Florida family law matters cover wide ranging topics including divorce, child custody, child support, property division, alimony, father’s rights, and many others. The most common need for someone to seek Florida family law help is divorce, but this may only be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to solving the problems you face in your family law matter. Florida has a difficult set of rules when it comes to family law cases, and the first thing that you should know is that family law advice is easy to get – our team of expert family law attorneys provides free consultations. There is no better way to learn what your rights are and to get what you deserve, whether it is your share of the marital property or custody of your children. No family law matter is too complex, our team has seen it all and we put that experience to work for you by providing you with the resources you need to work through this difficult time in your life with as much ease as possible and win!
Florida Family Law Help is Here!
Everyone has friends or family that has a horror story regarding their own or someone they knows family law matter. Florida’s family laws and rules are complex, confusing, and not easily understood, even by many lawyers who don’t specifically specialize in family law cases. Because of this, we always recommend speaking with a Florida family law attorney that understands the laws completely, handles family law matters on a regular basis, and can listen compassionately and attentively to your needs and concerns and provide you with the right family law advice for your particular case. No one does a better job than us – speaking with a local Florida family law lawyer is essential to protecting your rights.
Florida Divorce Help and Advice
Florida divorce laws are some of the most complex in the entire country. Recently, drastic changes to the statutes that govern Florida divorce cases are being amended and changed altogether, making it nearly impossible to understand unless you are an expert that keeps up to date on the rules as we do. Florida is a no fault divorce state. This means that Florida does not generally use factors such as another spouses infidelity or other “fault” grounds to be divorced, which is a good thing because it helps to take some of the emotional fight out of the process allowing you to avoid reliving whatever experiences have gotten you to this point in open court.
Florida divorce cases cover topics that can seem to be simple, such as an uncontested divorce, and they also involve contested divorces, where couples fight over property distribution, child custody, child support, alimony and other important issues that need to be resolved to end the marriage. Your best defense in a contested divorce case is a good offense, and approaching your divorce with the right Florida divorce attorney is essential to getting your life back so that you can move on to the next chapter in your life.
Agreed Divorce vs. Contested Divorce in Florida
Two types of divorces exist in Florida: an agreed divorce (otherwise known as an uncontested divorce) and a contested divorce. One of the first things to happen when people start inching towards the big “D” (divorce) is that they become emotionally charged and upset by virtually everything the other spouse does. This may be for a legitimate reason, such as a cheating spouse causing you to lose trust, or other bad or disrespectful behavior towards you. Keep in mind that, for the most part, harboring these feelings of ill will only make the process more difficult for you, and they generally do not help your case in any way. Allowing yourself to let go of the anger that you may have is the first step to trying to work out your divorce in an uncontested manner and amicable.
Florida Uncontested Divorce
An uncontested divorce allows both parties the opportunity to work together, one final time, to come to an agreement on how to handle all the aspects of their divorce such as who the children will live with, how property will be distributed, etc. When both parties to a divorce are able to do this, sometimes with the help of an expert Florida divorce lawyer or a mediator, the pain, length of time and the amount it costs to get divorced are greatly minimized. Unfortunately, this is not always a possibility.
Florida Contested Divorces
When a couple simply just cannot get along and disagreement exists as to how to settle their Florida divorce case, the situation becomes a contested divorce. The disagreement may be over something small, like a car or some furniture in the house, or it may be something big, like child custody or alimony. Obviously, when a couple cannot get along and settle these issues on their own, a judge needs to step in and make the final decision for them. Having a proven winner on your side is the best tool in your arsenal and any one of our expert Florida divorce lawyers has a proven track record of winning battles in Florida divorce cases. Rest assured that you will speak with someone that knows what they are talking about and can provide you with the level of Florida family law help that you need because our team has litigated every issue under the sun.
Florida Child Custody Help and Advice
No court battle is more heated than those involving child custody. Florida child custody cases involve the battle to decide which parent will be the custodial or residential parent where the children live full-time, and which parent will be the noncustodial parent that has limited visitation rights. While Florida family law courts generally lean toward favoring joint legal custody so that both parents can have equal input in making decisions for the children, most cases do not end up that way. In the majority of cases, one party is pushing for sole legal custody. Our team knows how to fight for the level of custody you know you deserve and they win time and time again.
Florida child custody laws consist of two separate types of custody: legal custody and physical custody.
[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]Legal custody is granted to the parent that will be solely responsible for making the majority of large decisions in the child’s life such as schooling, medical care, extracurricular activities, discipline and other daily matters.[/quote]
Physical custody simply means that the child is with a specific parent at a certain time. If you are granted only physical custody, chances are you will only be given limited parenting time with your children and you will not have any decision making ability regarding the child’s education, medical care, or general welfare.
Florida child custody laws are decided on a standard known as the “best interests of the child.” This involves a number of factors that will be taken into account when a judge determines who should be the custodial parent, or the parent with whom the child lives full-time. There are many factors that go into deciding this best interests of the child standard in Florida child custody cases, such as: the health and safety of the child, the emotional and developmental needs of the child, the moral fitness of the parents, and where each parent lives. Knowing that this standard is used ahead of time can help you begin to get your affairs in order so that you can put your best foot forward in explaining to the judge why your child should live with you and not the other parent – and in Florida, both the mother and the father have equal rights. Only an expert Florida child custody lawyer can fight to make sure you win legal custody or joint legal custody of your children. Don’t lose valuable parenting time, fight and win your custody case! Learn more about getting Child Custody Help in Florida.
Florida Child Support Help and Advice
Florida law dictates that both the mother and father of a child are responsible for the overall well-being and the care and upbringing of the child. Because there is a presumption that both parents must make sure the child is taken care of in a proper way, either parent may be forced to pay the other parent child support for the benefit of the child. Florida follows a rather confusing set of guidelines that have numerous exceptions when it comes to deciding how much one parent is supposed to pay the other to support the child. This is where it pays to have a Florida family law attorney on your side, to make sure that you are getting enough or not paying too much child support.
Florida child support guidelines use a number of factors, including: both parents income, estimates of the child’s actual child care and medical care costs, and the standard needs of the child as proposed by the State of Florida’s standard needs table. For example, let’s say you are the parent that is supposed to pay child support and you have two-children. If your net income (after taxes, deductions, etc.) is $2,000.00 per month, you would pay approximately $686.00 in child support to other parent (which comes out to roughly 34% of you net income). This is where an expert Florida family law attorney comes in – should you require more money because of factors such as having a special needs child or your child has serious medical issues, you may get more support. Should you be a parent that makes substantially less than the parent where the children live full-time, the court may order you to pay less than the guideline standard child support. Only a skilled child support attorney can help move that number one direction or the other. Get the Florida child support help and advice that you need today!
Get the Florida Family Law Help and Advice You Deserve!
Never before has it been easier to connect with a Florida family law professional who understands your needs and has the experience to fight for what you deserve. Speaking with our team of professionals puts you in touch with an expert Florida attorney that can answer your questions and give you the family law advice that you need to make these important decisions. Florida family law rules are convoluted and confusing and hundreds of exceptions exist to vary from the standard. Having a trial tested family law advocate on your side is the surest way to get your family and your life back on track. Don’t waste any more valuable time, get the Florida family law help and advice that you deserve!
Additional Florida Information
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Can a case from Erie PA be transferred to Lakeland Florida if the guardian and child now live in Lakeland?
My Spouse and I purchased a home together in 2010 in her name only due to legal issues I was going through at the time. We married in 2018, however I find myself in a vulnerable position if anything were to happen to my Spouse or marriage is dissolved for any reason. How can I protect my interest in our home if something were to happen. Is Quick Deed an option and if so would there be any negative impact to my spouse, or are there other options I could avail myself of. Refinancing not an option with escalating interest rates. Please review and advise
You can do a number of things. For starters, because this property was purchased in her name prior to the marriage, it is not “marital property” per se. There is certainly a ‘contribution’ because marital property (income earned by both of you during the marriage) has been used for the past 4-years to pay down the mortgage, this would come into play if the marriage ended because a portion of the nonmarital property would be considered marital (see this link on what happens to the house)
A Quit Claim Deed, however, would put the house in both of your names (even though the mortgage is in her name only), which would likely constitute a “conversion” of nonmarital property to marital property. This would mean that you both own the property equally. so, if she were to pass away, the house would automatically transfer to you and if you divorced, the equity would be 100% yours and hers (meaning it gets divided ‘equitably’).
Reach out and speak with a lawyer for a free consultation.
My 8 month old grandson was taken from my daughter from dcf and placed in a foster care. My grandson was living with me at the time but my daughter had him for a weekend visit. DCF did a home study and denied me. There were many things listed on the home study that were not correct. Her lawyer was supposed to file a motion that my daughter wanted the child to be returned to me and wants to fight the home study. She was asked over a month ago to do so. She hasn’t. I wanted to file my own motions and for temp custody of him against DCF. Am I able to do that in a dependency case? Since he lawyer isn’t doing as she has asked?
It depends. Was the child taken from you because you weren’t supposed to allow unsupervised parenting time with your daughter? If that happens, DCF will not let you regain the child. If items in the home study were not accurate, you need to provide a detailed, bullet point explanation for each item. DCF is notorious for being lazy and making mistakes, but you need a lawyer to file a 3rd party petition to intervene and or custody. It needs to be done immediately.