement amongst the parties, the court can only appoint a qualified parenting coordinator who is either a licensed mental health professional, licensed physician certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a family law mediator with a master’s degree in a mental health field or a member of The Florida Bar. A parenting coordinator used by your Broward divorce lawyer in creating or implementing your parenting plan must also complete three years of post-licensure or post-certification practice, a family mediation training program by The Florida Supreme Court and 24 hours of parenting coordination training.

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Fort Lauderdale police chief Frank Adderley retained a Broward divorce lawyer and has filed for dissolution of his marriage prior to his wife being sentenced for shooting at him for an alleged adulterous affair. Documents in the court filed indicate that a Christmas gift of earrings to another woman made Eleanor Adderley commit a serious crime against her husband, a law enforcement officer. Mr. Adderley alleges that his 18 year marriage to his wife is irretrievably broken. He has also requested custody of the minor child born during the marriage.

In July 2008, Eleanor Adderley used her husband’s gun and fired one bullet into the foot of the couple’s bed that her husband was lying on. In addition, she fired two more rounds outdoors as her husband ran outside to a neighbor’s home. Today, Broward County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Levenson sentenced Eleanor Adderley to nine months behind bars at the Broward County Jail followed by two years of probation.

The Fort Lauderdale divorce case has been assigned to Judge Alfred J. Horowitz, a circuit court judge assigned to the marital and family law division which handles matters pertaining to custody, time-sharing, parenting plans and alimony in Broward County, Florida.

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Many times a client will come into their Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyer’s office and not know where there spouse is currently residing or located. Sometimes parties may have been separated for many years for a variety of reasons. A spouse may have returned to their home state or country. Others separated at the beginning of a marriage for reasons of domestic violence and have not seen their spouse in twenty years.

While your Broward marital and family lawyer can assist you in filing for divorce and requesting alimony, child support, attorney’s fees and costs as well as equitable distribution, a preliminary step requires that your spouse be served with your Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, even when he or she has disappeared, before the court can enter a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage.

If you are unable to locate your spouse, he or she will have to be served by constructive service of process or service by publication (i.e service in your local newspaper). You must first make a diligent search and inquiry with the United States Post Office, last known employment, unions that your spouse may be affiliated with, regulatory agencies, relatives, death records, telephone listings, internet people finder sites, law enforcement arrest or criminal records and highway patrol records in the state of your spouse’s last known address. In addition, you should also check the department of motor vehicle records, department of corrections records, child support enforcement agency records, hospitals in the last known area of your spouse’s residence, utility companies (water, sewer, cable and electric), the armed forces and the tax assessor’s and tax collector’s offices.

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