Recent Blog Posts
There Are Apps for Everything, Even Divorce
Your phone is probably full of apps of varying degrees of usefulness. There are apps to track your spending, exercise, and food consumption. There are apps to make you and the other people in your pictures look more beautiful or uglier. There are apps to let you identify songs you hear playing on the… Read More »
Yes, You Can Get Your Alimony Obligations Reduced Retroactively
In an era when most Americans, even the wealthiest ones, are in debt, one of the few things more depressing than thinking about your credit card debt is thinking about your alimony obligations. While it is possible to negotiate with many creditors, spousal support obligations are much harder to get out of. The court… Read More »
The Debate Over Permanent Alimony In Florida
Yes, Florida still has permanent alimony as of 2019. Yes, bills appear in Florida’s legislature at least once per year as lawmakers attempt to change alimony laws. Alimony, especially alimony that theoretically continues for the rest of a person’s life, is a sore subject among divorced and unhappily married people. Despite the attention it… Read More »
Don’t Lose Your Pet In A Divorce: Get a Prenup
You might have heard that the term “equitable” in “equitable distribution” means “fair,” but that does not make it hurt any less when the court orders you to sell off property that you had hoped to keep after your divorce, or, worse, to award an asset to your ex when you know in your… Read More »
What If I Need to Relocate With My Kids During My Divorce?
One of the most difficult issues that Orlando divorce lawyers and judges have to grapple with is whenever one of the parties to the divorce action needs to relocate a long distance away and desires to take the children with them. This is because it is impossible for a divorce judge to award equal… Read More »
How To Modify Alimony After A Divorce
One very common issue in divorce cases in Orlando Florida is where one of the parties seeks alimony payments from the other. What most people do not understand is that in most cases alimony is subject to modification down the road after the divorce is finalized. For that reason, it is very important to… Read More »
What Does It Mean That Florida Is A No-Fault Divorce State?
One common question that divorce attorneys in Orlando Florida receive from their clients is regarding the difference between no-fault and fault divorce States and which one of these Florida is. Florida is a no-fault divorce state which is commonly known among attorneys, however, the actual definition of this can be quite complex to explain…. Read More »
What Is A Petition For Divorce And What Does My Attorney Need To Include In It?
The first and most important foundational step in any dissolution of marriage is to map out and prepare the petition for dissolution of marriage. The petition for divorce is the main legal document that someone uses to file for divorce. The petition will contain all of the items which that person is seeking in… Read More »
The All-Important Divorce Financial Affidavit
Anytime two people are going through a divorce in Orlando Florida one of the first documents that their Orlando divorce lawyer will ask them to complete will be a financial affidavit. A financial affidavit is the most basic and necessary piece of financial discovery that is exchanged in a divorce case and is mandatory… Read More »
Lump Sum Alimony Can Help Reduce Conflict During a Divorce
Unless you are trying to negotiate the terms of your divorce, it probably has never mattered to you that Florida has a whopping six types of alimony. If your divorce lawyer tells you that you will probably have to pay some type of alimony to your ex before or after your divorce is finalized,… Read More »
What is a Parenting Plan and Why do Family Lawyers Use Them?
Whenever an Orlando family law attorney is engaged in litigation that involves child custody issues, he or she will spend a great deal of time contemplating what terms are to be negotiated and placed into a parenting plan. A parenting plan is a written instruction manual that addresses nearly every aspect of the parenting… Read More »
Dividing a Marital Business in a Divorce
It is fairly common knowledge among divorce attorneys in Orlando Florida that any asset that is accumulated during a marriage is subject to equitable distribution if and when the parties decide to seek a divorce. What is not as easily understood is how to treat a business that was opened by one of the… Read More »
What is Shared Parental Responsibility in Family Law?
In Florida when a family law attorney is assisting his client in developing a parenting plan that will govern the time-sharing over the children involved in the case one of the main items that will need to be addressed as that of parental responsibility. Parental responsibility is a portion of Florida family law that… Read More »
The Benefits of Using Divorce Mediation
In the state of Florida, any time a divorce action has any issues that are contested the case must go to a mandatory settlement conference known as mediation. The mediation is an official court appointment where the lawyers and their clients sit down with the assistance of a Florida Supreme Court certified divorce mediator… Read More »
Florida Parenting Plans Help Unmarried Parents Stop Drama Before it Starts
The only thing worse than arguing with your spouse about when and where to spend time with your children or about decisions your spouse makes about the children’s behavior or expenditures is having these same arguments with your former spouse. People who have children together, even if they are no longer married to each… Read More »
Florida Family Mediation Enables Couples to Control the Outcome of Their Divorce
The divorce cases in the tabloids go to trial, but that does not mean that yours will. Likewise, the simple, painless divorce in which you and your spouse simply file forms, sign a court-issued divorce decree, and find yourselves single again is not an option for everyone. What do you do if your divorce… Read More »
Why You May Not Want to Keep The House In Your Divorce
In dissolution of marriage cases in Orlando Florida, one of the core legal issues that need to be addressed by the divorce attorneys is that of dividing the assets that were accumulated during the years of the marriage. The most common asset that needs to be divided in divorce cases is the marital home…. Read More »
What Is A Guardian Ad Litem and Why Would I Need One for My Family Law Case?
When a family law case involves child custody issues it is not uncommon for the case to consist of a great deal of “he said, she said”. This can make it very hard for Orlando, FL family lawyers and the Courts to determine whose version of the events is true especially when both mom… Read More »
Does Florida Law Consider Debts Marital Property?
As the cost of postsecondary education increases, and as more employers expect or require new employees to have a bachelor’s degree or another kind of education beyond high school, more Americans than ever before carrying student loan debt. In fact, it is not hard to find predictions that the “student loan bubble” could be… Read More »
Frequently Asked Questions About Parenting Plans in Florida
A lot of people who have recently gotten divorced put on a smile and talk about what a relief it is to be rid of an unwanted spouse. A recently divorced man’s friends may congratulate him on finally being free of the old ball and chain, while a recently divorced woman may excitedly tell… Read More »
Beyond DNA Tests: Establishing Paternity in Florida
Paternity Establishment For Unmarried Parents You might imagine that the stories Florida family lawyers hear about paternity cases resemble those paternity test-themed episodes that were so popular on daytime television talk shows in the 90s when DNA paternity testing first became widespread. However, there is much more to paternity law than what you see… Read More »
Prenuptial Agreements: Myths and Facts
Magazines about weddings often contain articles about potentially contentious issues that couples should discuss early in their marriage, or even before taking their marriage vows. Almost everyone, from magazine editors in the wedding industry to your long-married elderly aunt can agree that you can avoid many conflicts if you and your spouse can agree… Read More »
What is permanent alimony and when is it appropriate?
In the state of Florida when two people are getting divorced and they have been married for longer than 14 years there is a presumption in favor of permanent alimony. Whenever a claim for permanent alimony is sought by a spouse and their divorce attorney the level of conflict in the case usually escalates… Read More »
Financial Discovery in Divorce Litigation
In every divorce case that moves through the court system, the parties to the divorce must submit certain minimum mandatory financial discovery documentation either to the court or to the opposing party or their divorce attorney. The purpose of this exchange of discovery is to ensure that everybody is being honest about their income,… Read More »
What Is an Uncontested Divorce?
We have all heard the stories of the divorce that lasted for multiple years, costs thousands and thousands of dollars, and destroyed the lives of the parties in the case. But, is that the story of every divorce? The answer is no, in fact, many divorces are accomplished every day in a peaceful and… Read More »
The Six Types of Alimony in Florida
In the early days of Facebook, users could choose the “it’s complicated” relationship status when they were in the process of a breakup or had separated from their partner but their lives were still somehow entwined. “Complicated” definitely describes the transition from being a married couple to being a single person, especially when it… Read More »
The Allegations in the Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings and How Divorce Attorneys See Them Every Day On the Job
The Similarities Between the Kavanaugh Confirmation Process and What Divorce Attorneys and Judges Do is Striking Recently, all the news channels and headlines in the United States have been filled with status updates and debates about the confirmation process for Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States. As I listened to… Read More »
How Will Our Home Be Divided In A Divorce
One issue that divorce attorneys deal with in nearly every divorce case is figuring out the best way to address the division of the marital home. The fact is that addressing a home in a divorce can be very simple if both of the parties in the divorce agree on what should happen. However,… Read More »
Modification Of Custody After Divorce
How Do I Request A Modification Of Custody From My Divorce After the final judgment is entered in your divorce case and everybody is settled into a routine with a parenting plan many people think that they will never need to deal with the courts again. Unfortunately, it is very common for parents to… Read More »
Welcome To The Newest Addition To The Smallwood Family Law Team
The Smallwood Family Law Team Welcomes Its Newest Addition On July 11, 2017 at 3:19 a.m. we welcomed our newest future Smallwood, P.A. team member Ava Raelyn Penelope Smallwood. She was born at Winter Park Memorial Hospital and, at one day old, her hobbies include sleeping, burping, and snuggling with mom and dad. We would… Read More »