Lakeland Family Lawyer

I can’t tell you how many people come in for their consultation and have no idea what to ask me. This time is your opportunity to find out if I am the best person to represent you for this specific situation in your life. A life changing situation in your life! Take advantage! When you come in for your consultation, it is best to know what you need to ask the attorney. What are you there for? Is it a divorce case? Is it a paternity case? Has your ex threatened to not bring the kids home after their summer vacation? Think about the situation and formulate your questions to that situation. Consider your ultimate goal. Do you want advice in general, such as what is the divorce process in Florida, or do you need a specific task completed, such as she has taken the kids to Virginia against the parenting plan and I need some sort of motion to get them back right now. You should also think about your budget. Nothing is more important than your well-being, your family, and

A family law case is before the Florida Supreme Court right now that is quite interesting.   The court must decide a dispute between a child’s legal father and her biological father. You see, in Florida , when a child is born of a marriage, the legal father is the man married to the mother.   The legal father, therefore, may not be the biological father.   Thus, the biological father may not have any rights to the child.   This presumption of legitimacy is based on the public policy of protecting the welfare of the child.   Prior to DNA testing, there was no scientific way of knowing biologically who the father was.   It was presumed that the husband was the father. This presumption protected the welfare of the child.   In cases of divorce, the child had protections of child support and health care. The law has not kept up with the science. As the law is currently, a legal father who is not a biological father would have to agree to release his rights and there would hav

You may very well be the biological father but does not mean you are the legal father or that you have any legal rights to your child.   It is important that if you are an unmarried father, you immediately establish your legal rights to your child.   In Florida, if a child is born out of wedlock, there is no presumption of fatherhood.   Paternity should be established first and foremost.   An establishment of paternity can be done in several ways: At the hospital, the “father” and mother when signing the birth certificate also sign an affidavit acknowledging paternity.   This affidavit is notarized and witnessed by 2 individuals.   If you only signed a birth certificate but did not sign this affidavit, you have not established paternity.   The “father” or mother files a petition for paternity through the court.   The parties then either stipulate to paternity or there is DNA testing that is conducted.   The Florida Department of Revenue may commence a paternity proceeding

Divorces can be expensive. So can going back to court to enforce orders in a multitude of family issues from time-sharing to alimony payments.   Many people attempt to represent themselves because of the cost of attorney’s fees.   While in some circumstances (I would venture to say very few) a person may represent himself or herself quite well, in most circumstances, a person does not know all of his or her rights and does not end up with the best outcome.   Florida does allow for courts to order one party to pay the other party’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs in certain situations to ensure that both parties have equivalent access to capable legal counsel and to ensure that one party does not have an unfair advantage over the other.   The court must first consider the financial resources of both parties.   The primary considerations of the court are need and ability to pay.   In other words, the party asking to be awarded attorney’s fees must prove that he or she has

One would think that you should be able to pick up and move with your child(ren) whenever and wherever you would like. However, if you have shared parental responsibility pursuant to a parenting plan in Florida, unfortunately you cannot just move; or you might be in contempt of court.  It seems that I have had to counsel quite a few people on "relocation" lately, so I thought a blog post was necessary. Relocation is the change of your residence at the time of the order establishing or modifying time sharing for 60 consecutive days.  The change of location of residence must be 50 miles.  Therefore, If you move within a 50 mile radius, then you have not relocated.  If you and your co-parent agree to the relocation, then the statute allows the two of you to sign an agreement saying that you both consent.  The agreement must also define the new time sharing schedule and describe the transportation arrangements.  This agreement can be filed with the clerk of courts and th

It's that time of year.  The time when I get complaints about my child's parent is not being cooperative about Christmas and I want to take them to court .  It is difficult, because both parents want to spend as much time with their child as possible.  You may want to leave to go out of town earlier than your parenting plan will allow, and maybe the other parent is being unreasonable by not allowing you to do so.  Or maybe your parenting plan has been in place for a few years and now that your child is older, you believe the holiday schedule is just not working anymore.  Now I could be the type of lawyer that sees a money making opportunity and immediately starts typing up a motion for enforcemen t or a petition for modification , but I'm not.  I say let's put the brakes on and talk about this for a minute to see if that is necessary. First and foremost, it is always about the best interests of the child.  The law looks to the best interests of the child, and the pare

I get many calls from parents wanting to change, or modify, their parenting plan .  The problem lies in that their reason for the change may not meet the legal requirements for a change to the parenting plan. In order to modify a parenting plan, there must be a 1) substantial, 2) material, and 3) unanticipated change in circumstances and a showing that the modification is in the best interests of the child.  Parents think that just because a parenting plan is no longer working for them, that is reason enough for a change.  It may be, if you can get the other parent to agree and both of you can come to a joint agreement for an amended parenting plan.  However, if the other parent does not agree, and you are attempting to petition the court for a modification to the parenting plan, the legal standard above must be met.  A remarriage, a new child, a new job, or a new move, are typically not enough, unless there are unusual circumstances.  The courts have usually ruled that these

There are 5 very specific types of injunctions, or restraining orders, that you can apply for in Florida.  It is important that you know the difference between them, because if you apply for the wrong one, the injunction can be denied.  On the other hand, if you are defending against an injunction, that is the first line of defense.  Was the proper injunction applied for?  Below is a listing of the types of Injunctions in Florida: 1.       Injunction for Protection Against Domestic Violence – This injunction is specifically for persons who have been the victim of domestic violence or who are afraid of imminent domestic violence.  Domestic violence includes assault, battery, sexual battery, stalking, kidnapping, and false imprisonment. A domestic relationship means that the person is either your spouse, former spouse, related to you by blood or marriage, living with you presently, or has lived with you in the past, or the person is the parent of your child(ren) even if you

5. We have already agreed to everything.    You may have sat down and agreed to everything.  You may have even typed it up and signed it.  But all of that may go down the drain, when it actually comes down to the process of the the divorce.  I have seen that happen more times than not.  Divorce somehow has a way of making the ugly come out in even the best people.  They are hurt and and they want their spouse to feel their hurt.  Suddenly those agreements are non-existent. 4. My spouse is not going to hire an attorney.   I had this happen just this past week.  Guess what? The spouse hired an attorney.  And as they should!  You cannot count on the fact that everything is just going to go your way during the divorce process.  You must be willing to compromise on some things. 3. I know my soon-to-be-ex-spouse better than you (attorney).   Therefore, I am not going to listen to my attorney's advice.  You hired your attorney for a reason.  You really should listen to your attorney.