Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Out-of-state orders concerning child custody are usually fully honored in Florida's family law courts. Florida courts are required to give full faith and credit to orders entered in other states unless those orders go against the public policy of Florida or are otherwise illegal. In the case Smith v. Daniel, 1D17-4240 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), the appellate court reviewed a trial court's decision to not honor a Kentucky order preventing the father from having any contact with his child.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
In order to save money, some divorcing couples decide to go to a notary to have that notary fill out templates for divorce case documents. This may work in cases in which there are no children, no property and no financial support issues, but since a notary cannot give legal advice (unless the notary is also a lawyer), depending on one may cost you a lot more than you bargained for. In the case Rodriguez v. Roca, 3D17-1746 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018), the parties ended up in what was probably costly litigation after completing a marital settlement agreement with a notary.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Supervised visitation is awarded in Florida child custody cases if it is in the best interest of the children to shield them from certain harm which might come from unsupervised timesharing. The most common example is situations involving domestic violence. If a child has witnessed a parent committing domestic violence, or the child has herself been the victim of abuse at the hands of a parent, supervised visits may be appropriate. However, supervised visits usually cannot be permanent as explored in the case Solomon v. Solomon, 3D17-1553 (Fla 3d DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
An often employed rule in Florida child custody cases is that a court cannot engage in guessing when it comes to the future best interest of a child. That is, a court generally cannot rule on a major change that will take place in a child's life before that change happens. This rule has been applied in different ways with different results in some Florida appellate cases. One recent case examines how this rule is applied to orders concerning where a child will live once the child starts kindergarten.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events**
You survived the first week of school - hooray! Celebrate the end of summer break and the beginning of a successful school year with this weekend's lineup of fun.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Alimony
Can a Florida divorce court require a spouse who pays alimony to have his or her estate continue paying the alimony after the payor's death? This issue was explored in the case Kurtanovic v. Kurtanovic, 1D17-202 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018) in which the former husband appealed several issues, including the court's order for his estate to continue paying alimony after his death.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Divorcing parents may face a dilemma when one parent is due to be deported after a marriage is dissolved. The court is faced with the question of whether or not to permit relocation of the child with the deported parent. In one recently decided case, we review an appellate court's consideration of a trial court's decision to grant a prospective relocation that turned on whether or not the mother's application for US citizenship was granted.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
An agreement or order is only as good as the ability to enforce it. In a Florida divorce, parties may enter a settlement agreement. Both parties usually intend to honor the terms of the agreement and make certain promises in good faith reliance on the other party's compliance with the agreement. When a party does not uphold his or her part of the contract, the court must intervene to force compliance in most cases.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
What is a Florida family court to do when parents do not agree on private versus public school education for their children? As with most decisions involving minor children, the court must use the "best interest" standard to make a ruling. The best interest of the children is paramount to what is fair to either parent. We see how an appellate court handled this issue in the case Lane v. Lane, 3D17-2538 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events**
It's the last weekend before school starts, and what better way to celebrate the end of summer break than with some family fun? Free school supplies, a Comicon and sushi await you in this weekend's line-up of events.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Commingling refers to what happens when non-marital funds are mixed with marital funds. Commingled money, in most cases, makes the non-marital funds marital since it is presumed the spouse intended to gift the money to the other party. As we see in the case Knecht v. Palmer, 5D17-533 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018), however, a Florida court's powers of equity can overcome this gift presumption.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
When a party appeals a Florida family law ruling, in most cases, findings of fact made by a trial judge will not be disturbed unless there is a clear error. This is because the appellate court has a policy of not wanting to substitute its judgment for that of a trial court judge who saw witnesses testify and was able to weigh the credibility of those witnesses. A recent appellate case illustrates an extreme case in which the appellate court did feel it had to overturn the trial court's ruling because it was not supported by competent, substantial evidence.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Requiring a paying party to maintain life insurance to secure an alimony or child support award is subject to the court making certain findings. Ultimately, a party cannot be forced to maintain life insurance that is not affordable, nor can a party be made to pay for insurance coverage that does not match the amount to be secured.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence
The goal of a civil restraining order in Florida is to protect a victim of domestic violence from future abuse, threats and harassment. Beyond prohibiting the abuser from contacting the victim, these orders can have negative affects on the abuser's job prospects and can generally cause inconvenience. This is why in one recent appellate case, the court reversed a wrongfully-entered restraining order even though it had already expired by the time the appeal was decided.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events
Summer break is winding down, but that doesn't mean the fun stops! While you take advantage of tax-free back-to-school shopping this weekend, here are some fun activities to join along the way.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
Discovery is often dreaded by parties involved in a Florida family law case, but it is a necessary part of the procedure that will lead to a trial. Discovery is the process in which each party exchanges certain documents and information to prove his/her side of the case. For example, bank statements, pay stubs and other financial documents may be exchanged as part of discovery to prove a party's ability to pay child support.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Miami Divorce
Before you file your Miami divorce case, you want to make sure a court has jurisdiction to enter a final judgment. Otherwise, you may spend a lot of time and money only to find at the end that all of it was for nothing because the court has no power to sign a final judgment. How do you know if the court has jurisdiction?
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Miami Divorce
Generally, property purchased during marriage in Florida is considered marital property and both spouses may have a claim to that property. Title to the property is not controlling - meaning an asset that was purchased during the marriage but titled only in one spouse's name does not mean the asset belongs to the titled spouse alone. As seen in the appellate case Lopez v. Hernandez, 4D17-3495 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018), the court must make specific findings if it decides to award one spouse an asset purchased during the marriage.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Miami Alimony
Finding oneself on the receiving end of a motion for contempt can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially when punishment for contempt can range from fines to incarceration. We review a man's decision to appeal a finding of contempt against him based on his failure to pay alimony while he was at the same time trying to modify his obligation.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events
As we countdown to back-to-school time, let's maximize our summer fun! This weekend's list of events may help you and the family enjoy time together.
