Fort Lauderdale Divorce Lawyer Blog
In many circumstances, the success or defeat of your Florida parental responsibility, timesharing and/or child support case will come down to factual issues. These issues can be things like parental fitness, a parent’s earning potential or the child’s educational needs. Other times, though, issues of law and/or legal procedure are at the center of a case. Whether your case turns on issues of fact or issues of law, your odds of success can be enhanced by having an experienced South Florida family law on your side presenting your case.
D.P.’s case was one heavily influenced by issues of law. In 2010, L.R. gave birth to a son. L.R. was not married at the time, but D.P. “was recognized by all concerned” as the child’s natural father. As D.P.’s relationship with the mother declined, he filed for court recognition of his paternity in 2017. The case was set to resolve issues of parental responsibility, timesharing and child support.
The father was a “no show” at a court-ordered mediation and was sanctioned for that failure to appear. At the final hearing, the trial judge tried to find a mutually agreeable solution but was not successful. The mother’s attorney made what the law calls a “proffer” of the “substance of her case.” A proffer means that one party presents to the judge evidence that she would use if allowed at trial. It is not evidence actually admitted into the record, but simply one party’s representation of what she would have put on the record if allowed. The appeals court indicated that, after the lawyer’s proffer, the “father then addressed the court regarding his timesharing and employment history.”