Recent Blog Posts

New Child Support Law

Steven Friedman — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 13:07:00 GMT

A new statute has been enacted by the Florida Legislature making significant changes to child support in Florida. Florida.

The two most significant changes are addressed below.

Beginning on October 1^st 2010 a child support order shall list the date the support will self-terminate. Normally, that date would be the 18th birthday of the child (or 19 if still in high school). If there are multiple children, the order must contain an amount for each child and a schedule of dates showing when the support for each child terminates. As a result parents will not be required to return to court when an older child becomes an adult to reset the amount for the younger child(ren).

The second critical change concerns adjustments/reductions in support afforded the non custodial parent who regularly exercises timesharing/visitation with his/her children. Under the old law the non custodial parent had to have the children for 146 overnight visitations before that parent would be entitled to a reduction in child support. Under the new law the trigger point changes from 146 overnights to 73 overnights. Because most non-custodial parents enjoy at least 73 overnights of parenting time - most situations will qualify for the alternate support calculation. That alternate calculation is called “Substantial Time Sharing.”

The foregoing is just a summary of the new law of child support. If you are going through a divorce or contemplating divorce or separation and require child support or are concerned about being assessed a child support obligation you should consult with an experienced Pembroke Pines family lawyer for advice on how best to ensure that your rights are protected in the Divorce process. Steven Friedman has been counseling divorcing parents in child support issues for more than thirty years. Please contact Mr. Friedman online or call us at 954-385-7282 to set up a free initial consultation.

New Alimony Law Discussed by Pembroke Pines Divorce Attorney

Steven Friedman — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 21:19:00 GMT

Starting July 1 2010 a new alimony law went into effect which made substantial changes to the alimony laws in Florida. The most important changes concern under what circumstances the court is likely to award alimony to a spouse. The statute attempts to eliminate some of the uncertainty that previously existed in the area of spousal support by establishing a form of alimony called durational alimony. The law now provides that for purposes of determining alimony, there is now a rebuttable presumption that a short-term marriage is a marriage having a duration of less than 7 years, a moderate-term marriage is a marriage having a duration of greater than 7 years but less than 17 years, and long-term marriage is a marriage having a duration of 17 years or greater. The length of a marriage is the period of time from the date of marriage until the date of filing of an action for dissolution of marriage. Durational alimony may be awarded when permanent periodic alimony is inappropriate.

The foregoing is just a summary of the new law of alimony and support. If you are going through a divorce or contemplating divorce or separation and require support or are concerned about being assessed a support obligation you should consult with an experienced family lawyer for advice on how best to ensure that your rights are protected in the Divorce process. Please contact Pembroke Pines family lawyer Steven Friedman online or call us at 954-385-7282 to set up a free initial consultation.

Contact a Pembroke Pines Alimony Lawyer at the firm to discuss your legal situation.

Welcome to our Family Law Blog

Family Law Attorney — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:56:00 GMT

Attorney Steven Friedman is pleased to announce the launch of his family law blog with an RSS feed available at http://www.pembrokepinesfamilylawyer.com/Blog/Entire-Blog-Feed/RSS.xml.