Lakeland Family Lawyer

Well, the answer to the second part is in the title...they are "mandatory."  Mandatory disclosures are documents, mainly financial in nature, that must be disclosed to the opposing party in a family case.  The disclosure of these documents is required by the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure.  It is an automatic disclosure, meaning the other party does not have to ask for you to disclose them.   These documents include all sorts of financial statements that show assets and debts.  The purpose is to show the financial status of both parties. In a divorce, the purpose of the disclosure is so that the distribution of assets and debts, child support, and alimony can be calculated.  In a modification case, again, the purpose would be to see the financial status of the parties so an accurate accounting can be made for calculation of child support and/or alimony.   By looking at these statements, an attorney can see if perhaps money is coming i...

You may have heard the term "shared parental responsibility" when it comes to child custody. This doctrine means that each parent keeps full parental rights and responsibilities with respect to the child and both parents must communicate with each other so that major decisions affecting the welfare of the child will be determined jointly. Examples of decisions that are typically subject to shared parental responsibility include decisions concerning the child's daycare, healthcare, school, education, summer camps, and activities.  A Florida family law attorney would explain that many courts take the view that day-to-day decisions, such as bedtimes, diet, exercise, clothing, and choice of friends, are not subject to shared parental responsibility in normal cases.  Extreme circumstances regarding certain day-to-day decisions may justify a court getting involved.  Courts frequently take differing views regarding religion, allowing each parent to expose a child to the pa...