According to Florida law, retirement accounts can be treated as both an asset AND a source of income for alimony purposes. So, in the context of seeking alimony modification due to retirement, courts are correct to look at retirement accounts now in pay (distribution) status as sources of income for the alimony payor, even though […]
Tag: Men’s Rights Law Firm
Overcoming Anger and Resentment
How essential is the ability of parents to put aside their personal feelings about each other and put the needs of their children first? You only need to look to Florida Statute 61.13 to see that the Court places great importance on parents being able to separate the feelings they have for each other with […]
What About The Mortgage?
The marriage is over. Husband and Wife own a home, with a mortgage that has an outstanding balance. The Wife also has a 401(k) with a balance that’s roughly equal to the value of the home minus the debt. A solution may be to award the house to the Husband and the 401(k) to the […]
How Does Reunification Work In Cases Of Alienation?
If a parent has been absent from a child’s life for a significant time, it may be helpful to hire a mental health professional to assist the temporarily absent parent to reconnect with the child. Children, especially young children, who have not seen a parent for a long time, may be unsure of the parent […]
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 […]
Ellisen v. Ellisen
The trial court in the attached case misconstrued the pleadings, and denied a petition for modification of alimony based upon the wrong legal standard. When modification of an existing order of support is sought, the proof required to modify a settlement agreement and the proof required to modify an award established by court order shall […]
Wood v. Blunck
The following is an alimony modification case. The substantial change of circumstances necessary to modify an alimony award must bear on either the payee spouse’s need for alimony or the payor spouse’s ability to pay it. When the payee spouse’s need decreases significantly, alimony should ordinarily be modified downward even if the payor spouse has […]
Electronic Communication With Children
Florida Statute 61.13003 allows the Court to order electronic communication between a parent and a child. This communication can be via email, text messages, Skype or any other form of electronic media available to both parents. With older children, this is relatively easy as they often communicate with their friends via social media. With very […]
What Is The Effect Of The State’s Lifting Of The Ban On Same-Sex Marriage?
Same-sex marriage is now legal in Florida, based upon some recent Federal Court rulings that declared as unconstitutional Florida statutes that banned same-sex marriage. Most counties in Florida are still grappling with the concept, but in at least three counties same-sex marriage licenses are being routinely issued. One wonders how long it will be before […]
Spaulding v. Shane
In the attached domestic violence injunction cas, after more than ten years, the Respondent asked that the Injunction be dissolved. The trial judge denied the request, but the appellate court ruled that the request should have been granted because the trial court used the wrong standard. The Respondent is serving a long prison sentence with […]