Domestic violence is defined in the Florida statutes as, “…any assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another family or household member.”  The most common instances involve one person hitting the other, choking the other or blocking the other from leaving a room or a house.
The statute includes in the definition “spouses, former spouses, persons related by blood or marriage, persons who are presently residing together as if a family or who have resided together in the past as if a family, and persons who are parents of a child in common regardless of whether they have been married.  With the exception of persons who have a child in common, the family or household members must be currently residing or have in the past resided together in the same single dwelling unit.”
A domestic violence injunction is a court order that subjects the other person to criminal charges if that person comes around you or contacts you while the injunction is in effect.

Sometimes it is necessary to change the custody agreement for various reasons.  These changes can sometimes be more urgent than other types of modification, especially if one parent feels that his or her child or children are in danger for some reason.  Changes in circumstances that could result in the child suffering or being put in a situation that is not conducive to stability and routine in a child’s life could be grounds for custody modification.
A change in custody agreements is a difficult request unless it can be proven that the changes are within the best interests of the child(ren).If the primary residence of the child has become an environment of any type of abuse, whether it is verbal, sexual, physical, emotional or otherwise, this can be grounds to change the custody to a safer and more stable environment.

The courts will always look at the best interests of the children.

If either parent wants to move your child(ren) more than 50 miles away from when you currently reside, they MUST get permission from their spouse or seek permission from the court..  Florida Statutes section 61.13001 states that if a parent with primary residential custody of a child or children wants to move, he or she must either obtain a court order or written agreement allowing a move of more than 50 miles from the current residence.
If you are served with a petition for relocation, you must respond in a timely manner or the court may enter an order allowing your spouse to relocate with your children.  If you are not the primary residential parent, make sure to maintain close contact with your children.  Failure to do so will be considered by the court if your spouse requests permission to relocate.
If the court allows relocation, it will set a schedule regarding future visitation and the cost of same.

A child’s well-being and safety is the most important aspect of child support – the purpose of paying any amount of money to your ex-spouse is to ensure that your child is comfortable and stable.  A child support agreement is part of the original divorce proceeding that you and your ex-spouse went through.  However, sometimes financial circumstances change and the child support has to be legally modified.
If one or both parents have experienced a significant change in income, that could be grounds to change the amount of financial support that one is paying to the other.  If the financial circumstance change would result in a child support amount that is a certain percentage more or less than the original agreement, the court could see fit to change the amount of child support if a request is filed by either parent.
Both parents have the right to file a request for modification of child support in Florida.  No matter if the adjustment would result in more or less of an amount paid in monetary support, either parent has the right to request the courts to review the original agreement in light of new circumstances.  The process of obtaining a change on the child support agreement involves filing appropriate paperwork and petitioning the court to review and modify the current situation.  We can help!

The final judgment of dissolution signed by the judge assigned to your case is a legal document which orders you and your spouse to comply with the terms of your marital settlement agreement or , if a trial was necessary, the court’s determination of what happens to your property and children, child support and alimony.
If one party doesn’t comply with the court order, he or she is in “contempt of court” and the violating party may be subject to penalties which may include reimbursement of cost and lawyer fees.
If your spouse fails to adhere to your divorce settlement agreement, he or she could face serious consequences such as:
“    Driver’s license suspension
“    Jail time
“    Bank account levies
“    Tax return seizure
In DivorceDeli.com’s experience, non-payment or late payment of child support or alimony is the most common order which is violated.  If this happens to you, it is an extremely serious situation that needs to be handled immediately to avoid further legal issues. We can help!

Child support MUST be calculated according to the Florida guidelines established by the legislature.  Both parents are obligated to support their children to meet any and all needs.  You and your spouse cannot agree on the amount of child support. unless, of course, if it is MORE than the guidelines requirement).
If parents share rotating custody (50/50 “timesharing”), then there may be no need for one parent to pay child support to the other depending upon the comparative incomes of the parties.
Many parents have concerns about help paying for private school tuition, after school programs or other expenses that are not taken into account in basic child support calculation.  In circumstances like these, the child support obligation may increase, but there is no guarantee.  Each Florida divorce case is different which is why hiring a Florida divorce lawyer is important.

Your children are the most important members of your family, and when going through a Florida Divorce it is extremely important that they are protected.  DivorceDeli.com is dedicated to upholding stability in a child’s life.  We want to help you and your children make the transition as smoothly as possible from one household to two.
As of October 1, 2008, a revised statute requires that a parenting plan be in place for all cases involving minor children.  The parenting plan must state in detail how each of the parents will share the responsibilities of raising the child.  For example, a general parenting plan will outline what each parent will do regarding the following responsibilities:
“    Daily tasks
“    Healthcare
“    School functions
“    Extracurricular activities
“    Communication with the child
The best interests of the child are our main priority at DivorceDeli.com and we can help you with your parenting plan to ensure your child is properly cared for in your viewpoint as well as the eyes of the law.  Florida state laws require that child custody based on the child’s best interests is determined taking many points into consideration, including:
“    Length of time the child has lived in a stable environment, and the desire to maintain continuity
“    Moral fitness, mental health and physical health of the parents
“    The child’s preference (if the court can see that the child can make an educated decision)
“    Ability of each parent to maintain a stable routine for the child
“    Any prior domestic violence situations or convictions on the part of either parent
“    Ability of each parent to meet the child’s developmental needs.

There is nothing more important than the welfare of your children.  When you are headed for a breakup of your relationship with the children’s other parent, whether it be a divorce or a paternity situation, there are some steps you can take to protect your children.  You may want to consult several counselors, therapists.
A marriage counselor may be helpful if there is any to hope of saving your marriage.  If you are just not interested in that, you could involve a mental health expert in counseling your children to help them understand that they are not at fault in the breakup and that they are going to be ok.
If the parenting arrangement for the children becomes a contested matter, DivorceDeli.com can successfully use a mental health professional as a witness in the trial.  Friends and relatives as witnesses are helpful.  However, an expert witness will assist the court in determining what is in the best your children.
The expert can speak with your witnesses or hear from you a summary of what they are going to say.  The expert can also speak with your children and anyone who has counseled the children.  Depending on the age of the children, there can be psychological testing of the children that can be evaluated by the expert.  In certain circumstances, there can be psychological testing of the parents that can be similarly evaluated.  The expert can tie all of this together and explain for the judge why your parenting plan should be adopted.

Your spouse is a citizen of a foreign country and your marriage is not going well.  Your child has a US passport and you fear that your spouse will sneak out of the country with the child.  DivorceDeli.com can advise you how to protect yourself from potentially never seeing your child again.
First, we would seek an injunction on an urgent basis asking the court to prevent your spouse from getting a passport for your child and/or removing the child from the country.  This can be accomplished WITHOUT notice to your spouse.   Thereafter, the court would schedule a hearing and would then made a final determination on the subject.
Assuming the court makes the order effective throughout your case, there are procedures of the U.S. Department of State to make sure that your spouse cannot obtain a new passport for the child.
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When you are going through a divorce in Florida, you must remember that there are tax consequences to certain parts of it.
Suppose that you bought some rental property with your spouse a few years back and it looks as if you are going to get the property as part of a settlement proposal from your spouse. Of course you will consider the amount of mortgage debt that is on the property when you analyze what the property is really worth to you, but you need to be aware of a hidden debt.  The amount by which the property has increased in value since its purchase will be subject to capital gains tax (currently 15%) when you later sell the property, NOT when you get divorced.
DivorceDeli.com may suggest that your spouse get that property and you get something else that has no future tax burden.

In any divorce one spouse may receive alimony or child support from the other.  If so, you need to be aware of the tax consequences.
While there are no income taxes to be paid for receipt of child support, there are income taxes to be paid on alimony.
There are many technical rules involved (the Internal Revenue Code is a bit complicated to say the least).Alimony is taxable income to the receiving spouse and tax deductible to the paying spouse.  That makes a huge difference in the amount of money involved.  If you are in the twenty percent tax bracket, $1,000 per month becomes $800.  Don’t spend what you don’t have.

People going through a Florida divorce frequently ask Florida divorce lawyers if they will lose their health insurance if they get divorced.
Usually this situation involves the person who is reliant on the other spouse for health insurance.  Typically, the other spouse carried the insurance for the family through work.  What happens if you get divorced and no longer qualify for the spousal coverage under the employer’s plan.
The federal law “COBRA” requires that your present insurance company cannot reject you from coverage for three years after the divorce.  They are required to give you exactly the same coverage as you have now.
However, the cost of the coverage may be higher because you are no longer getting the family coverage discount which is less per person than if there were just one person on the policy.  Also, the employer may presently be charging you less than the actual cost as a benefit to the employee.  They will no longer do that when you are no longer related to their employee.  One small additional increase (less than ten percent) in the premium is a result of the fact that the law allows the insurance company to charge you a premium of slightly higher than the employer is paying.

If you have begun your Florida divorce or are even just thinking about divorce, you may have heard that it is a bad idea to leave the home.  Clients often tell us that their friends have advised them not to leave their homes.  The friends have told them that they give up their rights to the home if they leave before the divorce is final.
NOT CORRECT! Listen to your lawyer, not your friends!  When it comes to rights to the home, it doesn’t matter who is staying there at the time of the divorce.  The value of the house, much like your bank account, doesn’t change just because you have moved out and your spouse doesn’t “get it” in the settlement just because they are living there and you are not.
If you have children – BE CAREFUL about leaving the home and children. If you want your children to reside with you after the divorce is final, DO NOT, leave your children in the home with your spouse for any extended period.  The court will take your absence into consideration when determining where your children should primarily reside.

In many Florida divorces, part of the property division that occurs involves college funds which have been set aside for the benefit of the children.
Unless these funds are owned by one spouse alone as a result of money from before the marriage or as a result of a gift from someone other than the other parent, the funds will be divided along with all of the other assets and debts of the parties.
If the plan procedures allow both parents to exercise joint control, the solution is fairly simple.  You merely request that the plan confirm in writing that neither spouse can withdraw or otherwise move the money without the written consent of the other.
Sometimes that is difficult to do.  Many plans, including the state operated Florida Prepaid College Plan, require that the accounts be opened in one name only. If so, we will  make sure that the Marital Settlement Agreement  or Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage states that neither spouse can make any decisions regarding that money without the written consent of the other spouse

In many Florida divorces, part of the property division that occurs involves college funds which have been set aside for the benefit of the children.
Unless these funds are owned by one spouse alone as a result of money from before the marriage or as a result of a gift from someone other than the other parent, the funds will be divided along with all of the other assets and debts of the parties.
If the plan procedures allow both parents to exercise joint control, the solution is fairly simple.  You merely request that the plan confirm in writing that neither spouse can withdraw or otherwise move the money without the written consent of the other.
Sometimes that is difficult to do.  Many plans, including the state operated Florida Prepaid College Plan, require that the accounts be opened in one name only. If so, we will  make sure that the Marital Settlement Agreement  or Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage states that neither spouse can make any decisions regarding that money without the written consent of the other spouse.

The Florida legislature created the concept of “Shared Parental Responsibility” which covers all child custody matters.  There is no presumption in favor of moms and the parents jointly make the major decisions regarding the child. One parent would be named the “Primary Residential Parent” and the other would be the “Secondary Residential Parent”.

Recently though, the legislature changed the terms again.  “Shared Parental Responsibility” remains; however, there are no longer designations of “Primary Residential Parent” and “Secondary Residential Parent”.  Today, we merely have a “Parenting Plan” which has either been worked out by the parents or ordered by the judge.  Parents MUST work together better for the benefit of the child(ren).  In order to make the process less stressful the legislature did away with the primary/secondary designations.

You can!  However, in our opinion legal work should be done by lawyers.

Any person can go to court without a lawyer in any legal matter.  But is it your best option?  Probably not.  If you are charged with a parking violation, you may be safe to represent yourself although there are many affordable traffic ticket lawyers around.  If you are charged with a serious crime, you would either hire a private lawyer or seek a public defender.
What’s at risk in a divorce case?.  Your property, children and money.   If you are the higher wage earner, your income is at stake in a potential alimony claim.  DivorceDeli.com frequently helps people “clean up” the problems they have unintentionally made by trying to represent themselves in a family law matter.
The marital settlement agreement which addresses all property and child issues must be properly prepared.  DivorceDeli.com has experienced many cases where people come to them to fix problems which have been created by poor draftsmanship in the agreements they reached with their spouses. Usually the problem involves disagreements as to the meaning of the language of custody provisions within a marital settlement agreement.
When you consider what is at risk, representing yourself in a divorce should not be considered as an option.  When it comes to a Florida divorce, you will have more peace of mind that you have done things the right way if you retain an expert Florida divorce lawyer to help you through the process.