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Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyers who represent wealthy clients are keeping busy. The Broward County divorce Court has seen a rise in high-end divorces because the parties’ assets are currently worth less due to the recession. Wealthy Fort Lauderdale couples have realized that since their assets are worth less they will give less to the other spouse after the Broward County marital and family law court dissolves their marriage.

In theory, it is a great time for wealthy people to get divorced because their property value and investments are down. So, for a spouse who wants to keep the house and is on the verge of filing, this is a perfect time to divorce because the likelihood of keeping the marital home is high.

Nonetheless, the crashing market does present problems for the wealthy and has complicated their cases just as much as it has helped them out. This is because it is difficult to put a market value on some of their assets. In situations where the parties have been fighting over an asset for an extended period of time, that asset has been nearly lost in the stock market.

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Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyers are using Facebook to find the ammunition they need to help their clients’ cases. Broward County lawyers love these sites because they are evidentiary gold mines. Fort Lauderdale marital and family law attorneys browse wall posts and atatus updates on Facebook to uncover information about the other party. Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn are also popular social networking sites which lawyers utilize to build their cases when representing divorce clients in Weston, Cooper City, Pembroke Pines, Plantation and other cities in Broward County.

Social networking sites are great for reconnecting, but when couples are disconnecting, the situation turns ugly. Battles over finances and custody are the two hot buttons during dissolution proceedings. Lawyers say it has become routine for them to ask their clients if they have an active presence on these social networking websites. If so, the lawyers then scour their client’s pages and the pages of their girlfriends or boyfriends to find anything that could be used by their ex’s legal team.

Did your husband’s new girlfriend Twitter about a piece of jewelry he bought her? A court might regard this as marital assets being disbursed to a third party. Did your wife tell the court she is incapable of getting a job, but you found her pursuing job interviews on LinkedIn? The court might refuse her alimony. Did your ex wife assure the court during a custody hearing that she had not been drinking, but her MySpace page has dated photos revealing otherwise? The court will regard her as an unfit mother.

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Whether you are seeking a divorce, alimony, child custody, paternity, or any other relief from the Fort Lauderdale marital and family law court, you must conduct yourself professionally. Your Fort Lauderdale divorce attorney will take the lead, and you should remain silent while in the family court until your lawyer or the Broward County judge directs you to speak.

While the judge is talking pay close attention. While your attorney speaks listen to what he says. If either the judge or your attorney misstate the facts, use a notepad and write a note to your attorney. Whispering should be kept to a minimum because many courtrooms have microphones at the table and the court reporter may incorporate your private discussion with your attorney into the record.

If your ex-spouse takes the stand and twists the truth, sit back, relax, and remember that you will have your chance to explain the real story. You should make a note to your attorney to alert him that the witness is lying, but do not speak out loud or make funny faces during the testimony. This will only hurt your case. Remember that you are before the judge asking for relief, and if you appear intelligent, confident, secure and sympathetic, you have a better shot at winning your motion.

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If you reside within Broward County and are having marital problems, it is highly likely that you have or will consult with a divorce lawyer. Before meeting with a divorce attorney in Fort Lauderdale, there are five things that you need to hear about a divorce. In my blog posted yesterday, I discussed two of the five things that you should know before speaking to your marital and family law divorce attorney in Florida. Today I will discuss the remaining three topics.

Hire A Lawyer Who Will Work With You

Educate yourself about your rights so that you can direct your lawyer. You need to make decisions with your lawyer together. Fire a lawyer that you feel uncomfortable with sooner rather than later because after a while, he or she will be too entrenched in your case.

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Not many people enter into a marriage thinking that it will eventually lead to a divorce in Fort Lauderdale. Many scientists believe that up to 40% of marriages are terminated in Broward County by a divorce lawyer. The chances are very high that you or someone you know will get divorced in Florida and need to higher a marital and family law attorney in Hollywood, Hallandale, Weston, Pembroke Pines, Cooper City or any of the other cities within the jurisdiction of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court.

A divorce is one of the worst things that you can go through in life. You are hurt, sad, frustrated, scared and can not think clearly. It is also one of the most important times to keep on top of your game, as the decisions that you make during this time can affect you for the rest of your life. Here are five basic but important guidelines to keep in mind.

Keep Your Business Head

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If you are a middle aged person who resides in Broward County, get divorced and live alone, you triple your chances of developing Alzheimer’s. If you have traditionally always lived by yourself, you have double the Alzheimer’s risk as somebody who is married in Florida.

There is a very strong correlation between this social factor and developing dementia. Staying physically, intellectually and socially active reduces Alzheimer’s risk. However, recent studies show that living with a spouse or partner lowers the likelihood that you will contract dementia.

Widows and widowers are at the greatest risk of Alzheimer’s. When you loose your spouse or partner before middle age and the live alone, your chances of getting Alzheimer’s is six times greater, compared to people who are married.

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Conceptually, the answer is yes because a marriage in Broward County is considered a partnership. The Fort Lauderdale Family Court divides the couple’s assets based on the idea that when a couple gets married they make decisions together. The partnership decides together who will work and who will run the home. Therefore, when the couple seeks dissolution in the Broward County Family Court, the judge will divide equitably the parties marital assets and the debts.

Here is a simple illustration of how the court views the marriage as a partnership. If the partnership decides together that the Wife will work and the Husband will stay at home, then all of the money the Wife makes is considered in furtherance of the partnership. The Husband is entitled to half of these marital funds because he has stayed in the home which consequentially has enabled the Wife to enter the workforce and make money. So, while the Wife is said to be supporting the Husband and the marriage monetarily, the Husband is said to be supporting the Wife and the marriage physically.

When the partnership dissolves the court begins with a presumption that the marital property should be divided equally between the parties. Even so, each divorce is unique, and therefore a 50/50 split is not always the best approach for the individual parties. The court considers four factors in deciding how to equitably distribute the marital property: (1) the contribution of each spouse to that property; (2) the value of the property set apart to each other; (3) the duration of the marriage; and (4) the economic circumstances of each spouse at the time of divorce.

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In Bengisu v. Bengisu, the Fourth District Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a Florida divorce court’s decision awarding the Wife temporary child support and alimony. The Wife filed a petition for dissolution of marriage with two minor children in the Florida divorce Court. Subsequent to filing for dissolution of marriage, the Wife also filed a motion seeking temporary child support and alimony. The Broward County divorce court awarded the Wife temporary support in the amount of $5,500 per month, and the Husband appealed.

At a hearing on the motion for temporary child support and alimony, the court looked at the parties’ financial affidavits as well as heard their direct testimony. The Wife’s financial affidavit listed that she was unemployed, had monthly expenses of $11,898.00 and a net worth of $744,123.00. The Husband’s financial affidavit listed he was a lawyer employed as a solo practitioner, that he had a net monthly income of $2,585.00, total monthly expenses of $4,886.58 and a monthly deficit of $2,720.29. He listed a net worth of $322,230.00.

In her direct testimony, the Wife told the court that the household expenses were $12,600 per month, that her Husband was responsible for all of the bills and that throughout the marriage the couple accrued no debt to pay their monthly expenses. Additionally, the Wife explained that her Husband left his solo practice to work for a law firm for four months leading up to the divorce and, while there, his salary was $85,000. Additionally, the Wife’s accountant testified that based on the financials she needed $5,500.00 per month during the pendency of the divorce and that he believed the Husband’s tax returns did not accurately reflect the Husband’s real income. The Husband testified that the reason the couple did not have any debt was because his parents had helped pay for their household expenses, but were no longer in a position to continue to provide this assistance. At the conclusion of the hearing the trial court awarded the Wife $5,500 per month in temporary support.

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In the Broward County divorce court, parties continuously attempt to litigate their divorce “pro se” meaning without an attorney. Obtaining a Fort Lauderdale divorce is expensive and quite often a party does not have the funds to hire an attorney to fight the litigious battle. Despite the rise in “do it yourself divorces” Fort Lauderdale attorney’s are still in high demand. This is because navigating the Fort Lauderdale Family Court is a challenge for pro se parties. A new trend is on the rise: Fort Lauderdale marital and family law coaches.

A divorce coach is a family law attorney that a pro se litigant can consult on a need basis. In a typical divorce, a party will hire an attorney to litigate the case from the petition of dissolution to the final judgment dissolving the marriage. On the other hand, a pro se litigant hires a divorce coach to teach him how to take legal action on his own, and to assist him his legal questions and concerns.

A do it yourself divorce is not for everyone. Where there are complex legal issues involved and the parties are extremely contentious, it is probably best to stick with the traditional route and hire an attorney. But on the other hand, where the divorce is a straight forward financial transaction then this process might work.

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A prenuptial agreement can decrease the potential for a messy divorce in Fort Lauderdale by spelling out you and your spouses rights to assets brought into the marriage and assets acquired during the marriage and other economic issues that arise. Your marital and family law attorney in Broward can draft a prenuptial agreement for you since about 40 percent of marriages can end in divorce. Whether you reside in Pembroke Pines, Cooper City or Weston, a prenuptial agreement may be a good idea if you are thinking of getting married in Florida.

Prenuptial agreements are not just for the rich and famous. They can protect people at all different income and wealth levels. A prenuptial agreement protects children from a prior marriage since a portion of assets automatically go to a spouse upon death. However, this can be waived in your prenuptial agreement. A prenuptial agreement is also important when there is a significant disparity in earnings and wealth or if you or your spouse own a business to ensure that a divorce will be less contested.

Having a prenuptial agreement drafted by a lawyer is not cheap. A lawyer may charge $1,500.00 to $5,000.00 to draw up and negotiate the prenuptial agreement, either at a flat rate or at an hourly rate. For more complicated estates, a prenuptial agreement can cost as much as $10,000.00, if not more. Both parties should have separate attorneys to avoid a conflict of interest. You may also want to consider having a court reporter and videographer present when you and your spouse sign the agreement in the event that the prenuptial agreement is challenged in the future.

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