Articles Posted in Divorce

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In Vigo v. Vigo, the Florida marital and family law court awarded the wife permanent periodic alimony in the amount of $5,500 per month. The Third District Court of Appeals, located south of Broward County, reversed the Florida Divorce Judge Maxine Cohen Lando’s decision to award the wife permanent periodic alimony because under Florida law, the wife is not a candidate for permanent periodic alimony.

Permanent periodic alimony is generally reserved for long term marriages, or for marriages where a major inequity is created by the dissolution. This type of alimony is used to maintain the lifestyle that the parties were accustomed to during the duration of the marriage. When determining whether permanent periodic alimony is appropriate, the court also considers the need of the party requesting alimony and the ability of the party who is obligated to pay.

In this case, need turned on whether the Wife would be able to work after the divorce. During the seven and one half year marriage, the Wife worked for three and a half years as a housekeeper and for one year operating her own used car business. In 2005, when she stopped working, the Husband supported her. The evidence on record reflected that the Wife had “serious chronic health problems;” however, the appellate court found that she lived a rather active lifestyle, attending church for three hours at a time, shopping, taking her dog to the park for two hours a day, and visiting the beauty salon. The appellate court found that her ailments would not prevent her from obtaining a sedentary job.

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During your divorce or paternity case in Broward County, minor children are often placed in the middle of their parents custody, time-sharing and parenting plan disputes. Your Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyer will explain to you that your child is entitled to have a relationship with both parents. The marital and family law court located north of Hallandale Beach in downtown Fort Lauderdale will do its best to protect your children during your case.

You should always remember to think about what is in the best interest of your children. The following will help your children prosper and maintain the best behavior during and after your divorce or paternity case:

1. Children should have the right not to be asked to choose sides between their parents.

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It is very common for feuding spouses to stay together for the sake of their children. Instead of seeking a divorce in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court in Broward County, spouses stay married despite their growing disdain for one another. Psychologists from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties have all studied the disconcerting effects divorce has on the kids. However, new research has led many Fort Lauderdale couples to file for divorce despite their children because staying together may have more damning effects than breaking apart.

Studies from the past have concluded that children of divorced parents are more likely to have lower grades, have high risk of health issues, and are more likely to become the victim of child molestation. On top of these risks, there are emotional damages as well, feelings of guild and abandonment.

Today Show psychologist correspondent Robi Ludwig, reached the conclusion that divorce is sometimes a good thing for the kids. When parents who are involved in a high-conflict marriage, where there is a lot of yelling and arguing, stay together, the children are deeply affected. The constant arguing causes the children to feel stressed out. Moreover, it leads them to feel ignored because their parents are continuously absorbed in their own contentious battle. The children start to feel that their needs are not being met at home. All of these emotions and feelings led the children to engage in dysfunctional behaviors.

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What happens if the Fort Lauderdale divorce judge has ordered you to make alimony or child support payments and you no longer can pay the amount? Do not neglect your payment obligation. Go back to the Broward County divorce court and file a petition for a downward modification of your child support and/or alimony. Whether you are paying child support or temporary, rehabilitative or permanent alimony, if you stop making payments, the marital and family law judge in Fort Lauderdale may hold you in contempt of court which means you could end up behind bars at the Broward County jail.

With the economy the way it is today, a number of spouses are finding it exceedingly difficult to make their payments. If you are the payor spouse and you are making less money than you were at the time of your support determination, you may have legal grounds to petition the court for a downward modification. If you are the receiving spouse it is wise to draft a new agreement with your ex detailing the percentage of downward modification and the length of time this modification will be in effect. Both parties should consult their attorneys and come up with a modification agreement so that the children and the parents are financially stable.

The statutory grounds for modification of alimony are found in section 61.14(1) of the Florida Statutes. When the parties enter into an agreement or the court orders alimony payments, and sometime later the financial ability or the circumstances change then either spouse may request the court for modification of alimony or child support payments. The party who petitions for a change in alimony must show that a substantial change has occurred. Showing a reduction in the payor’s income alone will not justify modification. The change must be involuntary and there must be no other funds in the payor spouse’s possession that could be used to keep current with the alimony obligation

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In Vigo v. Vigo, the appellate court affirmed Florida divorce court Judge Maxine Cohen Lando’s decision to award the wife $250,000 in lump sum alimony. The wife presented sufficient evidence to the divorce court located south of Fort Lauderdale that the husband intended to gift a condominium to her. Therefore, the Florida marital and family law court appropriately awarded her a $250,000.00 lump sum alimony award that represented a one-half interest in the couple’s condominium located south of Broward County.

The husband purchased the condominium during the marriage with non-marital funds. He also paid the monthly expenses related to the condominium including mortgage payments, condominium association fees and insurance with non-marital funds. Because the wife claimed that he intended to gift to her a one-half interest in the condo, she had to prove (1) the Husband’s donative intent, (2) his delivery of or her possession of the gift, and (3) the Husband’s surrender of dominion and control of the gift.

The wife met this burden. The evidence presented at trial was that the husband purchased the condominium at the wife’s request so that she could be closer to her grandchild; the wife attended the closing and signed the mortgage; the husband told the wife he purchased the condo for both of them to use; both are named on the homeowner’s insurance policy; both of their names are on sales receipts for furniture and accessories used to furnish the condo; and finally, the condo became their marital residence which the wife assisted in maintaining for the parties.

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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.

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Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyers are using Facebook to find the ammunition they need to help their clients’ cases. Broward County lawyers love these sites because they are evidentiary gold mines. Fort Lauderdale marital and family law attorneys browse wall posts and atatus updates on Facebook to uncover information about the other party. Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn are also popular social networking sites which lawyers utilize to build their cases when representing divorce clients in Weston, Cooper City, Pembroke Pines, Plantation and other cities in Broward County.

Social networking sites are great for reconnecting, but when couples are disconnecting, the situation turns ugly. Battles over finances and custody are the two hot buttons during dissolution proceedings. Lawyers say it has become routine for them to ask their clients if they have an active presence on these social networking websites. If so, the lawyers then scour their client’s pages and the pages of their girlfriends or boyfriends to find anything that could be used by their ex’s legal team.

Did your husband’s new girlfriend Twitter about a piece of jewelry he bought her? A court might regard this as marital assets being disbursed to a third party. Did your wife tell the court she is incapable of getting a job, but you found her pursuing job interviews on LinkedIn? The court might refuse her alimony. Did your ex wife assure the court during a custody hearing that she had not been drinking, but her MySpace page has dated photos revealing otherwise? The court will regard her as an unfit mother.

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Not many people enter into a marriage thinking that it will eventually lead to a divorce in Fort Lauderdale. Many scientists believe that up to 40% of marriages are terminated in Broward County by a divorce lawyer. The chances are very high that you or someone you know will get divorced in Florida and need to higher a marital and family law attorney in Hollywood, Hallandale, Weston, Pembroke Pines, Cooper City or any of the other cities within the jurisdiction of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court.

A divorce is one of the worst things that you can go through in life. You are hurt, sad, frustrated, scared and can not think clearly. It is also one of the most important times to keep on top of your game, as the decisions that you make during this time can affect you for the rest of your life. Here are five basic but important guidelines to keep in mind.

Keep Your Business Head

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If you are a middle aged person who resides in Broward County, get divorced and live alone, you triple your chances of developing Alzheimer’s. If you have traditionally always lived by yourself, you have double the Alzheimer’s risk as somebody who is married in Florida.

There is a very strong correlation between this social factor and developing dementia. Staying physically, intellectually and socially active reduces Alzheimer’s risk. However, recent studies show that living with a spouse or partner lowers the likelihood that you will contract dementia.

Widows and widowers are at the greatest risk of Alzheimer’s. When you loose your spouse or partner before middle age and the live alone, your chances of getting Alzheimer’s is six times greater, compared to people who are married.

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Conceptually, the answer is yes because a marriage in Broward County is considered a partnership. The Fort Lauderdale Family Court divides the couple’s assets based on the idea that when a couple gets married they make decisions together. The partnership decides together who will work and who will run the home. Therefore, when the couple seeks dissolution in the Broward County Family Court, the judge will divide equitably the parties marital assets and the debts.

Here is a simple illustration of how the court views the marriage as a partnership. If the partnership decides together that the Wife will work and the Husband will stay at home, then all of the money the Wife makes is considered in furtherance of the partnership. The Husband is entitled to half of these marital funds because he has stayed in the home which consequentially has enabled the Wife to enter the workforce and make money. So, while the Wife is said to be supporting the Husband and the marriage monetarily, the Husband is said to be supporting the Wife and the marriage physically.

When the partnership dissolves the court begins with a presumption that the marital property should be divided equally between the parties. Even so, each divorce is unique, and therefore a 50/50 split is not always the best approach for the individual parties. The court considers four factors in deciding how to equitably distribute the marital property: (1) the contribution of each spouse to that property; (2) the value of the property set apart to each other; (3) the duration of the marriage; and (4) the economic circumstances of each spouse at the time of divorce.