In some situations it makes sense for an extended family member to have temporary custody of a child. These situations are usually extremely sad, as the parents may be struggling with mental health issues, substance abuse issues, or they may be facing incarceration. The only silver lining is that a concerned family member is willing to step in and assist by taking care of the legal parents’ minor children until the parents are ready to resume their role as a parent. Often this will be the minor child’s grandparents or an aunt or uncle.

A court order providing temporary custody for an extended family member prevents the children from becoming a ward of the state, and allows an extended family member with custody to do things like secure copies of medical records, enroll a child in school, and otherwise do things necessary for the care of the child.

Temporary custody of minor children by extended family is controlled by Chapter 751 of the Florida Statutes. Continue reading →

It’s estimated that 95% of all divorces get resolved outside of court. Based on my experience as a divorce lawyer I’d agree with that assessment. Most divorces, even hotly contested ones, settle. And most cases settle at mediation or as a result of mediation. There are exceptions, but in many cases a failed mediation signals a failure of the parties and their lawyers to be reasonable, or a lack of preparation prior to mediation. Sometimes there is a novel legal issue that needs to be decided by a judge, but that is rare.

Since mediation is such an important topic and an effective means of resolving a divorce, this article is going to provide information on why mediation is a good option and how mediation works. Most of this is my opinion based on my experience. As always the article is being offered for educational / entertainment purposes and is not offered as legal advice.

I have also written an article providing a general overview of the divorce process, if you are looking for a broader article. Continue reading →

As a family law attorney, I often get asked how to modify a child support obligation. Whether one party thinks they are paying too much, or the other party thinks they are getting too little, it’s common for one or both parties to want to revisit the issue of child support.

As you can imagine, there is no one size fits all answer to this question. However, there is a basic framework that governs child support modification, and it can help you answer that question. My goal with this article is to explain that framework and give you a better idea as to how child support can be modified.

How Is Child Support Calculated?

An important question to address right off the bat is how child support gets calculated. Presumably, if you understand how child support gets calculated in the first place it will be easier to figure out how to change it. Continue reading →