The Law Office of Maximilian Smith, Esquire
Frequently Asked Questions: Divorce
Q: My spouse and I have not gotten along for some time now, and I'm thinking about getting a divorce. Do I need to talk to an attorney?
A: Absolutely. The sooner that you speak to an attorney, the better. Many times the hiring of an attorney early on can prevent crucial mistakes from being made. This is even more important when it comes to couples with children.
Q: How soon can I get a divorce?
A: By Florida Statute, you cannot be granted a divorce any sooner than 30 days after the Petition for Dissolution is filed. Beyond that, it depends on the cooperation of the parties. We have obtained divorces for cooperative couples in as little as 5 weeks.
Q: How much will my divorce cost?
A: Anywhere from twelve hundred ($1200.00) to twelve million ($12,000,000.00), depending on your particular case and circumstances. If you are a multi-millionaire, it will be significantly more costly to represent you as compared to someone who owns no property and has a yearly income of $30,000.00.
If the parties are cooperative, and there is not a lot of property involved, and it has been a relatively short marriage, we can help you get divorced for a very reasonable price.
Factors that go into the determination of cost: length of marriage, number of children and ages, whether custody and visitation will be contested, alimony and retirement, and properties (both real property and personal property).
Q: My spouse took off several months ago; can I file for abandonment?
A: No. Florida is a NO FAULT state when it comes to divorce. That means that the various reasons for a divorce really have little to no bearing on the outcome. There are exceptions that can affect custody of minor children and distribution of assets.
Q. Can I get alimony?
A. It depends. Under normal circumstances, you have to be married for 10 years to be eligible for alimony. Even then, most courts will only consider temporary types of alimony. Marriages of over 15 years are required for permanent alimony to be considered. There are exceptions.
Even if you have been married for long enough to be considered for alimony, you have to be able to make a showing that you enjoyed a higher lifestyle than you will be able to on your own. If both parties worked during the marriage and made about the same amount, most courts will not grant alimony.
Q. Everybody knows the courts are biased towards keeping the children with their mother. Do I have any other choice than to accept every other weekend with my kids?
A. YES. Florida law now states that either parent has equal rights to custody of the children; there is no longer a legal preference for either parent. HOWEVER, some Judges still have bias, and some jurisdictions have more biased Judges than others. We feel that full time fathers need to have more time with their children than every other weekend, and we have assisted many fathers in getting substantial custody of their children.
Q. Can I get shared custody of my children?
A. "Shared custody" is a term that is used a lot but means very little. True shared custody, also known as joint custody, is difficult unless both parents get along well, and live in close proximity to one another (school is an obvious consideration). Otherwise, the courts do not like to even consider it. However, we have successfully negotiated agreements where each party has 3 days one week, and 4 the next. A visitation schedule that is close to half time can be done in many cases.
Generally, the courts use overnight visits to determine the nature of the custody. If one parent has 15 overnights out of every 28 overnights, that parent will be considered the primary custodian. However, the parent with secondary custody under these circumstances would be entitled to a substantial reduction in child support.
Q. My ex is not letting me see my children as agreed to (or court ordered to), can I stop paying child support?
A. No. The two are considered 'mutually exclusive', i.e. one has nothing to do with the other. A parent cannot keep the other parent from seeing a child because that parent hasn't paid child support.
If your ex is not allowing you to see you children, call an attorney right away. Failing to do so makes it look like you do not care.
Q. I don't know where my spouse is. We've been separated for over three years, and I don't know where to begin to look. Can I get divorced?
A. Yes, you can still get divorced. It will be more expensive because of the exhaustive search that must be done, but dissolution is considered a 'right' in Florida.
If you have children, although you can get a divorce without knowing where the other parent is, understand that the divorce will never really be 'final' until the other parent is found.
Q. My wife has a bad temper, and verbally abuses me. I don't want her alone with the kids until she has some anger management treatment. Can we do this?
A. No. In order to get a court to order supervised visitation, you must prove that the other party is a threat to the children. A spouse that calls their spouse names is not the same as a spouse that is a threat to the health and safety of their children.
If a parent has a drug abuse problem, most courts will require supervised visitation until they can show sufficient rehabilitation.
Q. I want sole custody of my children, with no contact from the other parent. What do I need to do to accomplish this?
A. We have researched this issue exhaustively. In the State of Florida, parents have a constitutional right to visitation / custody of their children. There are two exceptions.
1. The other parent is in prison, and will be in prison until the children are no longer minors. Note: the courts will not normally require a spouse to takethe children to jail/prison for visits with the other spouse.
2. The other parent is a SEXUAL PREDATOR or a SEX OFFENDER, AND the children are in the same general age and sex that they offend against. Note: we do not agree with this, but it is the law. We feel that a parent that is a sexual predator or sex offender is by default a danger to children.
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