Author: Elf
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Justice Delayed in Child Support Cases Involving Incarcerated Parents
The Florida Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Dept of Revenue v. Jackson has created a situation where incarcerated parents can’t get their child support payments reduced while they’re in prison. This is unfair to the children who are supposed to receive the support. This article talks about the debate over whether parents in…
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Winning the Race to the Courthouse: The Principle of Priority
Legal firm and attorney names have been replaced with placeholders. In this article, a famous celebrity is being sued for breach of contract by a music producer. The producer claims the celebrity didn’t fulfill their end of a deal to record an album. The lawsuit is ongoing, and both parties are trying to reach a…
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What Do I Do Now? All of the Children Are Not Exercising the Same Time-sharing Schedule
Child support guidelines were first introduced in 1987 to help determine the amount of child support that should be paid. In 2003, Florida adopted a second formula for cases where children spend a significant amount of time with both parents. The guidelines also allow for adjustments in certain circumstances, such as extraordinary expenses or the…
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Through the Eyes of a Child: Impact and Measures to Protect Children in High-conflict Family Law Litigation
Having a long, bitter legal battle about children is really bad for everyone involved, especially the kids. It can make parents and even adult children really upset and stressed out. This article talks about how parents need to work together for the kids’ sake, and how fighting in court can hurt the kids. It also…
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Custody Determination: Who Gets the Dependency Exemption and Child Tax Credit?
A “custodial parent” for taxes is the parent the child lived with most of the time. If they spent an equal amount of time with each parent, the one with more money is the “custodial parent”. If a child of divorced parents spends more than half the year with one parent, that parent is considered…
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Annual Reports: Legal Needs of Children
Ten years ago, a group was formed to study how to make sure kids in Florida have good lawyers. Six years ago, another group was formed to try to make the first group’s ideas into laws. They want to make sure that kids who need lawyers get good ones, and they are working on making…
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Underwater Treasure: Equitable Distribution of the Save Our Homes Limitation
Florida homeowners now have a new asset to consider in divorce proceedings: the homestead tax assessment limitation, which is now portable. This means that when a home is sold, a portion of the tax savings from the homestead exemption can be transferred to a new home. This could have a big impact on the division…
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Dischargeable Debts in Divorce The Dissolution of Dischargeability
In 2005, a law called the BAPCPA was passed by Congress, which made almost all debts from a divorce non dischargeable in bankruptcy. This means that even debts like credit card bills and mortgage payments cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy. Before this law, there were some exceptions that allowed certain debts to be discharged,…
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Biology Versus Legality: How the Definition of Father Impacts Florida’s Impact Rule
If a pregnant woman loses her baby due to an accident in Florida, the law says the parents can’t sue for the baby’s death. They can only sue for the mom’s injuries. The dad might be able to sue for emotional distress, but it depends on if he was married to the mom, saw the…
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A Survey of Significant QDRO Case Law in Florida
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was created to protect employees’ retirement money, but it made it hard for ex-spouses and dependents to access that money in divorce cases. In 1984, Congress made changes to ERISA with the Retirement Equity Act, which included the creation of a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) to help…
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Chapter 742 and the UCCJEA: Is Childbirth an Unbridled Key to Forum Shopping?
Dr. John and Helen met in Palm Beach and had a baby together. When their relationship didn’t work out, Dr. John filed a case to prove he was the baby’s father. Helen’s lawyer in Texas filed a motion to stop the case, saying the Florida court didn’t have the right to decide. The legal battle…
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Estate Planning Issues in a Dissolution of Marriage
If Luci becomes unable to make decisions for herself, her healthcare and finances will be handled by whoever she has designated in legal documents like a power of attorney. If she doesn’t have these documents, Florida law will determine who has control. A durable power of attorney is a document that lets one person make…
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Bleeding Grandparent Visitation Rights
There are a lot of military bases in Florida, and a lot of military personnel live there. Recently, a new law was passed that allows grandparents who are in the military to spend time with their grandchildren, even if the child’s parents don’t want them to. This law is part of a long battle over…
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Binding Arbitration, Voluntary Trial Resolution, and Med-arb Proceedings in Family Law
Mediation is a way to resolve family disputes, but sometimes it doesn’t work if people are too upset or unwilling to compromise. In these cases, another process called “med-arb” can be used. This is when mediation and arbitration (or trial resolution) are combined to help families reach a resolution more efficiently and less expensively. It’s…
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The Marital Share of Passive Appreciation of Nonmarital Property: Deconstructing Kaaa for a Better Solution
The Florida Supreme Court made a big decision in the Kaaa v. Kaaa case about how to divide property in a divorce. It’s a complicated issue that could have a big impact on many people. This article explains the history of the law and court cases on this issue, discusses the Supreme Court’s decision, and…
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Florida’s Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege in Family Court
In Florida, divorce cases often involve mental health professionals, and there can be problems when they are asked to share patient records or testify in court. It’s important to understand the difference between confidentiality and privilege when it comes to sharing mental health records with the legal system. Privilege is a legal protection that allows…
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A Case of Neglect? Representation for Children in the Florida Dependency System
A law firm is suing a famous rapper for not paying their legal fees. The rapper claims the firm overcharged them, and the case is going to court. Children in Florida and Washington state don’t always get an attorney to help them in court when they’re in the foster care system. Florida has had a…
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The Intersection of F.S. §55.03 and Florida Family Law: Statutory Interest Calculations for Past-due Support Payments
Before 2011, calculating interest on court judgments was simple – just use the daily rate for the days the judgment was owed. But a law change in 2011 made it way more complicated. Now, the interest rate is recalculated every quarter and adjusted annually. This change applies to most judgments, including overdue support payments. It…
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She Said What? What To Do in Civil Domestic Violence Proceedings with Child Hearsay
A nine-year-old girl tells her dance teacher that she gives her dad a towel after he showers. When her mom asks about it, the girl says her dad made her touch private areas on his body and told her to keep it a secret. The mom tells a therapist, who contacts the Department of Children…
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A Phantom Menace: SB 58/HB 351 and the Application of Foreign Law in Florida’s Family Courts
During Florida’s 2013 regular legislative session, there was a proposed bill known as the Application of Foreign Law in Certain Cases. This bill aimed to prevent the application of foreign law in certain family law proceedings in Florida. The bill did not pass, but there may be future attempts to introduce similar legislation. The sponsors…
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Tax Consequences of Distributing Equity Compensation Rights in Divorce
When a corporate executive gets divorced, a lot of their money might be in the form of stock options or restricted stock from their job. These are called equity compensation. Stock options are the right to buy a share of stock at a certain price, and they usually become available to use over a few…
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The Progeny of Florida’s Reproductive Technology Statutes
In 1993, some new laws were passed about reproductive technology. One law said that if you donate eggs or sperm, you don’t have any legal rights or responsibilities to any kids that are born from it. But there are some exceptions, like if the donation is from a couple who wants to have a baby,…
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Purposeful Navigation Through the Seas of Social Change: A Theory-based Approach to Florida Alimony Reform
The law in Florida about alimony has been changing because society’s views on marriage and gender roles have also changed. In 2011, there were some changes to the alimony laws, but some people still thought they weren’t enough. In 2012, there was a new proposed law that would have made big changes to alimony, like…
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To Catch a Time-sharing Deviation
The popular child support deviation and adjustment in Florida disappeared one day, but investigators found it. The catch-all exception in the child support guidelines helped crack the case. Calculating child support used to be up to a judge, but in 1984, Congress made guidelines for all states to follow. Florida’s guidelines have some problems and…