Relocating your children before, during, and after a divorce is something that you really should talk to a Jacksonville Board Certified Divorce lawyer about before you move.  You can read the Florida Statute regarding relocation here.   As you can see, the statute is not easy to understand if you are not a divorce lawyer and most people going through a divorce do not even know that it exists.  The bottom line is that you can get in trouble with the divorce judge, damage your divorce case, or ruin your chances to move or keep the other parent from moving if you do not understand that law in advance of the problem.  As a board certified divorce expert lawyer, I can meet with you for a free consultation to discuss helping you try to relocate with your children as well as helping you to try and keep your children from moving away  I represent both men and women and your concerns are my concerns.

If you are the parent who is trying to move away to provide a better life for your children, we can discuss:

1)  How the move may affect your chances of having custody of your children or being the majority timesharing parent;

2)  How to apply for the relocation and how to consider new visitation or timesharing for the other parent, including transportation and its costs;

3)  How the other parent's lack of involvement or payment of support impacts the relocation; and

4)  What we can do on a temporary basis if we need to expedite your move.

If you are the parent who desparately seeks to keep the close and loving relationship that you have with your children, we can discuss:

1)  How we can act fast to prevent the other parent from moving away;

2)  How we can ask the Court to change custody or majority timesharing if the other parent does move;

3)  How to present your case to the divorce judge so that they understand your involvement as a parent and provider; and

4)  How the other parent's preventing you from having contact and access to your children or involving you in decisions affecting the children can impact your case.

If you are a military spouse or military member and this is a military divorce, you have come to the right place.  Special laws, concerns, and solutions apply to military families and we can dicuss:

1)  How deployments and changes of duty stations affect custody or timesharing for both the service member and the spouse; and

2)  Relocating with a new spouse who is a military member and how that affects custody or timesharing.

In short, if you are thinking about relocating and are getting a divorce, thinking about divorce, or already divorced; call me for a free consultation today.  Also; if this is before, during, or after a divorce and the other parent is trying to move away; call me and I can give you the benefit of my divorce advice from 17 years of helping folks getting a divorce just like you so that we can do what is best for your children.  I practice in St. Johns, Duval, Nassau, Clay, and Baker counties.  If you need me, I am here for you.  It costs nothing to talk to me, but could cost you a great deal without the right advice.

For those of you who may be considering bankruptcy, here is a word of caution if you also may be involved in a divorce. First let me qualify my remarks and state that while I am a Florida Bar Board Certified Divorce lawyer in Jacksonville, Florida; I do not practice bankruptcy law. Unlike some other lawyers who dabble a little in each area of law, I focus exclusively on divorce and family law. Sometimes the two areas of law meet and that is when your lawyer needs to be prepared. You should consult with a bankruptcy expert, preferably a board certified bankruptcy lawyer here in Jacksonville about the specifics of your bankruptcy. Sometimes people think that if things do not go well for them in a divorce, they will "just file bankruptcy". You should be aware that recent changes to the United States Bankruptcy Code have made it very difficult, if not impossible, to discharge any debts or obligations contained in your divorce judgment. You can read the exceptions to discharge in the Bankruptcy Code here.

Before the change to the Code, usually only support debts were non-dischargeable by the Bankruptcy Court. That means that you still had to pay them, even if you went bankrupt. Support debts usually meant alimony, child support, and sometimes attorney fees. While somewhat complicated for the lay person to understand (many divorce lawyers do not know this either), if you agree to pay something in a divorce, a bankruptcy judge can deny your bankruptcy with regard to the debt to your spouse, a joint debt with your spouse, or even a debt just in your name. How is that fair? Let me explain to you what used to happen. Wife agrees that Husband does not have to pay alimony because he is going to pay the large amount of credit card debt of the parties that is on Husband's credit cards. Parties get divorced, Wife gets no alimony, and then Husband goes bankrupt and so does not pay alimony or the credit cards he said he was going to pay. Husband emerges from the divorce a winner and Wife waived something that she should not have waived. In another example, Husband accepts an offer to pay alimony because he is going to bankrupt the marital home and his credit cards so he can pay the Wife her money. If the divorce judgment is not worded properly, Husband ends up paying alimony and stuck with all the debt that the bankruptcy judge will not let him out of because he agreed in his divorce to pay it.

The moral of this story is that you at least should consult with a Florida Bar Board Certified Divorce lawyer before reaching an agreement or finalizing your divorce. I am here to help and offer a free consultation. If you try to do your divorce on your own or hire a "rookie" lawyer, you are going to end up like the person in my second example: "up the creek without a paddle". My office will work with you to understand your goals and explain to you your options. My office also will craft carefully your final divorce papers so that if you contemplate filing a bankruptcy after divorce, your judgment will give you flexibility with the Bankruptcy Court.

Divorce mediation is an excellent method of resolving your divorce or family law matter in an amicable and affordable manner.  Not only am I a Florida Bar Board Certified divorce lawyer, I am also a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Law mediator and have been since 1999.  In Duval County, Jacksonville, Florida; you will be required to attend mediation before the Judge hears your final divorce case, unless you already have a divorce agreement.  I have free consultations with many people who have or want to attend mediation as a method of resolving their divorce without divorce lawyers.  There are some problems with that method.  While it may save money to not have a divorce lawyer with you at your mediation, you must understand that: 1) the mediator cannot be your divorce lawyer and tell you what to ask for or explain the law to you; 2) you have no idea what to ask for or how to ask for it in a way that the Court will approve it; and 3)  divorce agreements drafted when people do not have lawyers and by mediators who are not experienced board certified divorce lawyers almost always have problems later.  Military divorces and couples with real property or retirement plans are especially susceptible to having their rights crippled by one of these mediations.  The last problem is that the mediator cannot represent you at a final hearing before the Judge so you are going to need a divorce lawyer to take you to court anyway.  You can do it yourself if you want to use Family Court Services but your divorce will take MUCH longer and you do not get the same treatment or service that you do with a divorce attorney.  I meet with many people who have wasted a great deal of money attending one of these "pre-filing" divorce mediations with their spouse to "try and save money and get them to agree without a divorce lawyer" only to find that neither of them understand their rights and one of the parties will not sign the divorce agreement.  Meanwhile, the mediator billed you a great deal of money for wasted time and now you have to go and hire an attorney anyway.  Why should you or your spouse sign a legal contract that potentially affects the rest of your or your children's lives without the advice of a divorce expert?  That seems crazy to me.

Some people will think that the divorce lawyers are just trying to get their money and that they can do it themselves by just buying the "divorce packet" from the Clerk's Office.  That may be alright if you do not have any children or joint property.  You can also get free forms here.  I can tell you that it will cost less to do it right the first time than to hire me to fix a mess later which sometimes I cannot fix because the people wanted to save money and do it themselves.  Think you can do it yourself?  Ask yourself:  "Do I fully understand":

1)  Timesharing the Court will approve and what to include in a parenting plan;

2)  How to calculate child support based upon that timesharing, insurance, child care, tax implications, and other incidentals of that support;

3)  How to divide a marital home taking into account VA exemptions, whose name is on the deed or note, and how or when the home is sold;

4)  How to "correctly" divide retirement and military pensions, determine the marital portion of said retirements, and draft important indemnification, survivor annuity, and distribution clauses [Note:  I know divorce lawyers who cannot do this properly]; or

5)  How to determine if you should receive or pay alimony and then how much, what type, and for how long.

When I attend mediation with my clients, I give them the benefit of nearly two decades of full-time divorce law experience and my being a board certified divorce expert to make sure that they understand their rights, that they understand what a Judge may or may not do in their case, and to make sure that their divorce settlement is drafted correctly so that they do not have problems later.  Please do not "mess up" your case.  Give my office a call for your free consultation so that I can at least tell you what I think that you are entitled to in your divorce case and if you want us to work together and let me help you, we can do that too.

First thing that you should do when you are considering a divorce in Jacksonville, Florida is to set up a free divorce consultation with me or another Florida Bar board certified divorce lawyer.  There are some things that are the same in a divorce no matter who your lawyer is or even whether you represent yourself (which I do not recommend).  A divorce in Jacksonville, Florida (Duval County) usually takes about three to six months, less if it is an uncontested divorce.  An uncontested divorce means that you and your spouse agree on every issue in your divorce.  If you have children, you must attend the Hope Haven Children First in Divorce Class.  You may get registration information here.  You both also must file a financial affidavit.  You can find the standard Florida Supreme Court version here.  There is also a short form.  I like to use the long form.  You should also know that filing for a divorce is expensive.  Unless you are declared indigent, the current filing fee for a divorce is $409.00 plus $10.00 for a summons if you have to serve the other party for a total of $419.00.  This does not include any divorce lawyer fees.  You do not need to serve your spouse by process server or sheriff if the case is going to be an uncontested divorce.  Lastly, you will need to be sure to consider all of the following issues when obtaining your divorce:  timesharing, child support and incidentals, health insurance, life insurance, property, debts, alimony, attorney fees, restoration of your former name, and any other issues specific to your divorce case.  As you can see, this is not an easy process and not one that you should try to do yourself without at least talking to a Jacksonville board certified divorce lawyer.  Military families and those with certain retirement or pension benefits also require special care and consideration.  Don't try to do your divorce yourself.  My office is here to help.  Give my office a call today for your free consultation. 

The old joke about divorce is true from what I hear from my clients.  First Spouse:  "I am very wealthy and will get you whatever you want".  Other Spouse:  "I want a divorce".  First Spouse:  "I can't afford that".  I hear that from my clients because I too am amazed what some divorce lawyers are charging people.  What really amazes me is that people are paying it!  While I charge a respectable hourly rate based upon my credentials as one of the few Florida Bar Board Certified divorce lawyers in Jacksonville, I never forgot that I grew up in a home where people worked hard blue-collar jobs to put food on the table.  I charge what I consider to be fair for my time and have been criticized by other lawyers for not charging "enough" for my skill and expertise.  I consider some of my compensation to come from the satisfaction of helping people and their children through a difficult time in their lives.  Money is not everything.  At least not to me.

A divorce lawyer will start your case by asking you for a certain amount of money called a "retainer".  Divorce retainers are paid up front, usually are non-refundable, and represent a minimum fee that the Jacksonville divorce lawyer will charge to start a case.  Costs such as filing fees, process servers, court reporters, mediator fees, etc. are not included in the divorce attorney's retainer.  Here is the Clerk of Court fee schedule for Duval County, Florida divorce cases here.  Your divorce lawyer cannot give you a good estimate of how long your divorce case will take or how much it will cost without talking to you.  I would like to be able to tell you, "A divorce costs this much".  It is sort of like your doctor having to see you before they give you a prescription.  Every case is different, especially military cases, and requires special care to make sure we are giving you the right information.  If you cannot come into the office, we can speak over the phone or by email and I could give you an estimate at that time.

You should choose the board certified divorce lawyer who is right for you.  There is no one attorney who is right for every case.  Talk to a few attorneys.  Whether it is me or someone else, you should at least talk to a board certified divorce lawyer.  Here is the link to the Florida Bar's board certified divorce lawyers for Jacksonville.  I provide it because I am not afraid of competition, I consider them all to be good attorneys, and if I cannot help you, one of them should.  The lawyer with the "big name" or who charges the most money is not always the right choice nor is the lawyer who tells you what you want to hear (or not hear).  Your lawyer should work hard for you, be honest with you, and work hard to keep costs down.  Call or email my office for a free consultation to see if we would be a good fit to help you with your divorce case. 

1.  DO REMAIN CALM.  Understand that you are going to be OK, no matter what.  If you are getting a divorce, it means that one or both of you are not happy and that you are not living your life to the fullest and experiencing marriage the way it was intended to be.  This can be a new beginning for you.  Ask yourself, was I really happy?  The answer probably is "no" (even when you want to believe that it is "yes").  Focus on yourself and reconnect with family, friends, and the person that you used to be.

2.  DO KEEP STATUS QUO.  This is not the time to change everything.  When the divorce is over, you can change things.  Until the divorce is completed, it is not a good idea to quit your job, cancel insurance policies, drop health insurance coverage, stop paying all of your bills, or start bringing your children around a new significant other.  You may compromise your case or get in trouble with the Court.

3.  DO KEEP COMMUNICATION OPEN.  Lawyers and litigation are expensive.  Even if you cannot come to terms on your marriage, perhaps you can resolve many issues of your divorce in an amicable fashion.  Most people fight in a divorce not because they disagree on the issues, but because they are hurt and want to hurt the other person.  Divorce is very expensive therapy and judges and lawyers seldom are qualified to deal with the emotional issues.

4.  DO PUT YOUR CHILDREN FIRST.  You and your spouse are getting a divorce, not your children.  As far as a Judge is concerned, they are the children of "both" of you.  They are not possessions and they are not tools to use to hurt the other person.  Both parents, unless they are physically abusive or neglectful, have the right to see the children and continue their relationship with the children before, during, and after the divorce.  Keeping the children from the other parent causes a great deal of harm to your children and your case.

5.  DO TALK TO A BOARD CERTIFIED ATTORNEY.  You need to understand your rights.  A Jacksonville board certified divorce lawyer is the best person to answer all of your questions during this period of transition.  Finding that budget attorney to just "type up the papers" can do a great deal of harm to your case.  The reason that the price is so low is often because that attorney lacks the experience to understand all of the things that can go wrong and haunt you later.

6.  DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING THAT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND.  My office, and some other board certified Jacksonville divorce lawyers, offer free consultations.  There is no reason to not get some free advice about your case.  If you sign something, you may be stuck with it and your lawyer may not be able to fix it later.  Some people always want to avoid conflict, save money, or think they understand the deal that they are making.  There is no shame in asking for help.  This is especially important in a military divorce.

7.  DO NOT SNOOP.  Florida is a "no-fault" divorce state.  That means, for the most part, that even if your spouse had 100 affairs, it is not going to mean very much to the Judge in terms of how the financial or child issues in your divorce are decided.  Scouring the other person's email, text messages, phone bills, or social network pages probably is just going to lead to something that is going to hurt you more, not help you in Court.

8.  DO NOT BE IN DARK ABOUT YOUR FINANCES.  Divorce means figuring out what it is going to cost you to live after your divorce and how you are going to meet those needs.  It is often a time to sit down and figure out exactly what you have and what you owe.  My office will work with you to create a solid financial plan to begin a new life as a single person with or without children.  Alimony, child support, life insurance, pensions, and attorney fees are just a small part of the overall plan my office will try to create for you.  Start gathering all of your financial documents for your meeting with your attorney to discuss your future financial security.  Here is a list of what you may need to provide to your board certified Jacksonville divorce lawyer.  Everyone has to file a financial affidavit in a divorce case.  If you want to get a head start, you can find the basic one here. 

9.  DO NOT ESCALATE THE DIVORCE.  If you are getting a divorce and you are beyond saving the marriage, you need to understand that all of your conversations are now business discussions.  Laying blame, finding fault, name calling, begging, and/or bullying the other person are not going to result in productive discussions or negotiations.  Everything that you say or do should be calculated to put aside hurt, heal emotional wounds, find a positive resolution, and work together to ease the transition.

10.  DO NOT LISTEN TO EVERYONE'S OPINION. Every case has different facts, a different judge, different attorney dynamics, and different expectations.  All of your friends and members of your family are wanting the best for you, but they do not understand the legal system or the law.  A few people who have been divorced can be bad influences when they tell you about how the lawyer just took their money, how the judge was against them, or how the legal system was wrong.  Board certified lawyers are certified as such by the Florida Bar because the lawyers and judges that they work with recognize them as having the highest professional ethics and experience to handle your case.  Listen to a good attorney.  Call today for your free consultation.

Alimony is more of an art than it is a science.  With child support, we often can break it down to each parties' incomes and the amount of time that each parent shares with the child to give us a good estimate of what the Jacksonville divorce court will do.  Not so with alimony.  Alimony can depend upon the length of the marriage; the age, income, and employment history of each party; who your Jacksonville divorce judge is, and many other circumstances too numerous to mention.  You can read the statute here and see for yourself the complexity of the factors.  Many cases require the special experience of a board certified Jacksonville divorce lawyer to secure or defend against an alimony award.  Then, it is not enough to determine whether or not an alimony award is warranted, your lawyer has to determine the correct type of alimony for your particular needs (or how to defend against paying that particular alimony).  Military divorces may have special considerations.

Some Jacksonville divorce lawyers do not understand the subtle variations of each alimony type, the tax implications, and how to present your case to a particular divorce judge.  There is more to it than just presenting testimony.  Consider this:  your mother can tell you all of the ingredients of her secret recipe, but your dish does not taste like Mom's.  Why?   Because Mom knows not only how to combine those ingredients to make it taste good, she has adjusted her recipe over the years to be exactly the way that you like it.  The facts that are important to one judge are not necessarily important to another divorce judge.  That is why you should only trust your case to a board certified Jacksonville divorce lawyer as the difference often is not only knowledge, but experience.

Are you going to pay or receive alimony?  That is a question only your board certified Jacksonville divorce lawyer can answer after discussing all of the facts with you, but the longer that you are married and the bigger the disparity of your incomes, the more alimony exposure there is in a divorce case.  Length of the marriage also largely determines which type of alimony you receive.  The structured settlement of your assets or property can affect the award as well.  It is best to call me today for your free consultation to give you a better estimate based upon your particular facts.