A parent may be receiving government benefits not only for him or herself, but also independent benefits designated for his or her child. Are the benefits received on behalf of the child considered income for purposes of calculating child support?
The Second District Court of Appeals answers affirmatively in Wallace v. Dept. of Revenue ex rel Cutter, 774 So. 2d 804, 808 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000):
Sometimes–such as when there is a history of domestic violence–courts order restrictions on time-sharing. A video from GetLegal describes options that are available for restricted time-sharing.
GetLegal offers a helpful video on preparing for an evidentiary hearing in a child custody matter:
The following video from Fox 25 out of Boston warns family law litigants of the dangers of posting information on social networking sites such as Facebook:
The following article was written by Mike McCurley for the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers:
—
Divorce is never easy on kids, but there are many ways parents can lessen the impact of their break-up on their children:
The Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida (which includes Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion, and Sumter Counties) offers the following general rules for mediation:*
Judge Irene Sullivan, author of “Raised by the Courts”, appointee of Florida Governor Rick Scott’s Law and Order Transition Team, and formerly a member of the Unified Family Court in the Sixth Judicial Circuit (Pinellas County), discusses dependency and delinquency in this video:
If a parent is activated, deployed, or temporarily assigned to military service, courts have the option of entering a temporary order that modifies a custody order. That temporary order may provide the non-military parent with more time-sharing. Due to recent changes to section 61.13002, Florida Statutes, the Court also has the option of designating a family member of the child to exercise time-sharing on behalf of the military parent. Any temporary modification of the time-sharing will be dissolved once the military parent returns from the service, deployment, or temporary assignment.
Additionally, the temporary order may address child support by taking the following actions:
When a party files a petition for change of name, that party must swear under oath that his or her civil rights have never been suspended or, if civil rights have been suspended, they have subsequently been restored. This requirement is found in Section 68.07, Florida Statutes.
When are civil rights suspended? In general terms, civil rights are suspended when a person is convicted of a felony. Those lost rights include the right to vote, hold public office, or serve on a jury.
Florida, like most states, provides for a process of restoration of those rights. The person must apply to the Office of Executive Clemency. In determining whether to grant a restoration, the Executive Clemency Board will consider, among other things, the following:
As I wrote in my previous post, the Virgina State Bar Association’s Family Law Section produced a video entitled “Spare the Child” which discusses how to safeguard the emotional well-being of children during divorce and other family law proceedings. The section has also produced a Spanish-language version of the video, entitled “Proteger al Niño.” You may access this video after the jump:
TAMPA - 3030 North Rocky Point Drive, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33607
SAINT PETERSBURG - 475 Central Avenue, Suite 205, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
SARASOTA - 1858 Ringling Boulevard, Suite 110, Sarasota, FL 34236
Accepting Clients Throughout the State of Florida
