http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com Divorce information, advice and help on questions about rights under Florida divorce, alimony, property, child support, custody, visitation and domestic violence laws, cases, procedures and guidelines from Fort Lauderdale Broward & West Palm Beach County divorce lawyer and domestic violence attorney Janet Langjahr Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:40:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It is not uncommon for either or both spouses to enter the marriage owning separate premarital property. What happens with that premarital property during their marriages varies widely from couple to couple. As to one couple, the titleholding spouse may keep the title separate, pay any loans or expenses for the property ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2012/02/06/and-what-am-i-entitled-to-in-my-divorce-from-my-spouses-premarital-property/ Here's a tip worth repeating for people who divorce relatively early in life, when retirement seems far off and is often out of mind. If you are the spouse who earned less income, you may be able to collect some more social security based on your ex's greater earnings and social ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2012/01/23/regardless-of-how-retirement-accounts-and-pensions-were-equitably-distributed-in-your-divorce-you-may-be-entitled-to-greater-social-security-benefits-based-on-your-exs-earnings-if-they-were-highe/ Divorce causes stress. But divorce often is the result of stress as well. Including external stresses. A report has recently come out ranking the largest fifty US metropolitan areas according to how stressful each is to live in. The criteria that factor into the ranking include extent of: ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2012/01/20/divorce-and-stress/ Husband and Wife want to have a baby. They resort to in vitro fertilization and freeze some of the embryos created for possible future use. Husband's and Wife's marriage breaks down. They are divorcing. What happens to their frozen embryos? Or, more precisely, which spouse gets to decide what happens to their frozen ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2012/01/17/honey-i-want-a-divorce-and-i-want-to-have-a-child-with-our-frozen-embryo/ Divorce and child custody can be particularly complex when the separating couple has a minor child with special needs. For many divorcing and separating parents of special needs children, not only are they new to the law governing divorce and child custody, but also the complex patchwork quilt of ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2012/01/07/divorce-with-a-special-needs-child/ Getting married later in life is generally more complicated. Each spouse is more likely to have kids, assets, debts and health issues. Accordingly, couples should reach agreement on the following matters before tying the knot: how will expenses be shared / paid which spouse will provide medical insurance, and how will ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2012/01/03/golden-years-marriage-planning/ Spouses divorcing in South Florida often have preconceived notions about how long it may take for their divorce to go through. Or how long it will take for their "emergency" motion to be heard by the divorce court. These notions usually bear no relation whatsoever to the reality ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2012/01/02/how-long-does-a-divorce-take-sometimes-an-indefinite-amount-of-time/ Everyone knows that arts and theater can be therapeutic. And so, in keeping with the high spirits of the holiday season, the intellectually and emotionally adventurous may wish to take a fresh look at divorce (their own, or the institution) through Divorce Party: the Musical - The Hilarious Journey to Hell…and ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2012/01/02/therapeutic-theater-for-divorce/ Iowa Husband and Wife are divorcing after nearly twenty years of marriage. They have three Children together. Wife works part-time as a nurse and seeks alimony from Husband, a supervising mechanic. Husband contends that Wife should work full-time to earn more money and receive benefits. Husband asks the court to ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/12/15/permanent-alimony-award-is-upheld-in-long-term-marriage-where-relatively-young-spouse-works-only-part-time-due-to-fatigue-associated-with-multiple-sclerosis/ Florida Husband and Wife are divorcing. Not amicably. They have one Son, who is three years old. They are reportedly battling over custody and timesharing. Husband arrives at Grandmother's house to pick up Son for his visitation. As Husband approaches Grandmother, Grandmother allegedly reveals a handgun and discharges three bullets into ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/12/12/florida-mother-in-law-allegedly-shoots-son-in-law-when-he-comes-to-pick-son-up-for-visitation/ New York Husband and Wife have seven Children together. One of their Children reportedly arrives at school with one eye bloodshot. This apparently precipitates a report of alleged child abuse to New York's child welfare agency. Children are removed from Husband and Wife's home and taken into child protective custody. And placed in foster ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/12/09/parents-plead-guilty-to-interference-with-custody-for-allegedly-abducting-their-eight-children-from-foster-care-easily/ As a matter of public policy, Florida is big on transparency. That's why we have Sunshine Laws. In general, our courtrooms are open. Even in family court. Not so everywhere though. New York law mandates that its family courts are open to public access. And in theory they ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/12/06/open-public-family-courts-maybe-not-so-much-in-some-areas/ Twenty-nine year old Australian Woman disabled by both cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis is committed to the legal guardianship of a child welfare Agency in her childhood. At the time when Woman was taken into government care, her younger Sister was about 4 years old. Sister reportedly resisted the government ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/12/04/disabled-woman-under-public-guardianship-is-denied-any-contact-with-her-biological-sister-because-of-sisters-physical-resistance-against-taking-woman-into-custody-when-sister-was-roughly-four-years/ Mother has eight year old Son, who is an honor student actively engaged in his school community. Son is overweight. Extremely. Just under 220 pounds. Sixty of them gained in one year. At least one doctor has characterized Son's weight gain as "life threatening". Doctors have ruled out ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/12/02/child-placed-in-foster-care-over-failure-to-lose-weight-at-home/ Husband and Wife are divorcing. They have a Child. They are using social media websites. And dating websites. In the old days of social media, like last year, used to be your worst nightmare was your ex stumbling upon your indiscreet post that could hurt your divorce or child custody ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/11/17/family-court-treads-deeper-into-parental-and-spousal-use-of-social-media-websites-and-dating-websites/ Husband and Wife have a Son. And then promptly divorce. Husband moves far away and starts a new family. Wife raises Son alone. Son has no contact with Husband. When Son is just eighteen years old, Son has a heart attack while at high school. Son suffers severe brain damage ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/10/19/mother-allegedly-schemes-to-deny-ex-husband-half-share-of-inheritance-from-sons-personal-injury-recovery-in-special-needs-trust/ County in Kansas suffers budget cuts, which in turn leads to budget cuts to County prosecutor's office. As a result, the County prosecutor's office proclaims that it will no longer prosecute municipal misdemeanors, leaving those to the City to prosecute. The City asserts that it cannot afford to ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/10/08/politicians-compete-for-lack-of-jurisdiction-over-misdemeanor-domestic-violence/ These days, many couples are searching for what they hope is an easier, cheaper approach to divorce (and resolution of other disputes too). Different practitioners each tout their own preferred methodology. One such available methodology that gets less attention than some others is arbitration. Arbitration is an alternative dispute ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/24/arbitration-another-alternative-dispute-resolution-method-to-consider-in-family-law-cases/ According to an article that appeared in the New York Times last month, certain Chinese provincial governments seize babies from their parents, who cannot afford their fines for violating restrictions on reproduction, and then they sell the seized babies on the black market, into adoption. For American parents of adopted Chinese ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/18/warning-chinese-adoptees-may-be-victims-of-government-seizure-because-their-birth-parents-violated-restrictions-on-reproduction-and-cant-afford-the-overpopulation-fine/ Louisiana Husband and Wife have a preschool-aged Daughter together. Wife dies. Wife's parents, Grandparents, seek visitation and timesharing with Daughter. Husband and Grandparents reach an agreement granting Grandparents substantial visitation with Daughter. The agreement recognizes that the timesharing schedule will have to be adjusted when Daughter begins school. The agreement is adopted in ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/17/family-court-modification-of-another-states-family-court-order-by-expanding-grandparents-visitation-and-timesharing-is-upheld-on-appeal/ Oregon Mother has three month old Baby. Mother reads the Old Testament and decides that she wants Baby to be circumcised. But Mother fears Baby is too old for a doctor to agree to perform the circumcision. So Mother watches YouTube videos on circumcision. And decides to perform the circumcision on Baby ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/16/mother-performs-do-it-yourself-circumcision-on-her-baby-with-a-box-cutter/ Just about everyone has either been divorced themselves or gone through it, vicariously, with a close friend or loved one. That's probably why just about everyone has an opinion on just about every aspect of divorce ... and fancies themselves the expert to be giving you advice. Regardless of whether ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/15/discourage-and-dont-heed-divorce-advice-from-amateurs-and-victims-with-axes-to-grind/ Kentucky Husband, who has been serving in the US army, and Wife have two Children together. Husband and Wife divorce. Husband is ordered to pay child support. Several years later, Wife seeks to modify child support. Husband, representing himself, writes a letter to the Kentucky family court explaining that he ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/15/family-court-ignores-wounded-active-duty-soldiers-substantial-efforts-to-invoke-the-protections-of-the-service-members-civil-relief-act-and-tramples-over-his-rights-to-defend-in-a-child-support/ Colorado Husband and Wife have been divorced for five years. They have two Sons together. Their Younger Son, now ten, has special needs and lives with Wife, a college professor and her second husband. Their Older Son, now thirteen, lives with Husband. A relatively unusual, but not unheard of, custody arrangement. The Colorado family court ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/14/mother-jailed-twice-for-not-getting-ten-year-old-special-needs-child-private-e-mail-and-cell-phone-to-use-with-father/ Divorce used to be the enemy of the family cited by family values advocates. No longer. Cohabitation has since overtaken divorce by a long shot. Social scientists associated with the University of Virginia report that divorce has returned to dramatically lower pre-1970s levels. But cohabitation has risen even more dramatically. Forty percent of ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/14/cohabitation-leaves-divorce-in-the-dust-as-chief-cause-of-instability-for-children/ Louisiana Father and Mother have lived together for about ten years. The police have been summoned to their home on more than one occasion, and as recently as about a month ago. They have a seven year old Son together who is disabled by cerebral palsy. Mother reportedly leaves ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/13/father-allegedly-decapitates-his-disabled-seven-year-old-son/ Desperate wannabe parents for whom traditional adoption does not work can become easy prey for people looking to take advantage of them. Recently, one of them, a wealthy Socialite, shelled out $180,000 for a baby carried to term by a surrogate mother in the Ukraine. Only to discover that her baby and ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/09/international-surrogacy-scheme-shut-down-by-socialite-looking-to-adopt/ Canadians lament that alimony, or spousal support, is "all over the map" and unpredictable in cases where the paying spouse has high earnings, over $350,000. In the US, some would say that alimony is all over the map across the board, regardless of the paying spouse's income. Why? In a nutshell, in the ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/07/alimony-awards-unpredictable-canada-considers-changing-that/ Wisconsin Mother has Son while she is imprisoned. Maternal Grandparents raise Son ... until he is five years old. When Son is three years old, Father files a family court case to establish legally that he is Son's father and to win custody of Son. Prior to trial in family court, Father ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/07/grandparents-visitation-rights-upheld-where-they-had-been-raising-child-from-birth-and-substantial-timesharing-was-in-the-childs-best-interests/ Nebraska Mother has Son in 2001. Mother's gay Partner of twenty years was actively involved in choosing Mother's sperm donor for Son's birth, planning and financing the in vitro fertilization, and raising Son until their breakup in 2006. Mother allowed Partner to visit with Son for a year and a half afterwards. Then ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/05/gay-partner-of-biological-parent-may-win-custody-andor-visitation-rights-even-though-jurisdiction-does-not-recognize-same-sex-marriage-or-civil-unions/ Florida Mother and Father have a Toddler together. Mother takes Toddler to a shopping center in a stroller on a weeknight. Mother tells Toddler to stay put outside, while Mother goes to get Toddler a candy bar. Mother allegedly enters a bar - and gets a cocktail. Soon, it starts to rain outside. Patrons of ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/04/mother-arrested-for-allegedly-leaving-her-toddler-alone-outside-in-the-rain-outside-a-bar/ Mother and Father have eight year old Son. Son is autistic. Mother is a multi-millionaire businesswoman who reportedly retired to care for Son. Mother takes Son to posh New York hotel. During their stay, Mother allegedly kills Son with an overdose of prescription pills. Mother's suicide note is found in the hotel. But Mother is still ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/02/mother-alleged-to-have-murdered-her-eight-year-old-son-defends-it-as-altruistic-filicide-a-kind-of-mercy-killing/ Every state views it differently. In fact, an argument could be made that every family court judge views it differently. What? Drug use. By a parent. The potential field of drugs that may be used and/or abused is broad: cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin, too many to name really ... and marijuana. The latter ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/09/01/medical-or-recreational-drug-use-child-custody-and-visitation/ Sometimes a spouse (or parent) gets stuck on something. They just can't turn loose of it. They start to sound like a broken record. Maybe even a little obsessed. Perhaps they file for a restraining order of protection against domestic violence. (Perhaps something else.) They lose. The court denies ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/31/when-to-let-go-practice-doesnt-alway-make-perfect-sometimes-it-just-makes-for-frivolous-andor-vexatious-litigation/ Billionaire eighty year old Boyfriend and famous twenty-eight year old Girlfriend are a couple for several years. Girlfriend, a foreign actress, is now pursuing higher education in New York City. Boyfriend, an investor and philanthropist, allegedly promises to buy Girlfriend an Eastside apartment. Boyfriend dumps Girlfriend. Boyfriend has a new girlfriend. Boyfriend gives an Eastside ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/29/always-get-it-in-writing-girlfriend-sues-wealthy-boyfriend-over-alleged-oral-promise-to-buy-her-posh-manhattan-apartment/ Way too often, clients come in who are totally in the dark about family finances. Their spouse has been bringing home the bacon, managing the family accounts, paying the family bills, working with the family or their business accountant to prepare tax returns. In too many instances, the breadwinning spouse orders the ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/29/innocent-spouse-rule-on-taxes-relaxed/ Forty-eight year old New York Man falls for twenty-eight year old Woman. Man allegedly e-mails Woman, texts her and posts on her Father's Facebook page for work. All told, seven lovestruck communications. Law enforcement authorities instruct Man to cease and desist. Man also texts New York police officer requesting assistance in reaching Woman and ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/29/authorities-react-swiftly-and-aggressively-to-alleged-cyberstalking-of-mayors-daughter/ At the moment, marriage is on the decline, at least temporarily. So, more couples are cohabiting or living together. Generally speaking, that represents freedom from commitment and obligations. That may be agreeable to both partners, at least for a time. But the time may come when it is not ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/26/how-to-financially-protect-an-unmarried-cohabiting-partner-in-case-death-or-life-events-parts-them/ US Father and Brazilian Mother have Daughter together. Back in 2008, when Mother did not have legal status in the US and the family lived in Illinois, Father and Mother were battling over custody of Daughter. So Mother allegedly made off with Daughter to her native Brazil. Father hasn't seen or spoken to ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/25/arizona-father-obtains-mediated-visitation-and-child-custody-agreement-in-brazil-concerning-daughter-allegedly-abducted-there-by-mother-more-than-three-years-ago/ South Florida Husband and Wife have Children together. Husband and Wife divorce. Husband and Wife agree on timesharing schedule which is incorporated into final judgment. Husband moves to an apartment east of Federal Highway, close to the ocean. Wife and Children remain in marital home west of Florida's Turnpike, well inland. First hurricane season since ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/23/are-hurricanes-and-other-natural-disasters-addressed-in-your-parenting-plan-or-timesharing-arrangement/ Florida Husband and Wife have Children together. Husband and Wife divorce. Florida family court awards Husband primary residential custody of Children. It appears that Husband may not be entirely cooperative with Wife's exercise of visitation after their divorce. Wife seeks and obtains from the Florida family court several different orders for enforcement of her ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/21/modification-of-child-custody-in-contempt-and-enforcement-proceedings-is-reversed/ New York City reports an alarming 12% spike in domestic violence cases last year. Domestic violence against wives, girlfriends and ex-partners climbed by an even more troubling 17%. Domestic violence against boyfriends and husbands also grew, but only by about a more modest 5%. Eighteen percent of cases are for violating an existing ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/19/last-years-domestic-violence-in-new-york-city-shoots-up-twelve-percent/ In some states, enforcement of child support obligations keeps up with the times and gets increasingly creative. Take the state of Louisiana. Last year, it passed legislation authorizing seizure of winnings at casinos by parents behind on their child support obligations. Not entirely unique. More recently, Louisiana has been eyeing claims paid ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/18/oil-spill-victims-may-see-their-claims-paid-out-by-bp-seized-to-pay-past-due-child-support/ Pennsylvania Father allegedly sexually abuses a seven year old girl in the presence of his two year old Son, for which Father is being prosecuted. Despite this, the Pennsylvania Family Court allows Father visitation with Son, which is supervised by a friend of Father's. Then Son's Mother requests that the court suspend ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/17/two-year-olds-mother-challenges-family-court-award-of-visitation-to-criminal-defendant-under-prosecution-for-child-sexual-abuse/ Florida teen (Mother) becomes pregnant. Then marries a man (Husband) twenty-four years older than her. Along the way, Husband reportedly pleads guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor under sixteen years of age and is required to register as a sex offender. Husband also reportedly has a history of domestic violence ... http://www.fladivorcelawblog.com/2011/08/14/florida-grandmother-appeals-transfer-of-custody-of-her-late-daughters-young-daughter-whom-she-has-raised-practically-since-her-birth-to-her-daughters-allegedly-violent-sex-offender-husband/