Miami family law attorney blog
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Divorce
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
A trend is coming up in this week’s blog posts regarding recent appellate cases. The trend seems to deal with enforcement and interpretation of marital settlement agreements. In the case Walsh v. Walsh, 5D17-1655 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018), the parties were involved in a dispute regarding alimony payments; specifically how the former husband’s gross income was to be defined when calculating his alimony obligation.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
You signed your marital settlement agreement and are divorced thinking the worst is behind you. In major ways, you are right, the worst may be behind you, but for some couples who continue to have disagreements after the ink is dry on their final judgment, litigation can continue for years as we see in the recent appellate case Kenney v. Goff, 4D17-2094 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
You may have heard that when you file for divorce in Miami-Dade County, you are required to attend mediation before your case is eligible for trial. Here are some quick facts about mediation to help you understand what to expect.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
The appellate case Subramanian v. Subramanian, 239 So.3d 719 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018) just published this year reviews a trial court’s decision on gradual timesharing and on equitable distribution of debts incurred after the date of filing the parties’ petition for dissolution.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Divorce
A case just released by a Florida appellate court on November 6, 2018 discusses prospective timesharing orders and distribution of a retirement account used to fund household expenses during litigation. The case Horton v. Horton, 1D17-5223 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018) sheds light on these interesting issues.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
What remedies are available if an ex-spouse refuses to pay a Florida equitable distribution claim? These remedies are different from those available for failure to pay financial support such as alimony or child support. This issue was raised in the case Stufft v. Stufft, 238 So.3d 419 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Divorce can be a very expensive process. Paying lawyers on top of paying alimony, child support and your own living expenses can be very taxing. This is why some parties end up liquidating assets during a divorce proceeding in order to keep up financially. In the case Jones v. Jones, 1D16-3736 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), the husband liquidated his military retirement account and was penalized for it in the final judgment.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
Divorcing couples clearly do not want to remain marriage partners, much less business partners, but one Florida divorce court essentially made one ex-couple just that when it gave them equal ownership of a business operated by the husband. The husband appealed, and the recent appellate decision examines whether or not this was correct.
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.
