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There are instruction manuals for every device or household appliance you acquire, however, you get nothing after you tie the bonds of holy matrimony. The Florida Family Policy Council reports that Florida Senator Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland and Representative Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, are expected to introduce a bill to have a marriage handbook created and distributed to newlyweds.Currently, in order to obtain a marriage license, couples are required to read a “handbook” which details the cold harsh realities of marriage but not actual constructive advice. The current handbook has instructions on how property would be divided in a divorce, what to do in the case of domestic violence, or what you can and can’t legally do to your spouse and children. This proposed handbook would try to help couples from having marriage’s darker side.

The guidebook’s purpose is to possibly curb divorce rates and other incidents of marital discord. The guidebook would cover topics of sharing finances, conflict management, parenting skills, and other important matters individuals entering a lifelong bond would need to know to ease their inevitable obstacles. The guidebook would contain contact information for agencies and other supporting bodies for individuals needing further marital assistance. Similar guidebooks are distributed in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

The guidebook would be given out at the offices of the clerk of the court to all couples looking to be wed. Sen. Kelli explains the need for such a guidebook saying “so many young couples getting married today come from broken homes and cannot draw upon a living example of how a marriage works”.

The new literature is welcomed. Florida, the sunshine state, currently ranks 8th in divorce rates. According to Rep. Baxley Florida taxpayers carry a $2 billion dollar annual burden for costs related to divorce and supporting single parent families.

Some question the usefulness of such a manual citing the idea that the couples to take an interest in reading the book will likely find solutions and those likely to ignore it will be the ones needing it the most. However, any opponents have little grounds to reject the proposal as the publishing of the book would be completely funded by money raised from private foundations and, accordingly, is not expected to cost the taxpayer anything.

The bill will appoint a Marriage Education Committee to create the book with the goal of helping and preparing individuals citing extensive research that supports that marriage education has allowed unprepared couples to end the engagement early rather than engage in an eventual divorce.
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Alimony, otherwise known as maintenance or spousal support, has long been a pillar of social and economic stability for individuals reorganizing their life after a divorce. A bill intended to reform Florida’s alimony laws, known as HB231, has just passed its first subcommittee in the Florida House in a 10-2 vote and is now headed the House Judiciary Committee to be decided in the next several weeks. The HB231 bill’s purpose is to limit the extent of alimony, both the amount and the duration.

Alan Frischer, of Florida Alimony Reform, created the bill in hopes of updating what the group sees as Florida’s “archaic” alimony system. The bill’s sponsor, Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, hopes this bill will allow someone who has gone through a divorce the ability to “move on with their life” without forever being tied to excessive payments. During the subcommittees hearings, several victims of the current “archaic” alimony system were brought in to explain their plight. The individuals included one divorced man who claimed about half of his salary went solely to alimony.Opponents of the current reform bill cited the important role alimony plays in many people’s lives, especially newly single parents. Many spouses develop a skill set, lifestyle, and spending budget based on the couple’s income. When the marriage ends the spouse who contributed to the household but has not developed professionally could be left in severe need; unable to pay bills based on the previous income. In most instances, this disadvantaged spouse is the woman which has led to critics, such as Rep. Cynthia Stafford, D-Miami, to call this reform “anti-woman”.

One of the basic most tangible tenets of HB231 is that it would limit the extent of alimony to 50% of the duration of the marriage. In other words, a 20 year marriage could lead to only 10 years of alimony. A divorcing partner could seek an extension of this time, which will be known as durational alimony, with only “clear and convincing evidence that exceptional circumstances justify the need for a longer award of alimony.” In order to make such a showing, one should contact a qualified Florida family law attorney.
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In January 2013, Miami-Dade County Judge Antonio Marin allowed an agreement between three people, permitting all three names be recorded on their daughter’s birth certificate as legitimate legally recognized parents.Two of the people, a lesbian couple, met the third, a gay male hairstylist, in 2006 by patronizing his salon. The business relationship evolved to a true friendship between the three and after a few discussions over 2008-2009, the man agreed to help the couple conceive a child. In 2010, the three initiated an insemination process that was soon successful. The man and one of the women became biological parents of the couple’s baby. According to the man, an agreement that he would be the “father” and would be able to see the child whenever he wished was made orally before the conception. The man claimed he couldn’t foresee the potential paperwork mess that might occur with three possible parents.

After the conception, the man had been approached by the couple and asked to sign an agreement stating that he was just a sperm-donor but never put anything in writing. The women’s attorney stated “When push came to shove, they figured he would understand the situation” and called their failure to have it in writing a “mistake”. The man then knew he needed to seek legal representation as his expectation of a, although somewhat nontraditional, family was in jeopardy. With the advice of legal counsel, the man initiated a paternity suit. A paternity action in Florida is filed in order to assist a parent in protecting vital parental rights such as visitation, custody, and financial support. Simply because someone is a biological father does not necessarily lead to him to be recognized as the father in a paternity suit.

The up-hill battle involved two years of litigation in a Florida courtroom; but to the man, this was his family, his future, and paramount interest. In Florida, true sperm donors lack any sort of parental rights. However, what the couple argued was that this was not a case of a sperm donor but rather a man participating only under the idea he was creating a family because of an agreement between the parties. The couple agree that the man is a valued and important part of the child’s life but according to their understanding of the oral agreement, they expected to have exclusive parental rights.

In addition to allowing the man on the birth certificate, Judge Marin also granted weekly visits for the new father. Since January the man has reported he is actually seeing the child more often, and he and the couple have put legal battle behind them. Seeing that all parties had the child’s best interest as their first priority, the Judge was happy to ensure that all three loving parents got the legal recognition they deserve.
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Middle-class women tend to be the most affected by a divorce, in terms of health insurance coverage. A study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior at the end of 2012 found that over 100,000 women annually lose their private health insurance as a result of divorce. And unfortunately, the middle class tends to suffer the most as a result of their income being too high for public assistance but too low to have coverage outside of their ex-spouse’s company offered insurance. The age group most severely impacted is 40-60. This group is under the Medicare age requirement, and in many cases relies on their spouse’s health plan.

On some occasions even a spouse with insurance through an employer may elect to unenroll for a period of time to cover new daily increased costs of living single. Research has shown that a divorce typically has a severely negative effect on most women’s income and relative purchase power. A married couple has numerous cost and tax advantages not as often offered to single counterparts.

The ironic part of this is all is that happily married people tend to be healthier too. However, according to a study published in Psychology Today, a happy single person is far better off than a unhappy married one.
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Kim Kardashian, currently carrying the baby of rapper boyfriend Kanye West, has filed for an emergency divorce from her husband Kris Humphreys. According to several sources Kris Humpreys, basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets, has repeatedly professed his wishes to be married only once and is looking to annul his marriage with Kim rather than divorce citing her unwillingness to give the 72 day marriage a chance to thrive. Kris has remained relatively silent on the matter and has let his attorney do all the talking.

According to papers filed with a California court, Kim’s purpose for filing for an emergency divorce is supposedly for the benefit of her unborn baby. In the documents, Kim cited the health and well-fare of both Kim and her baby as reason to expedite the proceedings as she is soon to pass her first trimester.

Kris, through his attorney Marshall Waller, is now seemingly throwing out all the stops to stall the divorce process and eliminate her emergency plea. In papers filed with the court in response to Kim’s plea Waller explains that Kim’s pregnancy has nothing to do with his client Kris and should not affect the timing or nature of the divorce proceedings.

In the end, Kim is aiming for a speedy divorce and Kris is seeking an annulment. So what’s the big difference?

An annulment simply explained is a way of terminating the marriage by convincing the judge the marriage was not valid from the start. This requires a showing on the grounds the marriage was either “void” or “voidable”. A “void marriage” is one that should not have legally existed to begin with, for example marrying a sibling, as Florida law strictly prohibits marriages of incest. These marriages are annulled at their inception. A “voidable marriage” means the marriage was legal and may proceed happily but something, typically revealed later, has the ability to nullify it. If a partner is under the age of consent, and neither parent consented, it is voidable and may be annuled if a party petitions the court. However, the couple could continue the marriage if they wish.

After an annulment the law does not recognize the marriage to have ever existed. Thus annulments erase the marriage and divorces simply end them.

Getting a divorce in Florida may be possible in nearly any situation with the state’s no-fault rules, an annulment is not so convenient. A no-fault divorce allows either party to seek a divorce if the marriage has become irretrievably broken. This does require a divorce proceeding and a review by the court that all property matters are properly dealt with. An annulment can only be obtained based on those void or voidable factors.

Annulment in Florida is governed by case law so it is up to the judge’s discretion on whether to grant one. A judge may see any sort of marital sexual activity after nullifying details have been discovered as reason not to grant an annulment. Furthermore, a judge is not likely to grant an annulment unless both parties are present. Because there is little governing case law, no established procedure, and nearly absolute authority in the judge, annulments may be a risky process. It is important to seek an experienced divorce attorney to guide you down the path and advise you of your options.
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Oftentimes, the U.S. Supreme Court determines the future of major corporations and interest groups, but occasionally it will decide the fate of child and two separate families. However, on January 4, 2013, the Supreme Court decided to hear the case of ‘Baby Veronica’. In this case, Veronica’s future is at stake between her adopting parents and her Native American biological father.The baby Veronica case hinges on the applicability of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA). Before the 1970’s, there was no substantial federal statute to safeguard the rights of a Native American child adopted out of their tribe. Many children were adopted, with or without consent, out of their tribes to non-Native families. The ICWA was signed to balance the interests of adopting parents against tribal rights.

Baby Veronica was born in September 2009, her biological father is a member of the Cherokee Nation. Her legal parents lived in South Carolina, knew the biological mother of Veronica and even visited the mother in Oklahoma for the birth. The mother had agreed to the adoption but the biological father fought the adoption. Without any sort of marital bonds between the biological mother and father, typically, this adoption should go on without a hitch.

However, in 2011, the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered the return of Veronica to her birth father based on the ICWA’s preferential treatment of paternal rights. As earlier noted, the ICWA not only intended to safeguard tribes and their future generations from purposeful outsider penetration but also to benefit the interests of children growing up outside their culture. Sociological research repeatedly suggests that cross cultural adoption may often leads to severe identity issues. Adoption related identity issues are heavily correlated to later drug use, alcoholism, jail, even self-harm. These issues are heavily prevalent amongst former adopted Native Americans. Adopting parents must be well aware of the struggle their child may go through, which might be foreign to the parents.

The ICWA obviously only regulates adoption cases involving children from tribal homes, but Florida has other state statutes regulating adoption. The Florida Putative Father Registry is state registry for biological fathers. A man who has heterosexual intercourse with a woman in Florida may file a notarized affidavit in the registry. Before an adoption may proceed, a search will be done into the Putative Father Registry for potential biological fathers who may protest the adoption. The potential father only has a limited time after the intercourse to register if he expects to be able object to a possible adoption.
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Deion Sanders, famous football hall of fame all star, has recently gone through a divorce that can teach any person going through or expecting a divorce some important lessons.Born in Fort Myers, Florida, Deion went on to become a star football and baseball player for the Florida State University. Playing football as a Seminole, Sanders was a two time All-American cornerback in 1986 and 1987. Deion Sanders then went on to play successfully for several MLB and NFL teams. He is most often identified for his football legacy with the Dallas Cowboys. Sanders also holds the all-time record for defensive and kick return touchdowns. Sanders currently works as an NFL analyst.

The divorce began and stalled shortly after. In September 2011, Pilar Sanders, Deion’s wife since 1999, was served with divorce papers from Deion. Deion eventually denied this service and claimed the divorce was nothing but a rumor. Then in December 2011, Deion admitted that he was getting divorced.

The divorce ultimately turned into a lengthy process as Pilar and her lawyer brought numerous contentions regarding their prenuptial agreement (“prenup”). The prenup gave Pilar $100,000 after signing and would give her $1 million upon divorce, however, she would be eligible for much more in absence of the agreement. Nonetheless, during the trial filed by Pilar to contend the prenup, questions on whether her initials were forged in certain sections led to a handwriting expert to be brought in and testify it was not authentic. In addition, there were rumors of abuse during the marriage and accusations of coercion and failure to disclose assets during the signing process.The judge ultimately upheld the validity of the prenup heavily relying on statements made by Pilar in 1999 when Pilar had testified in court that the prenup was fair to her.
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After four years of marriage, a Florida native divorced her husband, a Texas native. The same-name couple has had their fair share of publicity since they met on Facebook in 2009 when the female found him through some simple browsing. The two had fun with the little coincidence over messages, those messages evolved to a personal relationship and only a few months later the couple married in Coconut Creek Florida.Now the two have gone through a very amicable divorce – one less worry they have than your average divorcee is the decision and process of changing your name back. In some cases, this will affect the male partner, but nine times out of ten it affects the female. According to Laura Hamilton, a University of Indiana sociology researcher and a lead author of a name-change study puts the percent of women who do change their name at about 90-95%.

Women change their name at marriage for several reasons including family identity, legal recognition, or to symbolize a life change. Upon divorce there are numerous factors, aside from catchiness, to consider when deciding to change back or not. Firstly, it is symbolic – it is symbolic of a new start, a break from the old ways, a reestablishing an identity with your family over his. This name change after a divorce can lead many to begin being the person they felt was stifled during the marriage.

However, there are some downsides to consider with changing your name back. Career-wise you may suffer a setback. Name changes can lead to confusion, lost connections, and a difficult-to-discover professional history. It can cause a paperwork nightmare between employers, banks, DMV, Social Security, memberships, agencies, and nearly any other organization you depend on. You might like the new identity you made for yourself, and if the divorce was friendly, may lead to new feelings of loneliness. And lastly, it might be easier on your children to spare them the identity conversion.

If you wish to pursue a name change in the Fort Lauderdale area, the Law Office of Sandy T. Fox can help. See below for the next steps in the name change process:

Your Florida divorce decree may include a provision regarding your name change. In Florida, the judge will ask the wife her wishes. The husband has no voice in this decision. However, a partner may have agreed to change their name back in the couple’s prenuptial agreement or, in some high profile divorces, the ex-husband may make a generous offer to the spouse to agree to lose his name.

If this provision is missing you will need to contact the court that granted the decree to amend the document. If your amendment is denied you will need to petition for a name change.

If your divorce decree includes a name change provision or after you have successfully petitioned the court to amend for a name change provision – you will need to contact your local Social Security office. After proving your identity through personal ID such as your driver’s license or passport and providing your divorce decree and birth certificate – Social Security will then, if approved, mail your new social security card.

After you have your new social security card, you will need to use that in conjunction with your birth certificate and personal ID to change your name with your local DMV. Once you receive new driver’s license or passport you will need to contact your bank, and other agencies and organizations you are involved with. If you need assistance with the processes following a divorce, you should speak with a knowledgeable Florida family law attorney.
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Any Florida law student will tell you that infidelity will not matter in a divorce. An experienced Florida divorce attorney can tell you that it might cost more than you think.

In divorce proceedings, courts will not want to assign blame for the failed marriage. The court will want to divide property and child maintenance costs using statutorily established formulas. The question of cheating is left at the courtroom doors. Furthermore, Florida, being a no-fault divorce state, does not require any proof of adultery to obtain a divorce.However, a scorned spouse may elongate the process and make a simple proceeding more costly and complicated than an amicable divorce and unless both parties can cooperate, mediation may not be an option. This will mean more money lost in court to the spouse and more money spent on court and representation expenses. Most divorce attorneys will suggest a spouse should keep outside romantic relations to a minimum to reduce a messy emotional divorce.

Adulterous spouses might also suffer in divorce settlements in Florida.

Prenuptial agreements may contain a multitude of behavioral clauses. Two actual clauses on the bizarre side include a clause limiting the husband to only watching one football game per week or a limit on the wife’s potential weight range. It should not be a surprise then that infidelity clauses are somewhat more common. It is rumored that Catherine Zeta-Jones has protected herself with such a clause in her prenup with Michael Douglas. The one downfall to such a clause is that a court would require legally obtained proof of the affair which can be sometimes difficult to provide. The Law Office of Sandy T. Fox has extensive experience drafting and executing any and all types of prenuptial agreements.

A unfaithful spouse has most likely spent funds belonging to the marriage on the affair. With adequate proof, a spouse may recover a portion entitled to them under marital property as these gifts would be considered “waste”. Marital funds are meant to keep a marital home intact. This may mean money out-of-pocket by the cheating former spouse. This may make spousal support more costly if this extra cost to the marriage has incurred deeper costs on the non-offending spouse such as debt.

“Moral fitness” is also a factor in Florida for determining child custody. The former spouse will be seen as a whole person but proof of abandonment, viciousness, secrecy, and deviancy by the adulterous spouse will go against them. The court will weigh the parent’s relationship with the child, financial stability, and other factors but it is still a risk. This could also could have a threat on visitation rights.

If the unfaithful spouse committed acts of adultery in the presence of the child, that can held against them. If the unfaithful spouse flaunted these acts in front of the family, that can be considered a form of abuse by the court.

Furthermore, all severe acts of immorality or irresponsibility paint a picture of character, whether fairly or not. The subconscious bias of a judge or mediator can be detrimental in motions and the extent of sympathy you will be awarded.
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A Tampa mother is reportedly mourning the loss of her disabled child who died not long after the State of Florida took custody of the teenager. According to the 59-year-old mother, the last time she saw her daughter alive was 12 hours prior to her death when she was loaded into an ambulance bound for Miami. The screaming girl reportedly rode alone in the back of an ambulance because her mother was not allowed to accompany her on the five hour trip. The daughter allegedly died the following morning due to dehydration and cardiac arrest.

Ironically, child welfare authorities reportedly removed the daughter from her mother’s home over concerns regarding whether the single mother could properly care for the child. The mother suffers from six herniated discs in her back and a diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists. Despite a judge’s order and her mother’s pleas, the child who suffered from cerebral palsy and a deadly seizure disorder was placed in state custody and institutionalized.

According to a Miami Herald report, the mother became the subject of investigation after a home health aide made what later turned out to be a false report regarding the care the daughter was receiving at home. The daughter was purportedly removed to Tampa General Hospital pending the outcome of the investigation. About one month before she died, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Vivian Corvo applauded the care her mother provided. Judge Corvo ordered that the daughter be returned home and round the clock in-home nursing care be provided using state Medicaid insurance. Still, the state allegedly refused to return the daughter to her mother’s care and instead transported her to a Miami nursing home.

The mother is one of the approximately 4.1 million disabled parents throughout America who too often struggle to retain custody of their children. Nationwide, removal rates due to a parent’s physical disability are reportedly about 13 percent. For psychiatric disabilities, the rate allegedly climbs as high as 80 percent. In fact, two-thirds of states allow a child to be removed from a parent’s home based solely on parental disability. Although Florida law does not allow termination of parental rights on disability grounds alone, the mother’s physical disability may have played a role in the state’s custody decision here.

Who will care for your kids following divorce is an emotional topic and many parents worry about losing custody of their children. Sadly, disabled parents are reportedly at an increased risk for just such an outcome. In Florida, a family law judge will take into account a number of statutory factors when considering any child custody and visitation agreement or dispute. If you have questions regarding child custody matters, you should contact a skilled family lawyer to discuss your situation.
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