Family Law is a multi-faceted area of law that deals with
family relations. Family law encompasses such areas as:
Adoption
Child custody and visitation
Children's rights
Child support
Spousal support (alimony)
Separation agreements
Civilian and military divorce (dissolution of marriage)
Marital
property division (equitable division)
Elder law matters
Estate
planning
Estates and trusts
Wills and will contests
Probate
Insurance
Cohabitation agreements
Pre-marital (pre-nuptial) agreements
Marriage and other legal issues pertinent to the family.
Family law courts generally hear cases pertaining to dissolution of marriage, legal separation of the parties, nullity of marriage, child custody, child and spousal support, elder law legal issues, domestic violence petitions, and estate planning cases like wills, will contests, guardianship, insurance, probate, trusts and other estate related legal issues.
Should I hire a lawyer?
It ordinarily is a good idea to consult with a lawyer about any major life event or change, such as a contested or uncontested divorce, adoption of a child or placement of a child for adoption, child abuse matters, child support modifications, child visitation and custody, being acused of or a victim of domestic violence, elder law, juvenile law, probate or other major family law issue. Your legal rights could be at stake if you don't.
Dissolution of Marriage
Dissolution of Marriage is the legal proceeding to end your marriage. In Florida, if you believe that your marriage is over and you have reasons to believe that the marriage is over, the courts must grant a dissolution of marriage.
The Court will also determine matters regarding your children, your property, your support and other important legal rights.
Nothing is more important than the health, safety and well-being of your children. The Court will determine how you and your spouse will parent the children, where the children will reside, and how each will have contact with the children. In most cases we have “shared parental responsibility”.
This means that Mom and Dad are still Mom and Dad, and participate in school activities, have access to records, and must agree on major decisions regarding bringing up your children, such as education, religion, and other important matters.
One parent is normally designated as the “primary residential parent”; this is the child’s home place and where the child is most of the time. Other options are to have joint custody in which the child is with each parent approximately equal time. Regardless of the designation of shared parenting, each parent has an absolute right and entitlement to spend time with their children.
The court will determine the time sharing arrangement. There is no such thing as a “standard visitation” order. Contact between the parents and the children should be carefully designed to reflect the needs of the children, and the customary holiday and vacation plans of the family. In certain circumstances where the welfare and best interests of the child would be imperiled, one parent may be designated as the sole decision maker, may be given sole residential responsibility, and the contact of the other party, who is detrimental to the child may be limited or supervised.
Child support is determined based on the incomes of the parties, the cost of health insurance and the cost of child care expenses. Florida has a child support guidelines, which will set the amount of child support based on these factors. Please contact us for more information.
You may have the right to collect support from your spouse. To determine whether alimony is appropriate for a case, the court will look at the length of the marriage, the substantial differences in income between the parties, whether one parent has made a special contribution to the education of the advancement of the other party, the health of the parties and many other factors. Especially with you and your spouse have been married for a long time, you may be entitled to spousal support.
Spousal support can be permanent which will only terminate upon the remarriage of the spouse receiving the support, the death of either spouse, or certain other limited circumstances. In other cases, the spouse may need assistance to gain additional education or training, and receive alimony for a specified period of time.
Family Law is a multi-faceted area of law that deals with
family relations. Family law encompasses such areas as: