Category Archives: Family Law
Does Child Support Include College Tuition in Florida?
In many states, child support rarely ends at age 18. Instead, it often continues until age 22. But instead of making direct payments to the residential parent, the non-residential parent must pay a share of college expenses. That’s not the case in Florida. In the Sunshine State, unless the child has a serious mental… Read More »
The Changing Face Of Alimony In Port St. Lucie
This post is not about structural alimony reform in Florida. That issue was a political hot button a few years ago, but it appears to be dead in the water now. Instead, this post focuses on the monumental tax law change which took effect on January 1, 2019. For decades, obligors have been able… Read More »
Five Property Division Factors In A Florida Divorce
The Sunshine State is an equitable division jurisdiction. Upon marriage dissolution, marital property must be divided in an equitable manner. In this context, “equitable” is usually, although not always, synonymous with “equal.” Overall, the divorce must not be an unfair financial burden on either party. This goal is a little broad and subjective. So,… Read More »
Is Divorce Mediation Worth It?
Prior to mediation, the vast majority of people would say “no.” They reason, somewhat correctly, that if they could talk through their problems, they would not be in this situation to begin with. The expense of mediation also puts off many people. Mediation is not terribly expensive, but it is not cheap either. However,… Read More »
What You Can (And Should) Do About PAS
In one way or another, Parental Alienation Syndrome affects almost all post-divorce relationships between parents and their children. Knowing how to recognize PAS, and knowing what to do about it, can make a tremendous difference in a relationship with one’s children. PAS is an umbrella term for a wide range of situations. In all… Read More »
The Three Cs Of Family Law Mediation
Very few divorce cases go all the way to trial. That’s especially true in the no-fault marriage dissolution era. Typically, the only issues involve child custody and property division. So the vast majority of divorce cases settle during mediation. One of the reasons that mediation is so successful is that the primary issues… Read More »
Making And Breaking Premarital Agreements In Port St. Lucie
Aside from infidelity, money is the most common source of marital conflict that leads to divorce. Fundamentally, some people are savers and some people are spenders. There is nothing inherently wrong with either approach, which may be why these types of people are so incompatible. In this light, a premarital agreement is much more… Read More »
Love, Baseball, And Premarital Agreements
As another baseball season comes to a close, we pause to remember that magical moment when an ownership dispute turned into an object lesson on the importance of spousal agreements in divorce cases. In the early 2000s, Frank and Jamie McCourt owned the Los Angeles Dodgers. After winning the World Series in 1988, thanks… Read More »
Five Property Division Factors In Port St. Lucie
Some states almost always divide marital property 50-50 in divorce cases. That’s especially true in California and a few other community property states. But Florida, like most other jurisdictions, is an equitable division state. The divorce settlement must divide property in such a way that it does not impose an unfair financial burden on… Read More »
Some Alimony Basics In Port St. Lucie
Believe it or not, New Year’s Day 2019 is just around the corner. On that day, a radical new tax law change goes into effect. Alimony payments will no longer be tax-reportable to obligees and tax-deductible for obligors. Opinions are divided as to whether this change will help or hurt women. Since about 2015,… Read More »
