Reasons for a Divorce
Florida is a no-fault divorce state and therefore people only have to cite irreconcilable differences as the reason for the Divorce.
Issues to be Considered
1. Parenting: If children are involved the first area of the divorce that needs to be dealt with are the parenting issues. Parental responsibility, ie. how major parenting decisions are to be made. The law in Florida begins with the presumption that all major parenting decisions are to be jointly. The second part of the parenting issues is creating a parenting schedule. The parenting schedule is the schedule detailing which parent the child spends any given day or night with, the drop off and pick up times, and the place of the exchanges.
2. Child Support: Once the parenting issues have been settled, the Court is tasked with calculating child support. In Florida, child support is a mathematical calculation. It begins with both parents gross income and the number of overnights the child spends with each parent. Other factors that effect child support are day care expenses and health insurance. Each parent's share of the total income and each parent's share of the overnight time are the two biggest factors in determining who pays who and how much.
3. Equitable Distribution: Dividing up marital property (assets and liabilities). In Florida, the general rule is that most things acquired during the marriage, regardless of who's name they are titled in, belong to both husband and wife equally. When a judge is tasked with dividing up the marital assets and liabilities, the judge's starting point is to split everything right down the middle, 50/50. However, many times arguments of fairness are made to shift the division of the property one way or the other and many times parties are able to work out how the property is to be divided on their own or with the help of their attorney.
4. Alimony/Spousal Support: Any party may make a claim for spousal support. Whether or not a judge awards spousal support or not depends on the receiving party's need to receive and the paying party's ability to pay. The length of marriage determines which party has the burden to prove their case for or against alimony and the length of marriage also determines the types and terms of the alimony reward. For example: a longer marriage is more likely to result in the reward of alimony payments if there is corresponding need and ability to pay.
How a divorce begins
A divorce begins by one party properly petitioning the court and having the other party properly served with the petition and summons. A divorce is a law suit much like any other civil law suit in the State of Florida but with very unique pieces and parts. The responding party has 20 days to respond to the law suit or else face default.
Mediation
Mediation is a required step in almost every family law matter. Judges prefer parties to settle their issues and a good family law attorney will save you money by helping you come to a fair and equitable settlement agreement that protects you and your interests now and years down the road. Mediation is conducted with a mediator. A mediator is not a judge although some mediators used to be judges. Mediators merely facilitate an agreement between the parties and a good mediator can help point out the strengths and weaknesses in each parties cases. A good mediator can work with you and your attorney to save you money in the long run by avoiding a costly trial.
Discovery
In every Divorce, each party must disclose their financial information and interests. A good attorney can help you discover and determine and prove the marital resources available to both parties. A good divorce attorney is schooled in effective discovery techniques and can get to the bottom of what your spouse may or may not want to voluntarily disclose.
Trial
If parties cannot settle all of the above issues on their own or through mediation then the last resort is to have a judge decide at trial. A good family law/divorce attorney is both effective at helping you settle your case and presenting your case at trial. Divorce trials do not have juries. The judge listens to the evidence and makes the final decisions.
There are many other contingencies and issues that pop up in any given divorce and each divorce is unique with its own set of issues and problems. However, the items and issues listed above outline the basics of most divorce cases.
Kenneth R. Turner, Jr., Esquire
KenTurnerLaw.com
(239)245-0485