Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Mediation in Post-Divorce Litigation
Many clients have a plan in mind when they visit a divorce lawyer for the first time. They know which marital assets they care the most about keeping and which marital debts they care most about avoiding, and unless they are delusional, they know whether theirs is a case where alimony is appropriate. If… Read More »
You Can Never Proofread a Prenuptial Agreement Too Carefully
For most students, sentence diagramming represents the utmost drudgery; it is the least fun part of school, even worse than long division. Future lawyers, by contrast, get a kick out of seeing prepositional phrases dangling from the main clause with acrobatic agility and subordinate clauses clinging tenuously to each other like atoms in a… Read More »
How Does the Length of Your Marriage Affect Your Divorce?
Approximately half of marriages end in divorce, but the longer you stay married, the more your chances of staying together until the end increase. Likewise, the length of your marriage affects how the court will likely divide your property. Florida’s equitable distribution laws do not assume that an equal division of marital property, and… Read More »
Parenting Coordination Agreements
Co-parenting with your ex-spouse is a marathon, not a sprint. A well-written parenting plan is sufficiently detailed that you can simply refer to it whenever there are interruptions to your routine. What happens if the parenting plan says that the children are with Mom on Labor Day weekend in even-numbered years, but this year,… Read More »
What Happens to Your Covenant Marriage If You Divorce in Florida?
Over the past few decades, divorce laws have changed to reflect society’s more relaxed attitudes toward marriage and divorce. In the early 20th century, divorces were rare. You could not get divorced unless you could prove that your spouse had done something major to sabotage your marriage; domestic violence was not considered bad enough… Read More »
The Tax Consequences of Alimony in Florida
Everywhere you look in Florida, there are reptiles that can kill you, such as the American alligator and, in certain parts of Miami-Dade County, also the American crocodile, plus others that are harmless but look plenty scary, such as the green iguana. Surprisingly, these do not make Floridians’ list of favorite subjects to complain… Read More »
What Happens If Your Spouse Wants a Divorce but You Don’t?
Most of the time divorce petitions do not come as a complete surprise; no one comes home from celebrating their anniversary with their spouse to find a divorce petition taped to the door of the marital home. Despite this, even though you knew that your spouse was unhappy about certain things in your marriage,… Read More »
How Much Do You Have to Downgrade Your Lifestyle While Your Divorce Case Is Pending?
Temporary alimony, also known as pendente lite alimony, is the most common type of spousal support awarded in Florida divorce cases. To the relief of spouses who pay alimony, a pendente lite alimony order automatically terminates when the divorce becomes final; after that, the court may or may not replace it with another alimony… Read More »
What Happens to Child Support Obligations When Stepparents Enter the Picture?
To an optimist, remarriage means a feeling of resolution, a new normal. Now, instead of being a broken family, your children are part of a blended family. You imagine the future, when your child introduces both sets of his or her parents at his or her wedding. The axiom that every family is unique… Read More »
What Happens When You Divorce the Same Person Twice?
Off again on-again couples make for interesting television plots, but if you are old enough that the financial investment in a relationship exceeds the cost of a pair of movie tickets to take your sometimes sweetheart out on a date, then getting back together with your ex can be as complicated as breaking up. … Read More »
