In Florida, each party’s income determines what child support is owed by or paid to each party. Not everyone receives the same salary every two weeks or even every year. High performing employees are rewarded by their employers with additional bonus income at irregular times during the year.   Bonuses keep employees working at a particular employer in the hopes that they will earn a bonus at some point later in the year. When a Florida parent/employee does receive that bonus, how does that bonus affect the child support owed by that parent/employee or owed to the other parent? How Is Chil ..read more

When two parties divorce and those two parties have children the whole family getting divorced.  Because of this reality, the children should be given special consideration and considered merely another object to be negotiated between the husband and wife.  In fact, the children are likely to have strong recollections of what has happened up to and throughout the divorce case. What’s more, the children probably have opinions about the divorce case. But should those opinions be shared in court.  Will your children have to testify in a Florida divorce? That being said, the Florida ..read more

Uncontested divorce in Naples, Florida is not only possible, it is easily achieved under the right circumstances.  Many divorces share two things in common: 1) they parties agree that they should divorce, 2) The parties agree as to what should happen after their divorce. Agreeing to a divorce is the easy part.  Unpacking an entire marriage in a way that’s fair and satisfying to each party is the difficult part. When the parties to a divorce don’t have children, many assets or any need for support, there is not a lot to “unpack” so, in Florida, a simplified divorce is available. Simp ..read more

In Florida, to deny paternity you must be found to the be the father or at least accused of being the father. Typically, paternity is established merely by the parties being married.  If you are married to a woman and the woman has a baby, you are the legal father in Florida (at least initially). If a man is not married to a woman but the woman agrees that he is the father, the woman directs the man (usually with the assistance of someone at the hospital) to sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity.  This form, once signed creates a rebuttable presumption of paternity which can ..read more

In most states, the birth certificated is just a formality with no legal control.  In Florida, the birth certificate is a big deal.  Listing the father on the birth certificates can make that man the legal father automatically, (but this can be undone by court order).  Fla. Stat. Sec 382.013(2). Likewise, whoever puts the child’s name on the birth certificate gets to name the child.  If the mother and father are married to each other they will typically agree.  If the husband and wife fail to agree, the last name of the child will be a hyphenated version of each name t ..read more

In Florida, there are four ways to get custody of a child that is not your own: 1) Adoption, 2) Appointment of a Guardian, 3) Intervention by the State Department of Children and Families in a dependency action, and 4) Temporary custody under Chapter 751. The first step in seeking any kind of custody is usually gaining temporary custody.  Typically, temporary custody can be granted routinely if both parents consent to the grant of temporary custody.  This is very common for military families or families that are undergoing a temporary crisis. If the child lives in Naples, Florida, o ..read more

Whether it’s determining alimony or determining child support in a Naples, Florida divorce, income is the biggest factor in determining either of those obligations. The Florida statute goes into great specifics about what shall be considered income for the purposes of child support or alimony. “Income” means any form of payment to an individual, regardless of source, including, but not limited to: wages, salary, commissions and bonuses, compensation as an independent contractor, worker’s compensation, disability benefits, annuity and retirement benefits, pensions, dividends, interest, royalti ..read more

Elderly or grey divorces are becoming more and more common. Age can be a factor in Florida divorces insofar as it impacts alimony. In Florida people over age 65 have an extra right to speedy trial (for presumably morbid reasons).  “Civil actions involving elderly parties; speedy trial.—In a civil action in which a person over the age of 65 is a party, such party may move the court to advance the trial on the docket. The presiding judge, after consideration of the age and health of the party, may advance the trial on the docket. The motion may be filed and served with the initial comp ..read more

Child support is money owed by one parent to the other parent for the purpose of supporting the child that the other parent is caring for. “In a proceeding under this chapter [DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE; SUPPORT; TIME-SHARING], the court may at any time order either or both parents who owe a duty of support to a child to pay support to the other parent or, in the case of both parents, to a third party who has custody in accordance with the child support guidelines schedule in s[ection]. 61.30.” Fla. Stat. Sec. 61.13(1)(A) Every Florida child support order must have a termination date. The te ..read more

Divorce is hard.  In fact, it’s devastating.  While some people distract themselves by throwing themselves into their work, others let their work suffer while they go through the divorce process.  So, your spouse may indeed be reflecting this life change in his or her financial situation.… And that’s the only thing positive I will say about a situation like this. I’ve seen it hundreds of times.  Parties file for divorce and everyone learns that the lower your income is, the higher the alimony you receive or the lower the alimony you will pay.  Someone (often both) wil ..read more