HIV AIDS & Florida Child Custody
May a Florida Family Law Court deny a parent custody rights solely because he or she has HIV or AIDS?
According to section 61.13(6), Florida Statutes, the answer is no, but the court may take some actions.
Born Outside of Florida? You Can Still Get a Legal Name Change.
/0 Comments/in Legal Name Change //Tags: change of name, Florida name change, maiden name, name change, Tampa Bay Name Change Attorney, transgender name changeby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-LawI recently had a conversation where a woman told me that she wanted to get a name change. She had lived in Florida for the past 5 years, but she was born in New York City, and she was wondering if she would have to travel back to NYC to change her name and get her birth certificate amended.
I assured her that she could get the name change here in Florida.
Private Child Custody Proceedings: Florida Collaborative Practice
/1 Comment/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: bisexual parental rights, child custody, child custody case, child custody determination, co-parenting, collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, Florida child custody, gay and lesbian parents, gay parental rights, grandparent rights, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, lesbian parental rights, parent child relationship, parental responsibility, parental rights, parenting plan, same sex couples, sexual orientation and child custody, shared parental responsibility, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Family Law, temporary child custodyby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-LawWhen people are seeking to gain child custody rights in Florida – whether through divorce, paternity, establishment of parenting plan, grandparent custody, or other proceedings – the first step they usually take is file a petition with the Clerk of the Court.
Generally speaking, this is a mistake.
By filing a petition, they are entering into the public court system which pits mother against father. This is an adversarial system which oftentimes leads parties to engage in emotionally and financially draining court battles, and all dirty laundry gets examined and aired.
But there is another way, a private way of determining parental responsibility and child time-sharing schedules. It is called collaborative practice, also known as collaborative family law.
The Military, Florida Divorce, and Residency Requirements
/0 Comments/in Case Law Update, Florida Statutes //Tags: alimony, child custody, child support, collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, Collaborative Law, collaborative practice, divorce, equitable distribution, Florida, florida divorce, Florida family, Florida Statutes, military divorce, property division, residency requirementby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-LawFlorida Statutes Section 61.021 imposes a residency requirement for divorce cases: One of the parties must have lived in Florida for at least 6 months prior to the filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage. This generally means that a spouse will have to be physically present in Florida fort six months and have the intent to remain a permanent resident of Florida.
However, Florida does provide exceptions for members of the military.
Video: Ellie Izzo Discusses Collaborative Divorce Streamlined Protocols
/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative divorce training, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, streamlined protocols, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorceby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-LawOn March 20-22, 2014, the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay and Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce Group are teaming up to sponsor a Basic & Advanced training for attorneys, psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, accountants, financial advisors, and mediators.
The training will provide professionals tools to help their clients go through a private, respectful collaborative divorce process, and to do so in a cost-effective way which creates a budget and roadmap for the process and helps clients move through difficult emotional roadblocks.
Interested professionals can find a registration form at the following link: http://collaborativedivorcetampabay.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/March-2014-CDITB-TBCDG-Streamlined-Protocols-Training-Registration-Form.pdf
Dr. Ellie Izzo, one of the trainers coming to Tampa, discusses the Streamlined Protocols at the following link (from a previous training):
Florida Supreme Court Rules Lesbian Egg Donor Has Right to Partner’s Child
/0 Comments/in Case Law Update //Tags: gay adoption, gay and lesbian parents, gay parental rights, gay rights, gestational surrogacy, lesbian adoption, lesbian parental rights, lesbian rights, LGBT family law rights, reproductive technologiesby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-LawIn a landmark decision in the matter of D.M.T. v. T.M.H., the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a woman who donated her fertilized egg to her partner, who in turn gave birth to a child, has a right to parent the child.
Last year I summarized the facts of this case when it was going through the Fifth District Court of Appeals of Florida:
Two women are in a committed lesbian relationship when they decide to have a child together using reproductive technologies. One woman (the “Genetic Mother”) supplies the egg and has it fertilized. That egg is then implanted into her partner (the “Birth Mother”) who gives birth in 2004.
Florida Divorce, Financial Affidavits, and Privacy
/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce, Divorce, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, Private Divorce //Tags: alimony, child support, collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, dissolution of marriage, financial affidavit, Florida alimony, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, paternity, post-judgment modification, postmarital agreement, postnuptial agreement, premarital agreement, prenuptial agreement, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Family Lawby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-LawIn almost any Florida family law matter that involves financial issues, such as child support, alimony, division of property and debt, or attorney’s fees, parties are required to exchange and file Florida Family Law Financial Affidavits. Financial Affidavits outline each party’s source(s) of income, as well as expenses, assets, and liabilities.
And, when they are filed, they become part of the public record, accessible by anyone.
Most people, for any number reasons, do not want their financial profile to become public. And yet, when people go through the traditional litigated divorce, that’s exactly what happens.
But it does not need to be that way.
How Long does a Florida Legal Name Change Take?
/0 Comments/in Florida Statutes, Legal Name Change //Tags: change of name, Florida name change, maiden name, name change, Tampa Bay Name Change Attorney, transgender name changeby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-LawOne of the first questions I am always asked by potential clients who are seeking to change their legal name in Tampa Bay or elsewhere in Florida is how long it will take.
First, it depends on whether you retain an attorney who is experienced in name change proceedings. I have helped countless Florida residents obtain a change of their legal name throughout the state, and I have addressed situations that could have caused the name change to be delayed by months.
Florida Child Support & Alimony: What is an Obligee? What is an Obligor?
/0 Comments/in Florida Statutes //Tags: alimony, bridge-the-gap alimony, child support, child support guidelines, durational alimony, Florida alimony, Florida alimony laws, long term alimony, lump sum alimony, obligee, obligor, permanent periodic alimony, rehabilitative alimony, temporary alimonyby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-LawIf you are going through a Florida family law case involving alimony or child support, you have probably run into the terms “obligee” and “obligor.” So what do these terms mean?
A Peaceful Divorce in Tampa Bay?
/4 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, dissolution of marriage, divorce, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Family Lawby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-LawI recently returned from a conference of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, where approximately 400 attorneys, psychologists, therapists, accountants, and financial planners from all around the world gathered to learn how to help families through collaborative divorce (a process where clients agree to settle their disputes privately and attorneys are contractually barred from bringing contested issues in front of a judge to decide).
During the conference, I was reminded that colleagues in Israel refer to collaborative practice in Hebrew as “L’hitgaresh B’Shalom,” which literally translates as “To Divorce In Peace” or “The Peaceful Divorce.”
This is not to say that collaborative divorce is an easy process. Another Tampa attorney refers to collaborative divorce as “the tough, but sensible, way to resolve family disputes,” and that’s an apt description. After all, divorce – no matter how it is resolved – is a difficult and emotional process.
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