This is an extremely complicated question these days. Most people, even wealthy people, are “upsidedown” on their mortgage–meaning that because the housing market crashed, they owe more on their house than what it’s worth. However, during a divorce it’s not infrequent for one of the parties to want to keep the house for a variety [...]
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In a divorce case, many people are under the misconception that if one party lives in Florida for at least six months that he/she can get divorced in Florida. While there is a six month residency requirement to become divorced in Florida, that only allows Florida to have subject matter jurisdiction of the case. Florida also [...]
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Florida military divorces can be extremely complicated for a number of reasons, the most obvious being the division of the military pension. The Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act is a federal law that allows Florida courts to treat military retirement pay according to the laws in Florida. Florida therefore has jurisdiction in determining what [...]
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Divorce Modification Tampa At Mindi Lasley, P.A. we’ve handled numerous modification cases. I’m often asked what provisions of a divorce decree (also known as a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage) are subject to modification. Unfortunately, there are many provisions of a Final Judgment that cannot be modified. Furthermore, when a provision is modifiable, it’s [...]
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How is child support calculated? Child support is calculated based on a formula established by the Florida Legislature in Florida Statute Section 61.30 (called child support guidelines). The first factor that must be established is how many overnight visits each parent has with the child(ren) and how many children you have with the other [...]
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I’m often asked what the difference is between a divorce and an annulment. A divorce dissolves the marriage between the Husband and the Wife. An annulment is to judicially declare that a valid marriage never took place. For an annulment to take place, the marriage has to either be void or voidable. There’s no specific [...]
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If a child is born out of wedlock, Florida considers the mother the natural, legal custodian of the child, even if the father signs the birth certificate. It’s important for Father’s to realize that they CANNOT stop an unwed mother from leaving the state unless the father has a custody order from the court. It’s [...]
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Many people are under the misconception that child support must be paid throughout college or until a child turns 21. While this is true in other states, in Florida, child support terminates when a child turns 18. However, if the child is still in high school with a reasonable expectation of graduating on time, then [...]
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I’m often asked at what age a child is allowed to testify in court as to which parent the child wants to live with. Unfortunately, in Florida there is no clear cut answer to this question. For a child to testify in court, especially as to which parent the child wants to live with, a [...]
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Many people are under the misconception that there is a formal “legal separation” that can be filed with the courts instead of filing an actual divorce. There is no formal legal separation in Florida, unlike many other states, even if one spouse moves out of the marital residence (marital residence is generally defined as the [...]
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