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Knowledgeable South Florida Lawyers
The law firm of Greenberg, Huott & Baisden, is committed to helping clients in Broward County, Palm Beach County, and Miami-Dade County. Our lawyers provide experienced, quality legal representation focused on our clients' legal needs and goals. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation.
Our Areas of Practice:
Family Law:
Contents:
Dissolution of Marriage
Regular Dissolution of Marriage
Equitable Distrubution / Property Division
Alimony
Timesharing
Child Support
Modification
Appeals
Paternity
Pre-Nuptial / Antenuptial and Post-Nuptial Agreements
Alimony
After equitable distribution has been made, the court may consider the award of alimony. The court may grant alimony to either the husband or the wife. Rehabilitative alimony may be for a limited period of time to assist in redeveloping skills and financial independence. Permanent alimony continues until the receiving spouse's remarriage or the death of either party. Rehabilitative and permanent alimony generally are paid periodically (i.e., monthly or semi-monthly). The court may grant some combination of the two. The court may also order lump-sum alimony where one party pays to the other party a lump-sum payment of money or property. Although adultery does not mandate or bar an award of alimony, the court may consider the circumstances of that adultery in determining an award of alimony.
In awarding alimony, the court considers factors such as the parties' prior standard of living; length of the marriage; age and physical and emotional condition of both spouses; each spouse's financial resources and income-producing capacity of the assets they receive; the time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to find appropriate employment; and the services rendered in homemaking, child rearing, and education and career building of the other spouse. The court may consider any other factor necessary to do equity and justice between the husband and wife.
You have the right to find out about all your spouse's income and assets through the use of discovery procedures which your attorney will explain to you.
Timesharing
It is the public policy of Florida to ensure each minor child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents after the parents have separated or divorced, and to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities of child rearing. The father is given the same consideration as the mother in determining timesharing regardless of their child's age or sex.
In most cases, parental responsibility for a minor child will be shared by both parents so that each retains full parental rights and responsibilities with respect to their child. This requires both parents to confer so that major decisions affecting the welfare of the child will be determined jointly.
You and your spouse may agree, or the court may order, that one parent have the ultimate responsibility over specific aspects of the child's welfare, such as education, religion, or and medical and dental needs. If the parents have a substantial conflict over any of these areas the court will decide on responsibility for them. The court can order varying types of shared parenting arrangements depending on the evidence presented. The court may designate one parent's home as the primary residence and afford the other parent frequent and continuing contact, or, the court may order rotating timesharing in which the time spent with each parent is equal.
In rare cases, the court can order sole parental responsibility and timesharing to one parent. To do so, the court must determine that shared parental responsibility would be detrimental to the child.
In considering issues between parents and their children, the best interest of the child is the primary consideration by the courts.
Florida law requires both parties to attend a parenting course prior to entering a final divorce. Consult your county clerk's office for information on courses offered.
Child Support
You and your spouse each have a responsibility to support your children in accordance with their needs and your financial abilities. Child support may be by direct payment or by indirect benefits, such as mortgage payments, insurance, or payment of medical and dental expenses. Ordinarily, the obligation to support your child ends when that child reaches 18, marries, or becomes financially independent.
Some of the issues concerning child support which must be considered include: (a) the amount of support; (b) the method of payment; (c) ways to assure payments are made; (d) when child support may be increased or decreased; and (e) who claims the dependency deduction for tax purposes. Other questions may need to be answered, depending on the circumstances of your case. Guidelines for the amount of support apply to all cases and are based on the income of the parents and the number of children with adjustments for substantial overnight contact.
If you have a problem getting support payments from your spouse or former spouse, or timesharing and access to your child is denied, you should bring this matter to the attention of the court. It is not legal to withhold timesharing or child support payments because either parent fails to pay court ordered child support or violates court ordered timesharing.
Modification
After a divorce or separation, the Court generally establishes a Final Judgment and parenting plan that outlines alimony, timesharing, child support and parental responsibilities. However, over time circumstances change, and the Final Judgment or parenting plan may need to be modified to reflect those changes.
When parenting plans are created, they are created in response to the parties' existing situation. Any substantial change in one parent's ability to pay support or exercise timesharing with the minor child can be cause for modifying the existing parenting plan. There are many things that may necessitate the need for modification, some examples include the loss of employment, promotion or increase in salary, remarriage or cohabitation, relocating, development of unsafe behaviors or actions that could endanger the child such as alcohol or drug use or criminal activity.
Until a Modification action is filed and the Court issues an Order revising the Final Judgment or Parenting Plan, you are responsible to uphold the existing Order. Therefore, if you are not following your current Court Order, your former spouse may be able to bring a contempt action against you. Pro-actively seeking modification offers you more control of the situation and the possible choices.
If circumstances have changed substantially since your divorce, please contact our law firm to discuss child support modification or changes to custody, visitation, or spousal support.
Main Office:
4300 N. University Drive
Suite D-106
Lauderhill, FL 33351
Phone: (954) 749-0500
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Satellite Office:
2385 NW Executive Center Dr.
Suite 100
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: (561) 994-2898
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The law firm of Greenberg, Huott & Baisden helps clients throughout Broward County, Palm Beach County, and Miami Dade County. We handle estate planning, bankruptcy, immigration, civil and commercial litigation, family law, divorce, workers compensation, and personal injury concerns for clients from such South Florida cities as Miami, Sunrise, Plantation, West Palm Beach, Lauderhill, Fort Lauderdale, Green Acres, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and Wellington.
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