Orlando Family Lawyer > Orlando Uncontested Divorce

Experienced Affordable Family Lawyers Near You in Orlando

Name: Sean Smallwood, P.A.
Price range: $$

Family law describes the area of law that encompasses divorce, paternity, child custody, child support, and other similar types of domestic cases throughout Central Florida and Orange County. Sean Smallwood, Orlando Divorce Lawyer & Family Law Attorney P.A., represents individuals and families throughout Orlando who need skilled legal guidance in these sensitive and often complex matters. Sean Smallwood is an Orlando divorce and family law attorney near you who can assist with all areas of Florida family law and offers free consultation to discuss your case.

Because family law litigation can be extremely stressful on litigants, our local firm works hard to reduce the conflict in the case by utilizing all tools at our disposal to negotiate fair and equitable settlements for our clients. We often mediate complex disputes and advise clients through emotionally charged situations such as legal separation, adoption, and alimony discussions. Our strategic approach helps clients navigate the divorce process efficiently while protecting their rights and achieving favorable outcomes.

Our attorneys are committed to handling each case with compassionate, ethical, and professional care. We work closely with clients to protect their parental rights and draft personalized legal agreements that reflect their best interests. Our qualified and trustworthy team is knowledgeable in all aspects of marriage law and certified to practice in Florida family courts. We provide responsive service with direct attorney access, ensuring you receive personalized attention throughout your case. Our proven track record includes successful representation in uncontested divorce, contested divorce, and collaborative divorce matters.

If you need an attorney in Orlando, our family lawyers represent clients in the following areas: custody, support, paternity, and adoption. We are dedicated to offering thorough, reliable, and supportive legal services and will litigate when necessary to ensure fair outcomes. Our firm is also experienced in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and negotiation. We advocate for your best interests, defend against false allegations, and fight to secure favorable custody arrangements. Our attorneys also handle modification of existing orders, enforcement actions, and contempt proceedings when necessary.

If you need an attorney in Orlando our family lawyers to represent clients in the following areas:

Orlando Family Law Attorney for Complex Issues

We are often tasked with many highly complicated legal issues to tackle in a dissolution of marriage litigation. The list of these legal issues is extensive, and if any of the following applies to your case, then you need an experienced family law attorney on your side. Our attorneys have trial experience and appellate experience to handle even the most complex cases, including high net worth divorce matters involving business ownership disputes, hidden asset discovery, and pension valuation. We coordinate with forensic accounting partners and business valuation networks to ensure accurate asset assessment.

Recent Divorce and Custody Cases in Orlando: High-Conflict Families

Real Cases from the Front Lines of Divorce and Custody Battles in Orlando

Family law cases can often be highly emotional, especially when children or high-stakes assets are involved. Below are some of the most impactful divorce and custody cases I’ve handled recently.

Recent Case: Divorce and Custody in a High-Conflict Family

In one of my most challenging cases, I represented a father in a divorce where the mother continuously filed emergency motions claiming that the father had abused the children. The case had escalated over several months, and each time the children returned from visiting their father, the mother would claim bruises or injuries, demanding emergency action.

What made this case even more complicated was the mother’s history of making unfounded abuse allegations, which ultimately caused harm to the children. The ongoing stress led to the children being subjected to multiple DCF and law enforcement investigations. Ultimately, the court took a bold step: removing the children from the mother’s custody and placing them with their father. The case began with the father facing allegations of abuse, but it ended with him gaining full custody due to the mother’s pattern of false accusations. This case demonstrates our effective defense against false allegations and our commitment to protecting children’s wellbeing through strategic DCF case defense.

Family Attorney Near You

Family law covers a wide range of domestic cases, from divorce and paternity to child custody and child support. If you’re in need of an Orlando family law attorney near you, Sean Smallwood is experienced in all areas of family law and can provide you with the assistance you need. We understand that family law litigation can be very stressful for those involved. That’s why our firm does everything we can to reduce the conflict by negotiating fair settlements for our clients. We believe this is the best way to resolve these types of cases and help our clients move on with their lives.

We offer convenient payment plans to make quality legal representation affordable. Contact us today to schedule a confidential consultation and learn how long your divorce may take and what to expect throughout the process.

Child Custody Lawyer Near You

Any divorce in Florida involving children under the age of 18 will need to have a determination made by the divorce court regarding child custody. This will include a review of the statutory factors for a child’s best interests and a comparison of the facts of your case to see which parent has acted in the children’s best interests. Part of this process includes establishing parental rights and creating a parenting plan that addresses parental responsibility, shared parenting arrangements, and timesharing schedules. We help clients secure joint custody or sole custody arrangements depending on the circumstances, and advocate for primary residential parent status when appropriate.

Our Orlando paternity lawyers and our parenting plan attorneys are intimately familiar with Florida’s parenting plan requirements. If you’re facing child custody issues it’s essential to seek guidance from a child custody lawyer in Orlando who can protect your rights and advocate for the best interests of your children. These cases can get complicated which is why we suggest hiring a family law attorney to represent you in family court Orlando for child custody cases. We also handle overnight visitation arrangements, supervised visitation coordination, and work with guardian ad litem and parenting coordinator appointments when necessary.

If you need help with custody, co-parenting agreements, or a divorce attorney near College Park, divorce attorney near Apopka, or other Orlando suburbs including Winter Park, Maitland, Altamonte Springs, Lake Mary, and Kissimmee, give Sean a call today.

Emergency Custody – Family Lawyers Near You

There are often emergency custody situations in the divorce case that require the judge to step in and make immediate temporary orders on time-sharing issues. This will only happen in situations where the children’s emotional or physical safety is in jeopardy. Our family law and divorce attorneys near you in Orlando, FL understand how an emergency motion must be crafted in order to receive the best opportunity to be addressed by the court. We provide aggressive representation when child safety is at risk and can quickly file for domestic violence protection through restraining order proceedings when necessary.

Child Support Lawyer Near You

Once child custody is addressed, and the parties to the action have exchanged their financial discovery, the divorce lawyers will run child support guideline calculations to determine how much financial support the child is entitled to receive. These days the majority of child support payments are made via income withholding orders which deduct the support payments from the obligor’s paycheck.

Our attorneys handle deviation from guidelines when appropriate, address childcare expenses and extracurricular activities costs, and assist with arrears collection and wage garnishment setup when payments are not made. We also handle imputed income calculations for unemployed or underemployed parents and address college expenses when applicable. Call today if you’re looking for a men’s child support lawyers. We specialize in all types of cases.

Dividing the Marital Home

When the parties to the divorce own a home, then your divorce lawyers in Orlando, FL will need to address who will have exclusive use and possession of the home, who will pay the mortgage, whether the home will be sold via a petition for partition, and how the equity in the home will be divided. We help clients navigate these complex decisions and understand the tax implications of keeping or selling the marital home.

Division of Assets

Any asset that was obtained during the marriage will likely need to go through a property division lawyer as they are subject to equitable distribution via the division of assets. This means that each party to the case is entitled to half of the value of the asset. This division will apply to anything of value including cars, collectibles, gun collections, retirement accounts, military pensions, businesses opened, and the list goes on.

We distinguish between marital vs non-marital property, address commingled assets and separate property claims, and prepare QDRO documents for 401k division and retirement division. Our military divorce specialist experience includes proper handling of military benefits division. Very often it becomes necessary to enlist the help of a business valuation expert, forensic accountant, or other types of professional appraisers in order to accomplish this in a fair and equitable way.

Division of Debt

When it comes to the division of debt, just like assets are subject to equitable division in the divorce, all debts are also subject to be divided. It is very common for one spouse to request more of the assets and less of the debt, however, the courts will generally attribute half of the debt to each party in the divorce unless there is a substantial disparity in the incomes of the parties that would lead the court to do otherwise.

Divisible liabilities include any kind of debt such as credit card debt, auto loans, IRS debt, student loan debt, personal loans, second mortgages, and many others. We help clients understand the tax implications of debt division and dependency exemption allocation. It is always a good idea for anyone going through a divorce to request a copy of their credit report in order to ensure that there is no marital debt that they are not aware of before entering into a settlement or going to court for trial.

Divorce Discovery

In Orlando, Florida, and throughout the entire state, anyone going through a contested divorce will need to comply with rule 12.285 which governs mandatory financial disclosure for dissolution of marriage actions in the state of Florida. This basically means that within 45 days of the summons being served on the respondent both parties will need to file and serve a fully executed financial affidavit, three years of tax returns, three months of bank statements for personal accounts, 12 months of savings account statements, three months of pay stubs, a copy of any deeds to real estate owned for the last three years, a copy of a residential lease if you are renting, the most recent statement from your retirement account, and health insurance card copies.

It is very common for additional discovery demands to be filed that would require each party to turn over even more information than this. The most common additional discovery demands include a request for the production of documents and Florida standard interrogatories. Our attorneys effectively discover hidden assets through strategic subpoenas and depositions, ensuring complete financial transparency.

Spousal Support

Alimony (or spousal support) in Orlando, Florida was created as a tool to ensure equity in each party’s ability to leave the marriage and support themselves based on the standard of living that was established during the marriage. The courts will generally examine the length of the marriage and the financial positions of each party. The analysis for the length of the marriage is broken up into three parts short, moderate, and long-term. The standard for financial ability is summed up by saying that the requesting spouse needs to demonstrate that they have a need for alimony and that the other spouse has the ability to pay.

Florida law recognizes several types of alimony including rehabilitative alimony to help a spouse gain education or training, bridge-the-gap alimony for short-term transition needs, and durational alimony for marriages of moderate length. Courts also consider cohabitation with a new partner when evaluating ongoing alimony obligations.

Alimony cases require a great deal of strategy and can be extremely complex when it comes to supportive relationships, in-kind income, and using equitable division strategies to increase or minimize one’s need. If you’re navigating complex alimony and custody matters, consult an alimony and custody lawyer in Orlando who can provide you with guidance and representation tailored to your unique situation. Be sure to also read up on the 5 things to know when determining spousal support and use our Florida alimony calculator to give you an idea of what your alimony obligations can be.

In recent news, as of July 2, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Alimony Reform Measure into law which has significant differences as it pertains to alimony payments. If you have questions and need to understand the differences in permanent vs. temporary alimony contact our spousal support attorneys near you today for a confidential case evaluation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Family Law

What Do I Do If I Have Been Served Family Law Or Divorce Papers?

If you have been served with legal papers then you only have twenty calendar days to file a written response with the Court You should call an Orlando family law firm near you during this time. If you do not file your written response in time then the other side can obtain a default against you and may be able to get what they are asking for without input from you in the case. You should always make it your top priority to deal with finding the right opposite sex or lgbtq family law attorney when you are served since it is not always possible to go back and address the case once a default judgment has been entered against you.

Contact us immediately for a consultation to discuss your response options and understand what to expect in your case. Learn more about the Divorce Process in Florida.

The Other Party Is Self-Employed And Is Hiding Income. How Can I Prove Their Income?

This is a very common and very complex issue that family law attorneys deal with. The reality is that the IRS permits self-employed individuals to write off income that the family courts will want to count as income for child support calculation purposes. Most small business owners are under the mistaken belief that because their tax return shows a low income that this is an accurate representation of their income.

An experienced family attorney will submit additional discovery requests for corporate tax returns, bank statements, subpoenas for corporate records, and depositions.

We work with forensic accounting partners to analyze business finances and discover hidden income through comprehensive financial investigation. Our attorneys are skilled at imputed income calculations to ensure fair child support determinations.

Unfortunately, you can never assume that the judge will “do what is right” as they are limited in their authority to items that are proven with adequate evidence.

What If I Cannot Afford To Hire An Attorney For My Family Law Case?

If you are having a hard time coming up with the funds to hire a family lawyer then there are certain community legal organizations that offer free and reduced-price representation by lawyers for certain family law issues. These programs usually have strict income requirements meaning that if you earn too much then you do not qualify for their services.

Our firm offers affordable rates with payment plans available and flexible flat-fee pricing options for certain services. We also offer free consultation to discuss your case and provide transparent billing so you understand all costs upfront. Contact us to learn about our retainer options and hourly rate structure.

What If I Want To Settle The Case At Mediation?

Every contested family case will be required to go to a mediation which is a mandatory settlement conference. Though a large percentage of cases settle at mediation, this is entirely dependent on both parties being in agreement on the issue to be settled. If the parties to the case cannot get on the same page and agree then the case will need to be set for trial.

Our mediation certified attorneys help clients prepare for mediation by explaining what happens at mediation and developing effective negotiation strategies. We also offer arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution method and can assist with drafting marital settlement agreements that protect your interests. If settlement is not possible, our trial experience ensures strong courtroom representation.