Category: Florida BAR article
-
Appellate Court Trends in Rehabilitative Alimony: 10 Years Later
Rehabilitative alimony is when a court orders one spouse to support the other for a limited time so they can become self-sufficient. When deciding on this, the court looks at certain factors, but also considers other things not listed in the law. This article looks at cases from the past 10 years to see how…
-
Florida’s Homestead Realty: Is it Exempt from Imposition of an Equitable Lien for Nonpayment of Alimony and Child Support?
Just tell me the important stuff in easy words, and leave out the fancy stuff and names of the legal stuff. When a parent or ex-spouse falls behind on alimony or child support, there are ways to collect the money they owe. This can include taking their income, revoking their driver’s license, and even putting…
-
Florida’s Cohabitation Statute: The Revolution That Wasn’t
In 2005, a new law about alimony modification generated a lot of interest. People were worried about how it would affect their support payments. The law allows alimony to be changed if the person receiving it is in a supportive relationship similar to a marriage. This relationship has to have a financial impact, not just…
-
Florida Statute §39.0139: Limiting the Risk of Serious Harm to Children
Florida’s Keeping Children Safe Act (KCSA) was created to protect children who have been sexually abused by their parents or caregivers. The law makes it harder for these children to have visitation or contact with the abuser because it could put them in danger or influence their testimony. Some people argue that this law should…
-
Appellate Court Trends in Permanent Alimony for Gray Area Divorces: 1997-2007
In 1980 Florida Supreme Court defined permanent alimony as providing for the needs of a former spouse after a marriage. The factors considered in determining alimony have not changed, but the emphasis on these factors has. Appellate courts now consider additional factors such as children and career limitations due to the marriage. This article will…
-
F.S. §39.0139: Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse by Those Entrusted with Their Care
The Florida Legislature passed a law called the Keeping Children Safe Act to protect kids from sexual abuse during visits with certain people. The law says that if a parent or caregiver has been accused of sexual abuse, found guilty of it, or classified as a sexual predator, they can’t visit or have contact with…
-
Family Limited Partnerships: The Year in Review
The author wrote two articles in 2005 and 2006 about family limited partnerships (FLPs) and recent court cases. Since then, there have been three cases where the IRS won because of “bad facts” like transferring most assets to the partnership and using partnership funds for personal expenses. The article discusses these cases and also a…
-
Partitioning Real Property in Dissolution of Marriage Actions and Suits Between Unmarried Cotenants: Credits, Setoffs, Ouster, Division, and Sale
When people own property together and can’t agree on what to do with it, they might have to go to court to figure it out. This can happen to married couples, unmarried couples, or business partners who own property together. They might have to go through a legal process called “partition” to divide the property…
-
Florida’s Putative Father Registry: More Work is Needed to Follow the Established National Trends Toward Stable Adoption Placements
In 2003, Florida changed its adoption law to make sure that adoption decisions were more stable. This was after some high-profile adoption cases caused a lot of controversy. The state made a registry to help unmarried fathers protect their rights in the adoption process. There have been some court cases about the registry, with different…
-
Immigration, Domestic Violence, and What the Family Practitioner Should Know
Florida is a popular place for people from other countries to live because of the nice weather and beaches. Many noncitizens come to Florida looking for a better life and more freedom. Miami has the most noncitizens of any city in the world. Because of this, Florida lawyers often have to deal with immigration law…
-
Ruberg, Parry, and the Classification of Unvested Stock Options
In the court case Parry v. Parry, the Second District Court of Appeal created a process for determining how to classify stock options as marital or nonmarital assets. Stock options are contracts that allow someone to buy shares of stock in the future at a set price. Employment stock options are usually given with a…
-
Nonmarital Real Estate: Is the Appreciation Marital, Nonmarital, or a Combination of Both?
In Florida, when a spouse owns property before marriage or inherits it during marriage and keeps it in their name, the property is considered nonmarital. Any increase in value during the marriage is considered marital property and may be subject to distribution in a divorce. However, if the property increases in value without the use…
-
Title Procedure Before General Magistrates and Child Support Enforcement Hearing Officers
In Florida, the state pays general magistrates and hearing officers to help with family law cases. They are not in the state constitution or statutes, but they make it faster and cheaper to resolve family disputes. They are different from regular judges because they don’t have job security or salary protections. They are picked differently…
-
Age-appropriate Time Sharing for Divorced Parents
In 1991, Florida started changing the way family law cases are handled, with a focus on “therapeutic justice” in family courts. Psychological research has provided valuable information for creating time sharing plans for parents and children. Children experience their parents’ divorce differently based on their age and stage of development. Attorneys who understand these developmental…
-
Choosing a Valuation Date of Marital Assets in Dissolution of Marriage Cases: Perlmutter and its Permutations
This article will explain how Florida law has changed over the years regarding how to value assets in a divorce. Before 1988, the date for valuation was decided case by case. In 1988, a new law said the valuation date should be the date of a separation agreement or the date of the petition, unless…
-
The Uniform Premarital Agreement Act: Taking Casto to a New Level for Prenuptial Agreements
Premarital agreements were originally made to settle property rights, and in 1983 the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act (UPAA) was created to make the rules more consistent across states. Florida hasn’t adopted the UPAA yet, but it looks like they might soon. The Florida version of the UPAA is expected to be presented to the legislature…
-
Every Divorcing Client Needs Estate Planning
In short, if you’re getting a divorce, it’s important to see an estate planner. This will help make sure that your assets and plans for the future are in order. If you don’t have a plan in place and something happens to you during the divorce process, your family might face complications. Even if you…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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,…
-
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…