September 23rd, 2011
As I reported earlier this year, the mortgage foreclosure case of J.P. Morgan Chase Bank v. Joan Eakins, et al. Case No 03-CA-004775 Div A, Hillsborough County, Florida, finally went to trial. This was my oldest case and had been pending for 8 years. At the conclusion of the trial, both the judge and the jury found for my clients, the Eakins. After a couple post-trial motions the parties settled the case and the bank filed a satisfaction of mortgage and paid my clients’ attorney fees and costs. My clients now own their home free and clear of any mortgage.
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Tags: Florida, Foreclosure, Mortgage
Posted in Foreclosures | No Comments »
September 16th, 2011
One of the best things a client can do to assist their attorney during their divorce is to keep a journal. Every time the divorce attorney gets ready for a client’s deposition, mediation, or court hearing the file is reviewed. Being able to read about the client’s concerns, history, and facts helps the attorney in preparing.
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Tags: Divorce, Journal, Timesharing
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September 9th, 2011
After parties have divorced, if either parent is looking to move more than 50 miles away from where they currently reside, it is very important to get permission to do so. Fla. Stat. § 61.13001 requires that if a parent with primary residential custody of a child or children wants to move, they must either obtain a court order or written agreement allowing a move of more than 50 miles from the current residence.
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Tags: Child Custody, Divorce, Parental Timesharing
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September 5th, 2011
When spouses go through a dissolution of marriage, it is not simply limited to severing the emotional relationship between the two people. Divorce splits up a family, may require significant changes in living arrangements, and the court may be called upon to make decisions regarding alimony, parental timesharing, child support, property division, and asset/debt distribution. These are all legal court orders that are set forth by the Florida court system.
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Tags: Alimony, Divorce, Florida Law
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August 25th, 2011
The right of grandparents to visit and contact their grandchildren are provided for in Florida law. However, the United States Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court have set down several decisions stating that these grandparents’ rights laws are unconstitutional as an invasion of the rights of the parents to raise their own child.
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Tags: Custody, Florida Law, Grandparents
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August 20th, 2011
Virtually every Florida divorce case involves something called “discovery“. That term refers to the search for information in the case by the parties. Discovery is a procedure designed to allow disclosure of information between parties.In discovery, written questions, oral questioning, document production, and admissions requests are generally allowed. Discovery was designed as a means to prevent litigation by surprise or ambush.
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Tags: Discovery, Divorce, Family Law
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August 12th, 2011
Frequently, in Florida divorce cases the parties a party will have to attend a “case management conference.” A case management conference can be requested by the judge or it can be procedural and automatically scheduled when a dissolution of marriage case is filed. Usually the conference is scheduled 60 to 90 days after the case is filed. Basically, it is a means for the court to ensure the case is moving forward like it should.
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Tags: Case Management, Divorce, Family Law
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August 4th, 2011
In Florida, either spouse can start the process for divorce, also known as dissolution of marriage. The spouse who first files divorce papers with the court is the petitioner, while the other spouse is the respondent. If the petitioner changes his mind about the divorce, he can stop the process by asking for a voluntary dismissal. The respondent can only ask for voluntary dismissal of her counterpetition, if she filed one with the court.
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Tags: Dissolution of Marriage, Divorce, Florida Law
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July 30th, 2011
The Florida Constitution provides its citizens one of the strongest homestead property protections in the entire United States. Relevant to dissolution of marriage, it means that a married person may not transfer their homestead property without the consent of the spouse. Article X § 4 (c) of the Constitution provides that “the owner of homestead real estate, joined by the spouse if married, may alienate the homestead by mortgage, sale or gift and, if married, may by deed transfer the title to an estate by the entirety with the spouse.”
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Tags: Constitution, Divorce, Florida, Homestead
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July 15th, 2011
Florida’s Uniform Child Custody Joint Enforcement Act, codified in Chapter 61 of the Florida statutes, provides that a child’s home state may decline jurisdiction if the ‘foreign’ (out-of-state) court is a more convenient place to decide the issues in the case. The statute provides the following factors for making this determination.
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Tags: Child Custody, Divorce, Florida Law
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