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Children who are caught in the middle of a nasty divorce in Fort Lauderdale will soon have legal advocates to look out for their best interests. Governor Charlie Crist made a law that will allow the Broward County divorce court to appoint certified Guardian Ad Litem volunteers to represent minor children in a divorce even when there are no allegations of abuse or neglect. When time-sharing, a parenting plan or parental responsibility is contested in your case, your divorce lawyer may file a motion in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court and ask the family law judge to appoint a Guardian Ad Litem to be your child’s voice during court proceedings.

In a contested divorce, parents hate each other more than it seems like they love their children. Governor Christ’s legislation will improve the quality of life for Florida children whose parents are getting divorced by having an advocate who will focus on the child’s best interest.

Children of Florida should have the opportunity to achieve their dreams and reach their full potential by growing up safe and healthy. Allowing your child to be heard through a guardian ad litem during your divorce or paternity case will benefit most families during this difficult time.

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A collaborative divorce is becoming popular in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and its hype is sweeping throughout Broward County. With a collaborative divorce, obtaining a divorce does not have to be a bitter battle between you and your spouse. Instead, the process leading up to a divorce has the potential to be amicable, and may even be happy! Whether you reside in Hallandale, Weston, Hollywood your should ask your Florida divorce attorney to explain to you the benefits of a collaborative divorce.

The notion behind a collaborative divorce is to dissolve a marriage as efficiently and peacefully as possible. Before talks even begin, both the husband and the wife seek their own attorney. The attorney is hired specifically to provide legal advice and guidance, not to wage war. After the parties have hired individual counsel, the husband, the wife and their respective attorneys sign an agreement to share all information regarding the divorce. Additionally, the parties agree that if either the husband or the wife back out of the collaborative divorce process, the attorneys will withdraw from the case as well.

Not too much goes on behind closed doors. Instead the parties come together before a neutral mental health professional, who guides the parties into productive discussions and minimizes their bickering. Additionally, this professional helps the parties to design a parenting plan with the goal of achieving what is in the best interests of their children. Also, a neutral financial advisor is present to help the parties divide their assets and liabilities.

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Child support in Broward County and throughout the state of Florida has fallen behind due to a new $5,000,000.00 computer system that is behind schedule.

One of the more important problems deals with automation. Receiving information from computer systems of other state agencies was not fully automated to handle unemployment and other benefits that are deducted from support payments. The child-support computer system cannot always determine how much should be deducted, so those support payments get stalled indefinitely, adding to the $28 million in undistributed payments.

Another problem with the current system is security. More than 50 former Department of Revenue employees could access the system for up to several months after they were no longer employed. Changes were in place to fix the security problems

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When you file for a divorce in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the trial court is required to equitably divide the marital assets. The divorce court in Broward County, Florida should begin the equitable distribution of the marital assets with the assumption of equally dividing what has been acquired during the marriage amongst the Husband Wife. Absent substantial competent evidence to support the unequal distribution or written findings of fact, the Court will be reversed on appeal and remanded with instructions to make the appropriate findings of fact.

In Jalileyan v Jalileyan, a decision released on April 1, 2009 by the Fourth District Court of Appeal, the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage was reversed because the trial court made an unequal distribution of marital assets by awarding the Former Wife an unequal distribution of the marital assets without any factual findings to explain or justify the award. Additionally, there was no competent substantial evidence to support the unequal distribution of marital assets.

In Broward County and in the State of Florida, in order to award the Husband or Wife an equal distribution of the marital assets, the Court must consider the following and make written findings to support its award as set forth in Florida Statute § 61.075:
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