Zisser Family Law

Attorney fees for legal representation and costs of actions, such as filing fees, copy costs, expert witness fees, and the like, vary from case to case. Each case presents individual challenges. During your initial consultation, your attorney will analyze the issues in your case and provide an estimate of how long your case will take and how much it will cost. Since we cannot predict all factors that may arise or level of cooperation of parties involved, this estimate can change.

Although we cannot tell you how long your case will take, we can tell you the factors that impact the duration of your case. These factors include spouse level of cooperation and the amount of time needed to obtain the necessary financial, parenting and psychological data, as well as the number of cases assigned to your judge.

Florida Law assures each party the right to counsel so that the parties are on a “level playing field.” Therefore, there can be circumstances in which your spouse may be required to pay your legal fees. The financial position of you and your spouse are reviewed, before and after property is divided, and support is assessed. Then, to the extent costs of the case have been increased by the failure of your spouse or his or her attorney to cooperate in the process, legal fees can be awarded.

Mediation is a form of dispute resolution in which a neutral third-party, most often a practicing family law attorney, although sometimes a psychologist or financial professional, assists the parties in reaching a settlement. Mediation is required before a judge can hear your case.

Even if you and your spouse agree on everything in your case, you are still considered opposing parties in a lawsuit. Therefore, it presents a conflict of interest, and a violation of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar.

Typically, a consultation with one of our attorneys can occur within several days of your call.

It's going to be very difficult to be successful in opposing a divorce in Florida as long as the statutory criteria have been met to file for divorce in Florida. That one of the parties has been a resident of Florida for at least six months prior to filing, and that the party is competent to file for divorce.

Grandparents can be awarded custody or "grand-parenting time" only in a case of an emergency on a temporary basis. There's a statute providing for that, but they do not have the right to file an independent action for permanent custody or grand-parenting rights of the children.

Moving your children out of state and then trying to file for divorce in that other state poses a host of problems because the children are still, for custody purposes, within the jurisdiction of Florida, if Florida was the home state prior to moving out of state. I would be very wary of doing that.

As long as you have been married for at least 10 years, you will be entitled to former spouse benefits from your other spouse's Social Security benefits. However, that is outside of the jurisdiction of the court and would not be made a part of the dissolution of marriage decree.

The way in which to have a spouse who has exhibited violence removed from the home is to file a petition for a junction for protection against domestic violence, which can be done by going to the clerk of your court and file a sworn petition, which the court will look at, and within twenty-four hours, if the requirements of the statue are met enter a temporary injunction. Then there would be a hearing within ten days on that injunction. That would, the temporary injunction, if granted, would order the abusive spouse to vacate the home immediately.

You can best help your domestic violence case by filing a very detailed and complete petition for injunction for protection against domestic violence by being very detailed in your description of the violent acts. Also to have photographs with you of any bruises as well as any doctor reports and medical records that can be attached to your petition for injunction for protection as exhibits.

Yes. As long as you as the petitioner have been a resident of Florida for at least 6 months prior to the filing of the case, you can file for divorce even if your spouse is living in another country based upon military assignment. The important thing is to determine, is to know whether they are residents of Florida for military purposes in order to obtain jurisdiction over that individual for the purpose of the division of the pension. With regard to the filing, that is based upon the residency requirement.

Yes, especially if he cleaned the money out of the bank account after the petition for dissolution of marriage was filed, and after the standing family law order was entered. If the money was cleaned out prior to the filing, I think the court can look back for a limited period of time and you can claim dissipation of an asset and have those funds reimbursed to you in the overall equitable distribution. Even if that particular fund of money or sum is no longer available, you can seek a reimbursement out of another asset.

It's going to be very difficult to be successful in opposing a divorce in Florida as long as the statutory criteria have been met to file for divorce in Florida. That one of the parties has been a resident of Florida for at least six months prior to filing, and that the party is competent to file for divorce.

Your spouse does not have the right to tell you that you cannot see your children. You absolutely have the right to have a continuing relationship with the children. Each of the party's ability to have a continuing relationship with the children during the marriage and following the divorce is a fundamental principle in our law.

An alimony determination is going to be made on a case by case basis depending upon the parties relative financial circumstances. The alimony statute is Florida statute 61.08 which states the various criteria that the court will consider. The primary criteria are need of one party and ability to pay of the other. The statutory criteria will include the lifestyle of the parties, the duration of the marriage, the age of the parties, the health of the parties. It will be determined on a case by case basis based upon the application of these criteria to the financial circumstances of your case.

If that pension plan or retirement plan was accumulated during the marriage, the equitable distribution statutes states that retirement plans are marital assets subject to equitable distribution. Therefore, yes, you will be required to share your retirement plan during the marriage for equitable distribution purposes.

Assets are split in a dissolution of marriage action presumptively equally. This is an equitable distribution state, not a community property state, meaning, that the court will apply equitable principles in the distribution of property, but the presumption is 50/50.

In Florida once you file your petition for dissolution of marriage the court automatically enters a standing family law order which specifically prohibits the transfer and sale of any property.

I think the best way to choose your marital and family lawyer is word-of-mouth. Talk to your trusted counselor or your best friends. Look on a website. There are websites devoted to marital and family law. Look in your area with regard to the website directed in your particular area. Be concerned about the rating services. Avvo is an excellent rating service. Martindale Hubbell. You want to make sure that your lawyer has the highest rating from Martindale Hubbell as well as Avvo. And you'll learn a lot by looking at the website of your attorney and have that be cross-referenced with names of individuals who are recommended to you.

Bankruptcy affects the divorce either by staying the divorce, which means that there's an automatic stay if the bankruptcy action is filed during the pendency of the divorce, which can be set aside, or if the divorce is complete, bankruptcy will not discharge alimony, child support, or other support related orders. Nor will the equitable distribution be discharged in bankruptcy.

Collaborative divorce is really a modality in which one can resolve the issues in the divorce in a manner that will not involve the court system at all until the very end when an agreement is ratified by the court in a consent final judgement of dissolution of marriage. It is a process by which the parties will work with their attorneys, with shared professionals, and will work collaboratively with transparency of financial disclosure to determine and to settle all of the financial issues and parenting issues in the case.

The legal separation is different from the dissolution of marriage case. It's really called an "Action for support" and "parent unconnected with the solution of marriage." The two are independent remedies. One would only seek the separate maintenance or the action for support unconnected with divorce. If the parties are going to be living separately, but do not want to dissolve the marriage. As to which is easier or less expensive, the answer is neither, and that they are very different. The determination of whether a dissolution of marriage should be filed or an action for support unconnected with divorce depends on the circumstances of the parties and whether they want to terminate the marriage.

Collaborative divorce is very different from litigation in Florida. Being a litigation family law attorney for many years and being a trained collaborative attorney, I have seen, firsthand, that collaborative divorce is so preferable to litigation. For one thing, it is less expensive. Secondly, there's less stress. Thirdly, there's complete financial disclosure and transparency, so whatever you need from the other side, in terms of financial information, is freely given. It also takes less time, and, ultimately, can be less expensive. It is far preferable to the litigation model.

A divorce action is actually called a petition for dissolution of marriage, is initiated by filing a petition for dissolution of marriage.

The pendency of the divorce and the time frame really depends upon the facts of the case and the circumstances of the case. In all likelihood it will never take less than 30 days because of the service of process requirements and the ability in right to file and answer, but the upward amount of time really depends upon the issues of the case and how long it takes to fully determine the resolution of the case.

Legally, you have the right to represent yourself. That will be called pro se. But I very strongly recommend anyone representing themselves in a dissolution of marriage action even in the simplest of cases, there are legal issues that need to be taken care of with regard to children, parenting issues, support, that are dictated by statutes, by Florida Statute 61 specifically and you really need to be seeing someone who's trained in marital and family law to guide you.

Yes, if your case is handled in the collaborative model, you will go to court at the very end of the case. Once there's been a signed agreement reached between your attorneys and you, the judge will review the agreement, and, in all likelihood, enter and sign that final judgement of dissolution of marriage.

Those are two questions as to can you and should you. With regard to the can, do you have the legal right to request the home. In the event of there being minor children, you have the right to seek exclusive use and occupancy of the home and an equitable distribution the award of the home. It's frequent that the majority time-sharing parent will seek the exclusive use and be entitled to continue to have the home for the security of the children. With regard to whether one should keep the home, that is also a financial decision, but often it is best to maintain the home, especially if it's an affordable mortgage payment and also that can assist with the continuity of the support during the divorce and have that mortgage amount be considered a part of the spousal support.

Marital misconduct in Florida is only going to be relevant where there has been a dissipation of marital funds, or if it can be shown that it has had a direct impact on the children. The purpose of a Dissolution's of Marriage action is not to punish. I would be very wary of someone wanting to use the affair against the other party because that is not the purpose of the legal action.

The alternatives to going to court are a collaborative case where you do not go to court until at the end where the court approves the agreement. Alternatively, there are other forms of dispute resolution, which is what this is called, alternative dispute resolution, which includes mediation. In every case that is filed in Florida, every family law case, mediation is required prior to going to court at the end of the case. You will be seeing a judge to approve your final judgment of final dissolution of marriage or other final order of dissolution, or paternity, or other family case. However, these alternative dispute resolution modalities enable you to have much more control in the ultimate result.

There are a number of things that happen after the filing of the divorce petition for dissolution of marriage. For one thing, there's a standing family law order that is automatically entered that provides that neither party may sell or conceal assets. Neither party can permanently remove the children from the state of Florida. Also, within 45 days of service mandatory disclosure of financial documents has to be exchanged. Your family law attorney will explain to you the other requirements that are time sensitive after the divorce action is filed.

The purpose of a temporary hearing is to obtain an order to maintain the status quo as it had been achieved during the marriage until the time that the final decree is entered. That can pertain to parenting time as well as support, child support, and alimony. The court will here evidence from both parties, review financial affidavits, and hopefully enter into an order where there will be sufficient support, paid or received, as well as a parenting plan that ensures the continuity of the relationship between the children and the parents while they're working out the final issues.

A petition is the name given to the pleading that is filed at the beginning of the case that begins the case. In the case of a dissolution of marriage, it's called a petition for dissolution of marriage. For a modification of alimony or child support, it'll be called a supplemental petition for modification of alimony or child support. Same thing for an adoption will be a petition for adoption.

The answer to whether collaborative divorce is expensive is, it depends because the cost of the Dissolution of Marriage action is going to depend upon the amount of time involved, in that ethically attorneys can only charge on an hourly basis. It really depends on the total amount of time involved in the various steps in the collaborative case. However, I can tell you that a case handled in the collaborative model will be less expensive that that case would be if it was in the litigation model without the spirit of transparency and cooperation.

If you have formed a business during the marriage, that business is considered a marital asset. Your spouse will be entitled to a portion of the value of that business in the equitable distribution. However, the award of that particular business asset generally goes to the individual who is operating the business.

The first thing that you should do is to find the very best marital and family lawyer possible so that you can get legal advice as to what your options are and what is likely to happen in the event there is a dissolution of marriage. The second thing you should right after you make that appointment is make sure that you're very knowledgeable with regard to all of your assets and liabilities and income, so that you can be gathering together these appropriate financial documents to bring to your attorney. Third, talk to your spouse about whether counseling would enable the marriage to be reconciled, because that is always the goal is to maintain a healthy marriage and only to dissolve it if that is in the best interest of the parties and the children.

Temporary orders are orders that are entered by a court in the pendency of the case that can pertain to parenting time, support rights. They are extremely important and they have an effect upon a later order in that they could set the precedent of what it would be ordered later.

The advantage of handling your case in a collaborative way with a trained collaborative attorney is that you and your spouse will be the ones deciding what will be the parenting arrangements for your children, as well as what will be the manner in which the assets will be distributed and support ordered. It will give the parties, through their attorneys and their consultants, the ability to make those decisions rather than the judge making the decisions.

I think the most common financial mistakes that I see being made in divorce is basically the three. Number one, not accurately reporting your income and filing an inaccurate financial affidavit, number one. Number two is commingling funds that one had from before the marriage or inherited funds into a joint account and thinking that you will be able to preserve those accounts later for or those funds later for yourself. Third, thinking that just because you are married, that deeds have to be held jointly when the funds or all the funds came from premarital sources or that a property was previously inherited by you.

Debts are treated for equitable distribution purposes as either marital or non-marital. If the joint debts were acquired during the marriage, the court can determine which party is going to be liable for those, either individually or jointly. However, that does not change the obligation of the parties with regard to the bank or the lending institution. We'll look to both of the parties. With regard to any joint debts from before the marriage, that will, in all likelihood, be assigned to the individual who brought that debt into the marriage. However, if it became joint, then it can be considered a joint obligation with regard to the equitable distribution of that debt between the parties.

Retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, are equitably distributed in divorce actions, and that's provided for under the Equitable Distribution Statute.

If you need child support while the divorce in in process, which you in all likelihood will, you can request temporary relief by filing a motion for temporary needs. The court should order child support during the pendancy of the case, applying the Florida child support guidelines.

If your spouse can not be found then the appropriate way to serve that spouse is going to be by publication in a newspaper. If that spouse is evading service then service can be effectively made by leaving the process documents at his or her last known address with an adult.

If your spouse is served with a divorce and does not answer following the period of twenty days from the date of service, you can obtain a default judgment against that individual. That means that you can get the relief that you are requesting in the petition for dissolution of marriage provided you can provide sufficient proof.

This individual is usually a financial expert such as a stock broker or other financial advisor who has taken certain coursework and met other criteria to assist individuals and attorneys in divorce cases in helping them determine not only the value of certain assets but also the income to be derived from those assets.

A marital settlement agreement in a divorce in Florida is a contract that you and your spouse will enter into that resolves the issue in the case. If there are children, it will include parenting issues, equitable distribution, and alimony, and support, and all of the other issues with regard to you and your spouse.

Collaborative divorce, or collaborative dissolution of marriage action, is a manner in which the parties, the husband and wife, have committed at the beginning of their case, through a contract with their attorney with a trained collaborative attorney, that they are going to settle. They've decided ahead of time they're going to settle all of the issues in the case. They will be working with shared professionals, a shared psychologist, shared parental advisors, shared financial advisors, and there is a commitment to complete transparency so that their case and all of the issues can be settled between themselves without having a judge make their decisions for them.

There is actually no such legal term as "legal separation" in that parties can be separated and there's nothing illegal about that. I would like to correct a misimpression that there is such a thing as legal separation. There is a legal separation action code of action for support unconnected with divorce, but neither party needs to have an agreement or an order in order to be separated.

The papers that you're going to need are going to be mainly the papers that accurately reflect the full extent of your assets, your accounts, your bank account, investment account, pension accounts, and liabilities. I think one of the most important paperwork is a personal financial statement that either you or your spouse have given to a financial institution in applying for a mortgage or other loan which will state the assets and liabilities in the best possible light.

The documents that you should bring to the marital and family lawyer you are consulting with should include tax returns for at least the past three years, financial statements if those have been provided to any bank or financial institution, your pay stubs for the last two months, your spouse's pay stubs if you have them, W-2's from the last year and any other documents that you believe will give your attorney who you're meeting with a good overview with what your financial assets are.

The answer is no because there is going to be a standing family law order entered after the petition for the dissolution of marriage is filed. That provides in part that neither party may permanently remove a child from the State of Florida during the pendency of the action.

The collaborative divorce team consists of the attorney and whomever else will assist the parties in resolving the issues in the case. If there are children involved, we definitely will involve a collaboratively trained mental health professional. With financial issues, the professional may include a accountant, pension expert, banker. Anyone else who the parties and the attorney's believe will assist in giving the input and expertise that's necessary to resolve the various issues.

I think everyone should consider collaborative divorce in Florida, or collaborative dissolution of marriage case. I think the individuals who are best served to handle their case this way is where the parties have a good relationship already. People can have a good relationship with each other and determine that they do not want to remain married. If the communication is strong between the parties, where they want to be fair with the other, where they agree ahead of time that there'll be complete transparency, these are the ideal candidates for a collaborative dissolution of marriage.

There is no hard and fast age at which child support would be terminated if there is a handicapped child, in other words a dependent child within the definition of dependency under child support law who was unable to be employed.

Yes, child support modifications by operation of statute are retroactive to the date of the filing, and that retro activity will be determined once the modified amount has been determined.

The answer is yes in certain circumstances. If there has been a history in the marriage where the children have been attending private school, where there are needs of the children that can best be served by private school, and where the parties financial circumstances are such that it is affordable, it certainly is a right and a request that the parties can make, for one party to assist in making the payments for that education.

Your new spouse's income should not be considered in determining your child support award as long as you are gainfully employed or there is no finding that you are intentionally unemployed.

The operative term is how childcare expenses are apportioned in Florida. Childcare expenses are apportioned on a pro-rata basis, just as child support is determined on a pro-rata basis based upon the parties respective incomes, net incomes. The childcare expenses will be apportioned in that same ratio.

Child support can be changed in Florida based upon a modification of the final judgment of dissolution of marriage. Child support is always modifiable based upon the substantial change in the needs of the children and based upon the substantial change in the financial position of the parties.

The child support will be increased based upon your filing a supplemental petition for modification of the final judgment. That is what begins the child support modification action for an increase.

The amount of child support is determined primarily based upon the parties' respective incomes and applying the child support guidelines. The court will also consider the time-sharing arrangement between the parties. In determining the actual support, the court can also deviate upward from the child support guidelines. For instance, if the children have gone to private school and camp and the parties have been able to afford these amenities for the children, that can be a basis for deviation, as well as extraordinary medical needs of the children.

Child support is for the benefit of the child, or children. Alimony is support for the benefit of the spouse, who is in need of continued support.

There is no minimum amount of child support. However, there is an expectation that each of the parties are going to contribute to the needs of the child. Where you have an unemployed spouse, you're going to want to look at why that spouse in unemployed, and there's a provision in our child support statute for imputation of income in the event the individual is voluntarily unemployed or voluntarily underemployed.

Yes, minor children must be covered by health insurance in that that is part of the needs of the minor children.

The primary determination of child support is going to be based upon the husband and wife's income from all sources that is defined in our child support statute as well as the time sharing arrangements between the parties.

The term combined income means what is the sum of the income of the mother and the father. Once you have those added together or combined, that will determine the total amount of support that the children are entitled to.

Generally it's the parent who has the majority time-sharing of the child can seek a modification if they are seeking an increase in child support. The individual who is paying child support can also seek a decrease in child support. They would be the ones who would be, in all likelihood, the modifying party if they've had a substantial downward turn in their income. Generally it's only the parents who would have the right to file for a modification in child support.

Yes, overtime is include in that. It'll be a part of your income. There are factors to be considered, however; such as, is it recurrent overtime? Is it regular overtime?

Yes child support can be reviewed in the future, and that the court will retain jurisdiction as long as the children are minors for modification of child support. That means either raising it or lowering the child support. However, the review must be initiated by one of the parties.

No, they're not. Our parenting statute is gender neutral. The court, I believe, will evenly apply the several criteria for making a parenting decision with regard to which parent has majority time-sharing or what the time-sharing arrangement will be between the parents having to do with primarily the roles in which each of the parents had played historically in raising the children, as well as the relative psychological conditions of the party's health. The preferences of the children do have some limited weight.

I don't think that there is any age in which a child has the right to decide where they are going to live. Children of older years, I would say 14, or 15 or above up to 18, their wishes are going to have greater impact on a judge's decision. However, the paramount criterion is what is in the best interest of the child with regard to where they should live.

Definitely yes. Matter of fact, it's very important that the drug testing be done that's relevant to one of the criteria in making a parenting decision, which is the health, psychological and physical health of the parents. Matter of fact, I have seen a judge order drug testing immediately, right after the hearing while the individual for whom the drug testing is needed is in the courtroom.

Yes, expert witnesses are often extremely helpful where there is a dispute with regard to parental responsibility, specifically mental health professionals, as well as teachers, clergy and other individuals with expertise with regard to matters at issue in the parental dispute.

Yes, the wishes of a child have some influence on a custody or a parenting determination in Florida. The wishes of a Florida are but one of the many criteria that the court can consider. It depends a lot on the age of the child. It's important to note that we do not want to have children testifying in court. As a matter of fact, the courts really frown upon children testifying in court, but the wishes of a child may very well be made known in the course of a parenting evaluation by a clinical psychologist or other evaluator, and the age of a child has a great deal to do with whether that child's wishes will be considered.

I think an extramarital affair will only have an impact, if it can be shown that the child was exposed to that extramarital affair, witnessed it, or it has a proven impact on the child. Otherwise, it will not have any relevance. There is a criterion for parenting, the termination to be made, which is based upon the moral fitness of a party. I think that that should be brought in to the custody determination in that respect. Otherwise, dissolution of marriage cases are no-fault in the State of Florida. There are only a few situations where fault will be relevant.

Child support is determined in an income ratioing approach. Also, taking into account the amount of time sharing that each of the parties enjoy. We don't really have joint custody in Florida. What we have is if there's equal time sharing, it's called equal time sharing or rotating custody. The amount of time that the parties enjoy with the child will impact the amount of child support so the answer is yes that equal time sharing will effect the amount of child support that each party pays to the other depending on the disparity between the parties

Our parenting statute is gender-neutral. That means that fathers have as great a right as mothers to have either majority time-sharing or time-sharing less than majority depending upon all of the factors set forth in the statute.

The state where you should file the supplemental petition to modify the decree to get specific parenting time should be in the state where you were divorced assuming you have been exercising parenting time under that final judgment that can be done even if the other spouse lives in a different state.

Yes. The fact that the moving party has moved out is not going to impair that individual's seeking majority time-sharing. However, I think it will make it more difficult for them to obtain majority time-sharing because there will have been a precedent set by the children remaining with the at-home parent.

You definitely should not leave your children with your spouse if you are going to be filing for divorce until you're settled elsewhere because that can significantly damage your case where you'd be seeking majority time-sharing of your children.

I think that question points out the principle that the wishes of a child are taken into consideration when they are based upon good reason. If the reason that the child wants to stay with a parent is because they are overly permissive, I believe that the court should take that into consideration, and that may be very well a reason for the court to award the parenting time, or more parenting time with the other parent.

Your option in what you should do is immediately file a motion for contempt in the court that has jurisdiction over the child and seek her immediate return. If there has been other evidence of wrongdoing you may want to consider filing a supplemental petition for modification of the parenting rights.

The court will order supervised parenting time in situations where there has been drug addiction, drug use in the presence of the children, or drug use while raising the children. Alcohol abuse, history of criminal behavior, or other circumstances, demonstrable circumstances, where the parent is unable to take care of the children without assistance, or where the child could be in potential danger with the parent.

The two most common arrangements for parenting time in Florida are either where one of the parties has majority time-sharing of the child and the other party has specific time-sharing less than fifty percent of the time. The other is equal time-sharing. What's called rotating custody, or fifty-fifty equal time-sharing.

The action that you can take if your ex-spouse is driving the children while under the influence of alcohol is to take immediate legal action to move to change the parenting time, to put in safe guards, enjoin the drinking while the children are in that person's care. You may want to ask for an alcohol evaluation. You should immediately put that spouse or former spouse on notice that that conduct is unacceptable and jeopardizes the children.

There are numerous factors that go into determining time-sharing with regard to formulating a parenting plan. These are in the parenting statute. They include, first and foremost, which parent is more likely to perpetuate the continued relationship between the children and the other party. That actually, that criterion appears twice in the parenting statute. Other criteria include the school and community record of the children, the relationship between the child and the parents, the respect of health and psychological condition, and the emotional and psychological health of each of the parents.

When visitation rights are frustrated, and, what it's actually called now, "parenting time," not visitation, you have the right to seek enforcement, legal enforcement, of those rights under your final judgment. The first thing to do is going to be to see the best marital and family lawyer you can, and hopefully that lawyer will be able to contact your spouse or your spouse's attorney to try to correct that matter right away. If it's persistent, we also have a provision in Florida law for a parenting coordinator to be appointed by the court to resolve these matters between the parties where the parties can see the parenting coordinator. As a last resort would be to be filing a Motion for Contempt or Enforcement with the court, and there are sanctions that can be applied to that type of behavior.

A Parenting Plan is the document that is now entered in accordance with the Parenting Statute that states not only the parenting time that the parents have, but it also articulates the various means in which the parents are going to be communicatimg with each other, as well as the areas of responsibility between the parents.

We no longer have the term visitation, we have parenting time in our new statute. A parenting plan is a document that is entered at the time of the dissolution of marriage that outlines the contact that each of the parents is going to have with the children as well as how decisions are going to be made with regard to the children and other child-focused related issues.

Parenting time is the time that is designated in a court order for one parent to have the ability to spend time with the child carved out for that particular individual.

Supervised visitation, it's actually now called supervised parenting or supervised parenting time, is a term where the individual's parenting time, the parent's parenting time is to be supervised, either by a designated individual, such as a grandparent or such as another adult individual or that the parenting time is to take place at a center designated for that purpose such as the Family Nurturing Center in Jacksonville, Florida.

The difference between shared parental responsibility and sole parental responsibility is with shared parental responsibility, the decisions affecting the children such as education, religious upbringing, discipline and the like are shared by the parties. With sole parental responsibility, those kind of decisions are delegated to one party. Sole parental responsibility is only ordered if it can be specifically found that shared parental responsibility would be detrimental to the best interest of the children.

The first thing you should do is to find the very best marital and family lawyer in your area. Schedule that appointment as soon as possible because you will only have 20 days from the date you were served to file your answer, or other response of pleading.

There are a number of factors that could be considered material. The terminology is really substantial and material change and circumstances not contemplated at the time of the original order, that could be examples of that could be if the individual develops a drug problem. The circumstances could be if the child is having significant problems that are related to the parent's conduct. That is only a few of the circumstances that could be considered material.

Supervised parenting time will only come into being where there is some reason that the parent is unable to responsibly care for the child without another person supervising them. It would be in a situation, for instance, where there is a history of addiction to drugs or to alcohol, a situation where there can be shown to be demonstrable harm to the child if the parent is not supervised by another adult, or at one of the supervised parenting centers.

The term is not visitation, the term is parenting time. Hopefully the parents themselves through, if it's a collaborative process, through the mental health professional will be able to reach an agreement as to which party is going to have majority time sharing or whether there will be 50/50 time sharing. If the parties cannot agree than there is often a child custody, or parenting plan evaluation where there would be a recommendation by a mental health professional which may or may not necessarily be followed by the court. There are a number of criteria in our Florida parenting statute which will determine parenting rights that would include parenting time.

Yes your spouse can be required to provide life insurance as security for alimony. This is provided for in our alimony statute. It also should be shown that the insurance is at reasonable cost, and that it's reasonably necessary to secure the alimony award especially if there is any danger shown that the alimony paying individual may not be forthright or dependable in paying the alimony.

The types of alimony in Florida are in two basic categories. One is the form in which the alimony is going to be paid. The other is duration. With regard to form, alimony will either be periodic, which means weekly or monthly, or whether it will be in a lump sum. The types of alimony, in terms of periodic, going from the shortest amount of alimony to the longest term, would be bridge the gap alimony, rehabilitative alimony, or permanent alimony.

All income is considered in determining alimony if there is sufficient need. Our alimony statute states the types of income that will be considered. It includes wages, business income, investment income, income from trusts, and all other types of income that an individual receives.