To paraphrase Santayana: those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. Here are a few of the lessons I have learned in almost two and a half decades of divorce litigation: Wait too long to file for divorce/modification/enforcement. The date of filing a divorce has the important distinction of […]
Category: Child Support
Timesharing and Custody Factors
When Florida courts fashion timesharing plans, there are multiple factors which the Court must consider to determine the plan that is in the best interest of the children. The factors considered by the Court can be found in Florida Statute 61.13(3). It is important to understand each factor and to do your best to follow […]
Robinson v. McDonald
Robinson v. McDonald does not explicitly say this, but it appears that the appellate court is giving tacit approval to a trial court entering a child support amount and reserving jurisdiction to change that amount when timesharing reaches 50/50. Apparently there is a 50/50 timesharing schedule with a transitional period that has been ordered, and […]
Garcia v. Garcia
Garcia v. Garcia was a case involving a request by the former husband for a downward modification of child support. The case was tried by the general magistrate, who denied the petition, and the trial judge adopted the recommendations after the former husband filed exceptions. This was error, because the record provided to the judge […]
Full Custody
The above statement is something that is heard often by many Florida family law professionals, and each time it comes up, the following needs to be explained. The word “custody” in Florida law is an archaic term, and although it is obsolete, it seems like it simply won’t go away. This is likely because the […]
Quinn v. Quinn
In Quinn v. Quinn, the amount of child support was not based upon the actual overnights granted, and thus reversal was required for a re-calculation. Quinn v Quinn
Boyd v. Boyd
In Boyd v. Boyd, the trial court erred in not calculating an amount of arrearages. Where a party concedes that not all court-ordered child support was paid, the trial court errs in failing to resolve the amount of arrearages. It was a stipulated fact that there was an accumulated arrearage but the amount was not […]
Arquette v. Rutter
The followingis a child support modification case under UIFSA. The Florida court never obtained subject matter jurisdiction allowing it to modify the foreign court’s child support order, so the modification was void. UIFSA has specific requirements to grant a state the jurisdiction to modify a foreign court’s child support order, none of which was satisfied […]
Child Support
As attorneys, we are often asked when a client should begin to pay child support, or if they should pay at all. The Court has the ability to order child support retroactively to the date of filing, the date of separation, or up to two years prior to the start of the case in a […]
Terkeurst v. Terkeurst
In the attached child support case, the award of child support and arrears is reversed and remanded for recalculation. The trial court did not use the proper method for substantial shared timesharing. The parties had a 50/50 timesharing arrangement, but the trial court failed to use the gross-up method to calculate the child support, and […]