What if I want to Fire my Lawyer?

Posted on May 4, 2012 by admin

You have the right at all times to hire the lawyer you want. That decision can get more difficult if you have already have a lawyer and just don’t feel good about where things are going. You may be interviewing for a new lawyer and trying to figure out if changing horses mid-stream is a good idea.

One consideration is WHY you are unhappy. Family court is not known for its good times. There is no happy hour and the process is slow. And your ex is there, never fun. Some harsh realities won’t hange no matter how much money you spend on fees. Ask the lawyers you interview about taking over what they really believe they can change for you..ask them to put those expectations (never guarantees) in a letter to you.  Don’t accept promises that seem too good to be true. If you have been married to a stay at home mom for thirty years and make a large income, promises to beat alimony all together is not realistic.

It may be you and your lawyer do not have a good relationship, and no matter what the outcome you won’t trust it was fair. It is certainly more ideal when you trust your lawyer (and great if you like them too!).  Before you hire someone else, try one more time sitting down with your lawyer and letting them know how you are feeling and what would make you happier – they just might be able to do that. Then, make sure you are well informed about what the real total cost will be to hiring someone to take over..not just the retainer but long term. Then you can make a well informed cost/benefit analysis.

Diana

Posted in Alimony, Child Support, Court Process, Custody, Her Corner, His Corner, Kid's Issues, Limited Representation, Petitioner, Shopping for a Lawyer, Warning Will Robinson! | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do I Need to File a Counter Petition?

Posted on May 1, 2012 by admin

I get this question a lot since the clerks have started charging a fee to file Counter Petitions (why not,  they charge for everything else, including any thing that is filed in a “closed case”).  Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

  • An Answer is always required if you do not want a default entered against you. So even if you don’t want to file a Counter Petition right away, file this in time. It is a written response each allegation in the Petition.
  • A Counter Petition does not have to be filed at the same time, but usually it is done that way, safer in case it gets forgotten!
  • An Answer tells the court what you think of their requests, a Counter Petition tells the court what you want. Those are not always the same thing.
  • Example: if your spouse’s Petition asks for possession of the marital home and you want it sold…just saying you don’t want them to have possession is not enough – you need to counter petition for a “partition” of the property.
  • If you don’t ask now, you may not be able to ask for it later..so don’t be “nice” in your Counter Petition, if you don’t ask for fees now – later could be too late.

Your lawyer needs to discuss with you all the technical requirements of what goes into your paperwork with the court, mistakes can keep you from getting what you want!

Diana

 

Posted in Alimony, Child Support, Court Process, Her Corner, His Corner, Property Issues, The Trial | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Should I care if There is an Injunction Against Me?

Posted on April 27, 2012 by admin

Injunctions are often filed after that “last fight”,  the one that really means the end of the relationship, and unfortunately – not on a good note.  Often the injunction process is used exactly the way it should be – but sometimes it is used for spite, or vengeance, or to get the upper hand in a divorce case.

If there is a temporary injunction against you and also criminal charges, call a lawyer. The biggest mistake people make is going to this injunction hearing alone and then having testimony during that hearing used  in the criminal case.  You are being  recorded. You may not intend to say anything incriminating, but once the Judge starts talking it is easy to get flustered and end up saying too much.

Injunctions can be fought, even if you cannot say anything because criminal charges are against you, your lawyer can. This means they can question the person trying to get the injunction, and that can really help you fight the injunction and also maybe in your criminal case.  The person asking for the injunction must prove the allegations, and often judges are not convinced if it is a  he said / she said situation, especially if an impending divorce explains the reasons to lie.

If there will be a divorce or paternity case being opened, sometimes the injunction can be put off to deal with those issues in the other case. Not having an injunction protects you against false allegations of violation, and also makes child contact more practical.

Having any court order that may make you look bad in other proceedings is not what you want, and having a lawyer is the best way to protect your court room reputation.

Diana

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Injunctions: How not to Become a Jerry Springer guest

Posted on March 17, 2011 by admin

Wow did I sit through the most amazing, horrifying, long day last week. I was there with a client (baby’s daddy), fighting a permanent injunction by -you guessed it- baby’s momma.

I learned a lot sitting through the five cases ahead of ours. One thing is that there are people in the world who drink vanilla extract as their alcoholic beverage of choice. It got weirder from there.  None of the permanent injunctions being asked for that day were granted. There is something wrong with that. The Judge was following the law. There is nothing wrong with the law. The “wrong” part is that people think that this system is out there to deal with irritating people, scary people, or people that they no longer love or want to live with.

Permanent Injunctions are supposed to be difficult to obtain..parenting or divorce issues are supposed to be taken care of in divorce and family courts. To get a permanent injunction you will have to prove to the judge that you have a reasonable fear of imminent physical harm. The rules of evidence mean that you won’t usually be able to repeat what anyone else has told you.

There will need to be either an act of violence, or an actual threat of violence….in a hearing I watched last week, the wife of a troubled alcoholic husband who destroyed the family car in anger while she was out of town did not get an injunction.

As always, reasonable expectations mean you are not wasting your money going to court..or doing anything to hurt your other family law case. Also, knowing you have to prepare a very good case will ensure you don’t regret not pulling out the stops after losing your hearing.

Diana

Posted in Her Corner, His Corner, Injunctions, Warning Will Robinson! | Leave a comment

Are You Ready for Divorce?

Posted on March 15, 2011 by admin
by Jallfree

If only it were as easy as a lightbulb going off, cartoon like. Usually the death of a good relationship takes much longer, many years often, and the ugliness that it becomes was such a slow process that it seems normal. Some times, it is not normal, it is just comfortable.

I have had many new clients lately, and some still just maybe-in-the-future potential clients who have talked with me about how to KNOW when leaving a husband is the right thing to do. They worry about whether kids are better off with parents who live together even if they don’t get along. They worry their daughters will learn things about relationships that are not healthy. They worry A LOT about their financial futures.

I am not a therapist, although I am called on often to channel that side of me (I love giving advise on most topics, so this is not a problem). I do have thoughts, based on hundreds of clients and thousands of hours of experience.

-If you have talked out loud about leaving this relationship with anyone other than your sister, sooner or later you will be ready to leave.

-If you have tried counseling and you are the only one showing up, OR if the therapist tells you after 3 sessions you need to get out – You will, it is just a matter of time

-If you have come to see the possibility of  living in a small clean apartment as a symbol of freedom rather than poverty..you are about ready.

A client recently said to me that her “path to freedom” did not include leaving until she got to the point in the road that it was more painful to go back home than it was scary to leave. I think that says it all.

Diana

Posted in Court Process, Her Corner, Shopping for a Lawyer | Leave a comment

How Do I Prove Adultery?

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Diana M. Tennis

by Kevin Wooley

Well, the first question really is – why do you want to?

Florida, like most states now, has no-fault divorce. This means that there is no bad mouthing needed to ask the Court to give you a divorce. It also means that rarely do judges want to hear about this kind of stuff anyway.

On the other hand, evidence of adultery can be relevant to:

Alimony, usually when trying to avoid paying it. How much the judge considers it is up to them;

OR Parenting Issues IF there is connection to parenting, to time sharing or schedule with kids;

OR Equitable Distribution IF there were marital funds expended on affair or dissipation of marital money.

The real question for you and your lawyer to discuss is whether the gains from this type of claim are worth the downsides, which include:

-damaging the relationship with the co-parent forever, and possibly extended family of kids;
-expense of proving, as it cannot be done through any witness repeating what someone else told them and rarely are there eyewitnesses;
-did I mention it is expensive?;
-the negotiations may take a nose dive due to emotionality.

Some creative ways to prove these things if you decide it is worth it:

-Facebook and other social media
-Phone records
-Private Investigator surveillance
-Subpoenas for witnesses who may be reluctant but likely to be honest

The main point is that often the heat of a break up makes people want to “punish” the other person. The law is really not set up to do that well or cheaply.

Diana

Posted in Court Process, Custody, Her Corner | Leave a comment

Proving Income Just Got Easier!

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Diana M. Tennis

It is always fun when a brand new family law comes out,  you never know how 10 different judges are going to read it differently. When the 2010 law came into effect recently (and there are more parts of it coming into effect over the next six months), there were a few sections that had all of us talking. THIS is one of those sections.

In the Old Days (like a few weeks ago), if one party in a family law case just decided to not cooperate, like not providing documentation of their “cash” income, for example..this lead to the Court calculating things like child support based on imputing, or assuming, they could make minimum wage.

Those days may be over. The new Florida Statute 61.30(2)(b), provides that incomplete financial disclosure regarding income will result in imputing, or assuming, that person can make the “median income” as provided by the census bureau.

Why is this a big deal?

Because “median” means middle, as in 50% of people make more and 50% make less….it is NOT an average. To put this in perspective, using minimum wage at $7.25 per hour and a 40 hour week means a yearly gross income of $15,080. The median wage for a worker in Florida is closer to a yearly gross of $41,000. THAT will make a huge difference in any child support calculation.

This means two things: if you are in litigation that requires financial disclosure, and every family case does, get all your documents together and provide everything you can. If you work in a cash industry, start getting receipts for payments, start depositing funds in a banking institution for tracking, and invoices from work performed. It also means that if the other party is not cooperating, having a lawyer make this argument is vital. Even if it is a limited representation in order to ask the judge to make an income determination.

Posted in Child Support, Discovery and Financial Disclosure, Her Corner, Limited Representation | Leave a comment

When do I need a Lawyer for Mediation?

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Diana M. Tennis

by umjanedoan

Having a lawyer at mediation is like having a lawyer at any stage of your divorce, a really good idea. BUT, as with all things, sometimes the  desire for a Cadillac is overtaken by a Dodge budget. Even if you have a lawyer for your divorce or paternity case, both sides can agree to go to mediation without lawyers to save attorneys fees. If you have to save money somewhere, when is this the best call?

-When you may be very very close to an agreement, and just have to hash out a minor issue, relating to the kids’ schedule for example.
-When you are so far apart or there is so much more financial discovery yet to be done that an agreement is unlikely in any event.

Keep in mind:

-The mediator cannot give you legal advice like your lawyer can..and if you agree to something that the judge wouldn’t have made you do, the mediator will not stop you
-Those signed agreements are binding on you even if you change your mind later (in almost every situation)

Another way to save money may be to hire a lawyer ONLY for the mediation. This  can mean a Limited Hiring just for the mediation itself, or can mean just hiring for the work leading up to mediation (which would of course give your lawyer more information to advise you on).

Mediation can often be used to at least narrow issues down, or make temporary agreements that make life easier before the trial, or agree to discovery issues to save litigation and money. No matter how far apart you may be, time and money tend to bring people closer to negotiating a settlement. Mediation means you have control over the outcome and not a judge, which is a huge advantage.

Posted in Court Process, Limited Representation, Mediation | Leave a comment

How Much Should Mediation Cost?

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Diana M. Tennis

by Squeakymarmot

How much should I pay for mediation?

Many times by the time mediation rolls around, everyone is already of paying for every minute their lawyer is thinking, talking, writing, or emailing about their case. It has already gotten very expensive.

It may seem unlikely that an agreement will happen.

No matter where the frayed nerves are at this point in the process, even then it is most likely that the case will settle. Honest.

The quality of your mediation experience can have a huge effect, not just on whether the case settles, but also how good the document is that you come out with. The better the document (the agreement) the less wiggle room for disputes, or worse -forgotten issues. Often it is impossible to get the judge to enforce a poorly written agreement, or to put things in that have been forgotten.

The better mediators bring laptops to the mediation and have the ability to print out more complete agreements than the “bullet list” used by many of the cheaper mediators. Also the better ones have software available to assist in calculating child support  and the tax consequences of alimony and other issues.

This is one area where paying more hourly can more than make up for itself in the long run.

Diana

Posted in Court Process, Mediation | Leave a comment

How to Enforce Child Support Order From Other State

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Diana M. Tennis

by koiart71

Moved to Florida and your ex stopped paying child support ordered in another state?

You can have that out of state Order “domesticated”.  A domestication brings the out of state court order here and makes it enforceable. After the case is brought here to Florida, the Judge can determine the outstanding arrearage (so that interest starts adding up), and can hold them in contempt.

A contempt ruling can result in the non-payor (slacker) going to jail until they pay. The Judge can also give them a payment plan on the arrearage and can grant an Income Deduction Order so child support is taken out of their pay check.

CAUTION:   Depending on what you want to enforce, sometimes the ENTIRE file (not just the child support order) must be included in the domestication order. This does not take any more time, but does take an Order specifying that the entire file is being moved.

Sometimes these issues are isolated and just take the right paperwork, and may be a case where limited representation, or just having a lawyer help with some aspects may be enough.

Diana

Posted in Child Support, Her Corner, Kid's Issues, Limited Representation, Relocation | Leave a comment