Miami family law attorney blog
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Divorce
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Dissolution of Marriage
What happens in Florida when a party dies during a divorce proceeding? One appellate case considered this year involves that issue where the deceased former wife’s estate appealed an order dismissing her dissolution of marriage case.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Say a party was ordered to pay alimony as part of a marital settlement agreement which also awarded joint ownership of the marital residence to both spouses. After the final judgment is entered, the party who is supposed to pay alimony falls behind on his payments and the other party files a motion for contempt. Can the court award the marital residence to the other spouse as punishment for the paying spouse’s failure to pay a large sum of alimony? This question was answered in the recent appellate case Frank v. Frank, 4D17-2201 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Dissolution of Marriage
Temporary attorneys’ fee awards in Florida are difficult to attack because Florida law provides judges with broad discretion in temporary relief proceedings. This is because any inequity can be remedied at the time the final judgment is entered when court can look at the financial standings of the parties as a whole. This is illustrated in the recent appellate case Stein v. Stein, 4D18-493 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018) wherein the husband appealed a $138,000 temporary attorneys’ fees and cost award to the wife.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Dissolution of Marriage
It is generally understood that property a spouse owns prior to marriage is non-marital property belonging to that spouse. During a marriage, sometimes it becomes necessary for the non-owning spouse to sign mortgage documents related to the non-marital property. A recent appellate case examines how this act affects each spouse’s interest in the non-marital property.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Florida Divorce
Divorce can be expensive when you consider changed living arrangements and attorneys' fees. There may now be two attorneys to pay and two separate households to support. For that reason, while the parties may have savings or other bank accounts at the time of filing for divorce, those accounts may be depleted by the time a case goes to trial. According to the appellate case Bellows v. Bellows, 4D16-3745 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018), the court is required to treat the depletion of those assets a certain way.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Sometimes, believe it or not, the court gets it wrong and errors must be corrected on appeal as was the case in Davis v. Davis, 4D17-1644 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018). In a Florida divorce case, a court is required to make certain findings related to equitable distribution, child support, alimony and child custody. In the Davis case, the trial court failed to make certain findings on multiple issues, resulting in the appellate court having to reverse the final judgment.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
While Florida law states a court has discretion in awarding temporary relief, that discretion can be abused and is subject to review. In De La Piedra v. De La Piedra, 1D17-3203 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), the husband appealed an order requiring him to pay temporary alimony, child support and attorneys' fees, and he won.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Entering a Florida marital settlement agreement is one of the best ways to save money and time, while resolving your case on terms that you can live with. To avoid expense that may be incurred as a result of unclear terms in your agreement, studying real appellate cases helps to avoid the pitfalls others have encountered in not including certain terms in their agreement. One such case is Kirschner v. Kirschner, 4D17-851 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
The future may be unpredictable, which is why it is good that Florida divorce courts are guided by principles of equity. When parties enter a Florida divorce agreement, they agree, as much as possible, based on the circumstances they can foresee at that time. It is difficult, if not impossible, to plan for every possible future outcome, so Florida law allows room for this difficulty in considering how to interpret provisions of a marital settlement agreement.
