Florida Statute §61.08 sets forth how the courts decide whether to award alimony and what kind of alimony to award. Alimony is based on two major factors. First, the person who wants to receive alimony must be able to show that they have a need for alimony. Second, the person who is going to pay alimony must have the ability to pay for alimony. The court may grant various types of alimony. These types include…

  Take a deep breath. Do not panic. Follow our simple six-day plan. Day one: A process server just served you with divorce papers. This can be embarrassing, infuriating, and depressing. There is only one thing we advise you to do today. Open your calendar and count 20 calendar days from today. Circle this date on your calendar or set an all-day reminder. This is the date your response to the divorce papers is due.…

  Arbitration is very rarely used in the practice of family law. Why is that? There are pros and cons to the use of arbitration for family law cases. First off, it is important to know that arbitration is different from mediation. Yes, they both include an impartial expert, but arbitration is an alternative to going to the Court and waiting for scheduling to take place between the parties, the mediator, and the attorneys. Arbitration…

The purpose of filing bankruptcy is to rid yourself of damaging debt and allow you to get back on your feet. Often times, people find themselves back in stressful financial situations and may need to file bankruptcy again. The bankruptcy laws, however, restrict how often you can file bankruptcy.   The first determination to make is whether your previous bankruptcy case was dismissed or discharged. A bankruptcy case is dismissed if you failed to comply…

You can certainly file for divorce without knowing your spouse’s location. The problem becomes whether a court will grant you a divorce without notifying your spouse. This is the basic concept of due process. You cannot do something in the courts if you do not let the other person know. The court is going to look to you to see what efforts you made to try and locate your spouse.   When you begin a…

As a bankruptcy attorney, I rarely advocate for people to co-sign any debt for another person. The rare situation in which co-signing may be acceptable would be for spouses to co-sign on a debt for the other. This is because there could be recourse for the spouses to address the debt in a possible future divorce if things go south in the marriage due to the debt. Other than that, just don’t. Don’t co-sign for…