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...

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 m...