Termination of Parental Rights is a serious issue in Florida Law. The Department of Children and Family Services often becomes involved in situations where a child’s welfare is in danger. Many times extended family members may be concerned about the parenting style or neglect by the child’s parents. If this becomes an issue, or if abuse is a concern, the Department of Children and Family Services will often take part in the case.

In temporary situations where children need to be provided care, family members may apply for Temporary Custody by and Extended Family Member, by petitioning the Court for an order allowing them to temporarily care for the children at issue. Many times this is a better situation for everyone involved, because the children are then able to be cared for in a familiar environment, and the Court is able to monitor the situation first hand.

See In the Interest of N.F., a child N.F., Appellant v. Department of Children and Family Services and Guardian Ad Litem Program, Appellees, 37 Fla. L. Weekly D654.

Patricia Dills is an Attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L., whose practice
focuses in Divorce, Child Support, Family Law, and Civil Litigation. She
primarily practices in Naples, Collier County, and Fort Myers, Lee County Florida.

Florida Statute 61.14(1)(b), sometimes referred to as “the cohabitation statute,” states that b(1)
[t]he court may reduce or terminate an award of alimony upon specific written findings by the court that since the granting of a divorce and the award of alimony a supportive relationship has existed between the obligee and a person with whom the obligee resides. On the issue of whether alimony should be reduced or terminated under this paragraph, the burden is on the obligor to prove by a preponderence of the evidence that a supportive relationship exists. (2) In determining whether an existing award of alimony should be reduced or terminated because of an alleged supportive relationship between an obligee and a person who is not related by consanguinity or affinity and with whom the obligee resides, the court shall elicit the nature and extent of the relationship in question….

The Second District Court of Appeals recently explained that to determine whether a supportive relationship exists, the circuit court must employ an analysis of four steps: First, the circuit court must elicit the nature and extent of the relationship in question. Second, the court must determine whether the facts establish a supportive relationship. Third, if a supportive relationship is found to exist, the court must consider the relevant economic factors for determining an award of separate maintenance or alimony outlined in section 61.08(2). Fourth, after evaluating all relevant economic factors, the court must must decide whether to reduce or terminate the alimony obligation.

If a payor is able to prove that the recipient of alimony is in a supportive relationship, the court may reduce or terminate any alimony order currently in place. These are important factors to consider when deciding whether to attempt to modify any previous alimony orders in your case.
See King v. King, 37 Fla. L. Weekly D552.

Patricia Dills is an Attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L., whose practice
focuses in Divorce, Child Support, Family Law, and Civil Litigation. She
primarily practices in Naples, Collier County, and Fort Myers, Lee County Florida.

Many family law cases are able to be resolved at mediation, which keeps the parties from having to go before a judge to further litigate their case. Mediation is a beneficial way to work out parenting plans, child support, and even alimony arrangements between parents.

Mediated agreements can be as detailed as the parties choose for them to be. Some spouses prefer this option, so that if they other party does not comply, there is a clear course to enforce the agreement. Either party may file for contempt with the court, and the non-complying party will be forced to either comply with the agreement, or show the court why they are unable to do so.

When the court finds that one party is able to comply, but is willfully choosing not to do so, the court may find that party in contempt. At that point, it is up to each individual court to decide what sanctions to impose. Many times this may be a payment, or a “purge” amount to bring the non-compliance current, or it may be other sanctions that the court finds are proper to award the other spouse.

It is important to note that even attorney’s fees may be awarded to the spouse who files for contempt if the court finds that the non-complying party is actually in contempt. It is usually best to try to communicate and work out any differences prior to taking court action. Even if this is unsuccessful, the court will at least be impressed to know that you did try to work out the problem prior to coming into the courtroom.

See Norberg v. Norberg, 37 Fla. L. Weekly D415.

Patricia Dills is an Attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L., whose practice
focuses in Divorce, Child Support, Family Law, and Civil Litigation. She
primarily practices in Naples, Collier County, and Fort Myers, Lee County Florida.

The Florida Department of Revenue may intervene in child support cases to ensure that a minor child is receiving the care and support he or she is entitled to by law. Paternity is presumed when a husband and wife have a child within the bonds of marriage. However, if the parents are not married, the Department of Revenue may still collect child support from a father who may or may not be the actual biological father of a child.

A father may contest paternity, but the courts will always look to what is in the best interests of the child “[T]he courts require a determination of the child’s best interests. Some circumstances require specific procedures to be followed in evaluating a child’s best interests. For example, if paternity is contested, the child’s legitimacy is at issue, and the legal father has not had notice or an opportunity to be heard, the trial court is required to appoint a guardian ad litem and hear from the guardian and all the parties before proceeding.”

“A trial court may consider the child’s need for support. If the court determines that there is no compelling interest in overcoming the presumption, it must dismiss the paternity action against the putative father.”

The state has an interest in preserving parental rights, but also in ensuring that children are supported. Because of this, the court will look to the best interest of the children in any case involving minor children and family law.

See Dept. of Revenue on behalf of Garcia v. Iglesias & Garcia, 37 Fla. L. Weekly D160.

Patricia Dills is an Attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L., whose practice
focuses in Divorce, Child Support, Family Law, and Civil Litigation. She
primarily practices in Naples, Collier County, and Fort Myers, Lee County Florida.

Usually, the court will impute an income to the non-working spouse. This means that in cases where child support, alimony, and equitable distribution of assets and debts are at issue, the court will decide a wage that should be attributed to the non-working spouse. This imputed income amount will serve as the amount the spouse should be making if they were working, and most calculations throughout the case will be made using this imputed income.

As a matter of law, trial courts should consider the non-working spouse’s work history, occupational qualifications, and the prevailing earnings in the community for that class of available jobs when finding an amount of imputed income. Evidence may be presented that the non-working spouse had earned the same amount prior to quitting a previous job, that the non-working spouse is capable of working, and that the non-working spouse has options to do so.

See Middleton v. Middleton, 37 Fla. L. Weekly D105.

Patricia Dills is an Attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L., whose practice
focuses in Divorce, Child Support, Family Law, and Civil Litigation. She
primarily practices in Naples, Collier County, and Fort Myers, Lee County Florida.

In Divorce actions, the Final Judgment is the document identifying the final order of the court in your case. Until the final judgment is entered, the court may may temporary decisions regarding issues that need to be determined during the pendency of your divorce, but the final judgment will address all issues in your case.

If the final judgment does not dispose of all integrally related matters at issue in the case, the final judgment is not necessarily the final order in the case. If the court reserves on any issues, the judgment may not be final. Once there is a final order in the case, either party may still have cause appeal the court’s decision, but the appeals court will not have jurisdiction to appeal a final judgment unless it is in fact the final order in the case, and it addresses all integrally related issues in the case.

See El Gohary v. El Gohary, 36 Fla. L. Weekly D2754.

Patricia Dills is an Attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L., whose practice
focuses in Divorce, Child Support, Family Law, and Civil Litigation. She
primarily practices in Naples, Collier County, and Fort Myers, Lee County Florida.

When parents separate by divorce, children are left in the middle of the financial separation. Even when one parent is paying child support, this may or may not be intended to cover additional medical expenses. One or both parents may be ordered to provide medical insurance for the children, but what happens with any additional medical costs?

If parties have an agreement, either party can cover the expenses, the expenses can be shared, or there may be another way to divide the uncovered expenses based on the proportion of the parents’ incomes.

Typically, courts will order both parents to equally share the burden of any uncovered medical expenses. Realistically, this may be difficult to accomplish, as one parent is usually in left in the position of having to front the bill, while waiting to collect from the other parent. This issue can be enforced by a court order should it become a problem, especially where there are excessive expenses for children. As always, it is in the best interest of the children involved for the parents to work together to support their joint children. Courts will use this standard to identify almost any issue regarding the parties’ minor children in family law cases.

See Rushetsky v. Rushetsky, 36 Fla. L. Weekly D2228.

Patricia Dills is an Attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L., whose practice
focuses in Divorce, Child Support, Family Law, and Civil Litigation. She
primarily practices in Naples, Collier County, and Fort Myers, Lee County Florida.

If you have a Custody or Child Support Order which were entered in another state, you will need to have the order accepted by a Florida Court before Florida can enforce the order for you. Florida Courts will recognize foreign orders, or orders of other states, once the foreign order has been domesticated in a Florida Court.

Once this is done, the Florida Court system will recognize the Order and can enforce any orders in the original judgment. Many factors, including where children reside, where the parents reside now and at the time initial pleadings were filed, will affect any issues regarding parental responsibility and time sharing in Florida Family Law Cases.

See Pulkkinen v. Pulkkinen, 36 Fla. L. Weekly D2228.

Patricia Dills is an Attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L., whose practice
focuses in Divorce, Child Support, Family Law, and Civil Litigation. She
primarily practices in Naples, Collier County, and Fort Myers, Lee County Florida.

The Second District Appeals Court recently heard a case wherein a mother appealed the trial court’s decision establishing paternity of the minor child, ordering shared parental responsibility, and awarding the father majority time-sharing in Pennsylvania, when the mother lived in Florida. The Appeals Court upheld the trial court’s decision, but explained that the mother’s petition for shared parental responsibility and majority time-sharing, and the court’s subsequent ruling, was not subject to the relocation factors set forth in section 61.13001(7)(a)-(k).

The trial court ruled that the statute did not apply because the statutory definition of relocation excluded the situation faced by the mother and father from the requirements of the relocation statute, since the father was not relocating, but already lived in Pennsylvania, where both parties had lived previously.

Relocation is a substantial issue in many divorce cases, especially now that communication and travel options are more readily available to families. Changes in the relocation statute in 2009 take note of this fact, and create additional factors for courts to consider when making rulings on this issue.

See A.F. v. R.P.B., 36 Fla. L. Weekly D2228.

Patricia Dills is an Attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L., whose practice
focuses in Divorce, Child Support, Family Law, and Civil Litigation. She
primarily practices in Naples, Collier County, and Fort Myers, Lee County Florida.

When couples divorce, it is not uncommon for one party to choose to move out of state.  This issue becomes complicated when there are children involved.  The Fifth District Court of Appeals recently upheld a ruling by the Circuit Court for Orange County providing that a mother was able to leave the state of Florida to move to California with the parties’ minor children.   The Court confirmed that the lower court should have entered permanent time sharing arrangement as part of the divorce order, but upheld the decision to allow the mother to relocate, provided that the former husband has “frequent contact with the children via internet video chat, and an agreement that the former wife would bear most of the travel costs for the children to regularly return to Florida to spend time with their father.”

The ability for families to communicate by internet, cell phones, and other electronic communication is drastically changing the way time sharing arrangements are structured between parents in divorce actions.   Both parents should put considerable thought into how the time sharing agreement can be most beneficial for their children’s relationship with each parent.

See Kish v. Kish, 36 Fla. L. Weekly D2228.

Patricia Dills is an Attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L., whose practice
focuses in Divorce, Child Support, Family Law, and Civil Litigation. She
primarily practices in Naples, Collier County, and Fort Myers, Lee County Florida.