Recent Blog Posts
Does Divorce Affect Your Permanent Residency Status?
Here in South Florida, a substantial percentage of children and young adults have at least one parent born outside the United States; at least one parent is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and one parent might have gotten permanent residency status upon marrying the other parent. Despite stereotypes about opportunistic singles who just want to… Read More »
Concealing Marital Assets Can Cause Problems Well Beyond the Divorce Case
Gray divorce, in which the parties are above the age of 50, is becoming increasingly prevalent. In the early days of no-fault divorce, many divorces took place among couples who realized rather quickly that they were not cut out for marriage, but the ones who made it past the ten-year mark were in it… Read More »
The Court Must Not Charge You Double for Child Support
C Corporation is arguably the worst business structure, because not only does the business have to pay taxes, but you, as the business owner, must also pay personal taxes related to it. Few financial situations are more frustrating than getting charged twice for something you were not especially keen to pay for in the… Read More »
Wage Garnishment for Unpaid Child Support Obligations
The law offers plenty of protections for people experiencing financial hardship. For example, United States law does not allow debtors’ prisons, and incarceration cannot be a punishment for failure to pay a debt. Federal bankruptcy laws enable financially distressed people to discharge many kinds of debts by filing for bankruptcy protection. Wage garnishment, where… Read More »
Can the Court Require You to Continue Paying Alimony After You Die?
As much as high-income spouses fear alimony orders during divorce, the court tries to divide couples’ assets in ways that do not require alimony payments, when this is possible. If the lower-income spouse is young enough and healthy enough for employment, then alimony awards tend to be of short duration, and the amounts are… Read More »
Selling the Marital Home In Divorce Is Not Always a Road to Riches
The web pages of divorce law firms will tell you that the goal in divorce is to divide marital assets in the fairest possible way; this is the meaning of “equitable distribution,” the rule that the Florida family courts follow when determining how to divide the marital property. Of course, compared to your own… Read More »
Co-Parenting Should Not Be a Scheduling Nightmare
When your children are babies, old people knowingly tell you that things get easier as your children get older. Then they immediately revise their statements when they remember that raising teenagers is a herculean task, but at least when your children are in elementary school, you get to enjoy the calm before the storm. … Read More »
Can the Divorce Court Enter a Default Judgment Even If You Have Children?
Most divorce cases do not involve the court ruling for one party and against the other. In fact, in most cases, the parties reach an agreement about property division and parenting time during mediation. When the case goes to trial and the judge must issue a decision about the points on which the parties… Read More »
Can a Prenuptial Agreement Trap You in a Bad Marriage?
Conventional wisdom says that pessimists think that prenuptial agreements cause divorce, optimists think that prenups help couples resolve their differences and stay married, and realists believe that divorce is inevitable for some couples and that prenups make the divorce process simpler. People sign prenups for a variety of reasons, including wanting to keep their… Read More »
You’re Never Legally Married Without a Marriage License
Marriage is more than just a piece of paper, except in the eyes of the law. Unmarried domestic partners have some legal protections, but certain rights are reserved only for lawfully wedded spouses. The only circumstance where the court automatically assumes that you are your child’s father is if you are legally married to… Read More »
