Oviedo Divorce Attorney
The average marriage which ends in divorce lasts a little over eight years. Because of that amount of time, unless the spouses had a solid premarital agreement, most marriage dissolutions involve significant emotional and financial issues. These issues make it difficult, but certainly not impossible, to resolve marriage dissolution matters while preserving your legal and financial rights.
At the Troum Law Firm, our Oviedo divorce attorneys work hard to uphold these rights. We start by quickly and thoroughly evaluating your case, so we can determine what major issues are involved. Then, we diligently strive for a beneficial solution. This simple and straightforward approach has worked well in the past, and we are confident it will work well for your family.
Emotional Issues
After about eight years of marriage, most couples have young children at home. Therefore, child custody and visitation are normally important issues, especially in a no-fault divorce.
Until recently, the law in the Sunshine State designated parents as “managing” or “possessory” conservators. Children lived with one parent and visited the other one. But Florida now has a co-parenting law. This law presumes that children benefit from frequent, meaningful, and consistent contact with both parents.
As a result, the traditional every other weekend and every other holiday arrangement does not always work well for many families. Some alternatives include:
- Block Scheduling: The children typically spend two weeks with Parent X, two weeks with Parent Y, and then the cycle repeats. Except for some minor alterations around major holidays, this pattern continues twelve months a year. The result is a nearly 50-50 parenting time division which is very predictable for everyone involved.
- Extended Weekends: In many areas of life, the cumulative effect of small change makes a big difference. That’s certainly true in this context. Starting weekend visitations on Thursday and ending them on Monday makes the parenting time division much more even.
- Empty Nest: This alternative does not necessarily change the balance of parenting time, but it is very good for the children, at least in most cases. The children stay in the same place, and the parents change residencies according to the parenting time plan.
The traditional arrangement still works well for many families, especially if one parent is not a very well-qualified co-parent because of issues like substance abuse. These disabilities are subject to change, which is why no parenting time division is set in stone.
Financial Issues
Property division and family support obligations are the two most important property division areas in a Seminole County divorce.
Florida is an equitable division state. So, upon divorce, the judge must divide the marital estate equitably. That’s not necessarily the same thing as equally. Nevertheless, there is an informal presumption that a 50-50 split is appropriate. Some factors which could trigger a disproportionate division include the length of the marriage, the relative earning capacity of each spouse, and the custody of minor children.
Typically, the judge uses child support guidelines to assess child support amounts. Since Florida is an income share state, the guidelines take a number of factors into account. The goal of child support in Florida is to ensure that the children have roughly the same standard of living as they had while their parents were married.
Florida’s alimony law is much more subjective. Several types of long and short-term spousal support are available, mostly depending on obligee’s financial need and the obligor’s ability to pay.
Contact a Savvy Oviedo Divorce Lawyer
Most divorce cases settle out of court, but they have some very thorny issues to resolve. For a consultation with an experienced family law attorney in Oviedo, contact The Troum Law Firm, P.A. Convenient payment plans are available.
