Miami family law attorney blog
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Procedure
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Law Procedure
What happens if parties move to a different state while a child support or child custody case is pending in Florida? In the case Ivko v. Ger, 233 So.3d 1269, this issue came up and the trial court’s decision to transfer a paternity case from Florida to Pennsylvania caused the mother to file an appeal.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
Sometimes rulings are made in court which may not make common sense but are made to be consistent with established procedure. These types of rulings may frustrate parties who have spent years and a lot of money litigating a case only to find that a technical error has derailed progress.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
When a party fails to follow the terms of a court order, what remedies are available to the injured party? It depends on what terms are being violated - if the terms deal with support, generally there are different enforcement options available than those that correspond with violation of non-support matters.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
Sometimes Florida family law hearings can turn into de facto settlement conferences wherein the parties discuss their differences and come to an agreement in open court. So long as all parties agree, the agreement reached will be binding. Such was the case in the recently published appellate opinion State v. De La Begassiere, 3D18-296 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
Florida family law litigation rarely involves jury trials. This means cases are decided solely by the judge presiding over the case who hears testimony and reviews evidence. When a party believes the judge is biased or otherwise will not decide a case fairly, what can be done?
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
The case Seligsohn v. Seligsohn, 4D17-2411 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018) provides an example of a case in which many issues can explode from one final judgment. In this matter, the former wife appealed the following issues meriting discussion: (1) the court’s decision to force a sale of homesteaded property to satisfy debt owed to a guardian ad litem; (2) the court’s decision to award ultimate decision making authority to the former husband over the parties’ children; and (3) the court’s order for the wife to attend parenting courses.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Procedure
Can you freeze assets to secure child support and alimony in Florida? In most cases, yes, and you must be sure to present the right evidence and follow the correct procedure to secure such drastic relief. The recent case Olson v. Olson, 4D18-1569 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018) clues us in on what is required.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
A recent appellate case explores an interesting tale of divorce, forgery, reconciliation and then divorce again. On October 31, 2018, the Florida First District Court of Appeal published the case Holt v. Holt, 1D17-3092 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018) in which the husband sought to overturn a 2010 order that he alleged the wife obtained by forging his signature.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
Sometimes even after a Florida parenting plan is entered, problems can arise when the parties disagree as to the interpretation of certain provisions of the plan. Such was the case in Greene v. Greene, 1D17-2120 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018) where the disagreement escalated to the point that the police were called multiple times. In some cases, the court can award attorneys’ fees to the offending party, but a certain standard must be met before doing so.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
The Full Faith and Credit Clause requires that a Florida court recognize another state's orders with some exceptions. In the case New v. Bennett, 1D17-3196 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), the appellate court considered the appeal of a trial court's order denying a mother's petition to domesticate an out-of-state order that held her ex in contempt and ordered him to be incarcerated.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
Discovery is often dreaded by parties involved in a Florida family law case, but it is a necessary part of the procedure that will lead to a trial. Discovery is the process in which each party exchanges certain documents and information to prove his/her side of the case. For example, bank statements, pay stubs and other financial documents may be exchanged as part of discovery to prove a party's ability to pay child support.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
Can a party be held in contempt if the party never received notice that a contempt complaint was pending against him or her? A recent appellate case reinforces the right of litigants to due process - that is, the right of each party to be heard and to receive notice of proceedings against him/her.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
Once again, we see due process in action in Florida family law in the case Walters v. Petgrave, 4D18-446 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018). When the trial court in this case denied the mother the opportunity to present her case and then ruled based on the mother not presenting evidence, she appealed the trial court's final judgment.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Procedure
When presenting your Florida family law case to a court, it is crucial to know what evidence should be presented and how. Failure to present your case appropriately may result in you permanently waiving relief to which you may be entitled.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Procedure
Florida law discourages misconduct in litigation by allowing a party to seek attorney’s fees from the opposing party who prolongs litigation or otherwise acts unreasonably in a Florida divorce. But what type of misconduct rises to the level of such punishment? We review this question in the appellate case Myrick v. Myrick, 214 So.3d 769 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) where the former wife was ordered to pay almost $100,000 in attorney’s fees to the former husband.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Procedure
What happens if a party voluntarily dismisses his or her Florida divorce case? As with most scenarios in life, timing is everything. In the case Rebolledo v. Cordero, 217 So.3d 147 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) we review this question.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Procedure
When a party to a Florida family law case fails to pay court-ordered support, if he or she is found in contempt, that party may face jail time, an award of attorneys’ fees to the opposing party, and/or other coercive sanctions. Getting the court to hold a party in contempt requires specific findings to be made as explained in the appellate case Brown v. Brown, 210 So.3d 781 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Procedure
Sometimes it is necessary to seek a continuance or delay of a hearing, but it may be difficult to do so if you have a trial date set in your Miami family law case. The decision to grant or deny a request for rescheduling of trial is within a Florida family court's discretion, but on appeal, that discretion can be reviewed to determine if it was abused. What factors may lead an appellate court to reverse an order denying a request for continuance? We examine them in the case Ramadon v. Ramadon, 216 So.3d 26 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Procedure
When a court makes an oral ruling that contradicts what is eventually written in the order that follows, what are the parties to do? We examine this issue in the appellate case Singer v. Singer, 211 So.3d 154 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Procedure
There are sometimes parties who are so uncooperative in a Florida family law case that the party can frustrate not just the other party in the case, but also the judge. Such was the case in Pattison v. Pattison, 210 So.3d 785 (Fla. 1st DCA 2017) where the former husband’s willful non-payment of alimony was noted as “dilatory and egregious”. As illustrated in this case, this finding was not enough to deprive the former husband of his due process rights.
