Miami family law attorney blog
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events**
Did you know there are only 108 days remaining in 2018?! Make them count by spending your time with loved ones. If you are looking for fun things the whole family will enjoy, consider this weekend’s lineup of family-friendly events.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Dissolution of Marriage
A party who uses funds in a marital bank account to pay for every day living expenses or attorneys’ fees cannot be penalized for it absent a finding of misconduct. In the case McKenzie v. McKenzie, 4D17-2413 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018), the appellate court considered the former wife’s appeal of an order assigning to her in the equitable distribution scheme funds that were in an account she used to pay her attorneys’ fees.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
When a child is seeing a therapist and a Florida child custody case is pending, a question arises as to whether or not the therapist can be compelled to testify regarding the child’s statements to the therapist. In the case Garcia v. Guiles, 1D17-5125 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), an order allowing the a child’s treating psychotherapist was appealed, and the appellate court discussed the standard for reviewing whether or not the order was appropriate.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
When a final judgment is incomplete, it is not error for a court to supplement it to include omitted provisions. This was the holding in the recent case Swearingen v. Swearingen, 1D17-5011 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018) in which the mother appealed the trial court’s decision to supplement the final judgment with a complete parenting plan.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support
If a child does not live in Florida, can a court still order that child support be paid for that child? The answer depends on where the parents reside and whether or not the court has jurisdiction over the parents. As we see in the case Keogh v. Keogh, 5D18-1080 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018), when it comes to deciding whether or not there is jurisdiction to establish a Florida child support order, where the child resides is not the determining factor.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events**
Summer is unofficially over, but in South Florida you wouldn't know by looking outside pretty much year-round! In any case, we have some weekend events for you to choose from that will keep the family entertained and help you keep cool as you celebrate Grandparents' Day.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
When it is time to seek a Florida divorce, many spouses have the misconception that because an asset is titled in one spouse's name alone, the titled spouse owns the asset 100 percent. If the asset was purchased during the marriage with marital funds, this is false - title does not control who owns an asset or who owes a debt incurred during the marriage. How about when a spouse has money earned prior to marriage that is deposited into an account used during the marriage - are those funds and any assets purchased with them marital or non-marital?
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support
Is it possible to award lump sum child support in Florida? This was an issue considered in the recent case Masnev v. Masnev, 4D17-1238 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018) in which the former husband appealed, among other issues, an award of lump sum child support to the former wife.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Alimony
Modification of Florida alimony based on retirement has received significant attention this year in the appellate courts. We previously discussed the implications of an alimony recipient reaching retirement age, and today, we review the consequences of the alimony payor reaching retirement age in the case Bauchman v. Bauchman, 4D17-1471 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events**
Labor Day Weekend is upon us, and with that the end of August! Check out these family-friendly events happening in your area as you enjoy your 3-day weekend.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
The Full Faith and Credit Clause requires that a Florida court recognize another state's orders with some exceptions. In the case New v. Bennett, 1D17-3196 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), the appellate court considered the appeal of a trial court's order denying a mother's petition to domesticate an out-of-state order that held her ex in contempt and ordered him to be incarcerated.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Parties sometimes spend hours, and even days, in mediation trying to resolve their differences. If the parties are able to resolve all issues, and thus avoid trial, relief is usually in the cards for everyone involved since a significant amount of time and money will be saved. But what if after all of that hard work, a judge does not approve the settlement agreement?
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
In Ness v. Martinez, 1D17-2742 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), a myriad of issues were appealed arising from a denied petition for relocation. Among those issues was the mother's objection to the trial court adopting the father's counsel's proposed final judgment. It is common practice for a judge to request that attorneys submit proposed final judgments after presentation of the evidence.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
How long is too long to wait for a final judgment of divorce to be signed in Florida? In one recent case, the parties waited 2 and one-half years! Because of circumstances that arose during that time, the wife appealed the final judgment and today we examine how the appellate court viewed the delay.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events**
Another weekend is here and along with it, more summer fun. Here's your lineup of South Florida family events for August 24, 2018 through August 26, 2018.
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.
