You Should Talk

Divorce hurts you badly mentally and physically. You will find it extremely difficult to part with somebody whom you held dear and also believed that he/ she will live with you irrespective of the condition you are in. Added to this, finding a loyal reliable divorce lawyer who keeps your interests in mind has become very difficult.

Unlike a plumber you can find through the yellow pages or online, a divorce lawyer will become privy to your confidential and often emotional information. His or her work will not just decide how the water flows from your leaky faucet, but how you will spend the rest o your life. This will decide the fate of your children/ home/ other assets etc.

Therefore, if it takes a little time to find the best divorce lawyer for your particular case, let it. You should not select the divorce lawyer from the phonebook without proper verification.

Getting referrals from people known to you is one of the best methods of finding a divorce attorney; the referrers would partially assure for the credibility of the lawyer they recommend. They may have used the same divorce lawyer or may know them personally. This is much better than randomly letting your finger land on any old name in the yellow page.

If you do need to resort to looking online or in a phone book, narrow down some divorce lawyer that your find that offer a free initial consult.

Are you looking for a divorce lawyer who speaks your mother tongue or are you in need of a lawyer who lives closer to your place of residence or office? You should consider this aspect carefully because a divorce case prolongs for a long time that too if your case is not aboveboard. Under such circumstances you must locate a lawyer who speaks your mother tongue and also who is accessible in terms of distances and timings suited to you. Ask the attorney if he or he is accessible via email and if they have any references you can call to see how they represented other couples.

Nowadays most of the well known law firms have an attractive website. You should go through the websites to find out whether what they have given in the website is appealing to you. 3) Are your views matching their ideologies? Do they have a philosophy that suits yours? Are they members of associations you trust such as a church group or an ethnic league?

Knowing only the divorce law does not qualify a divorce attorney to represent your case. He must show compassion and sensitivity to your requirements. You must remember that it not only warrants degrees and accreditations but also requires human considerationHence it is essential that you have a direct discussion with the concerned lawyer.

An unfortunate aspect of the family law system in Florida is parents are sometimes unlawfully threatened with jail time for failure to pay child support when they actually can’t afford to pay.  While some parents simply refuse to honor their child support obligations, others would like to pay but can’t afford to.  They may have lost a job.  They may have other children with special needs that affects their ability to pay.  They may have medical or other problems that hamper their financial circumstances.  Often they lack the ability to hire an attorney, and free legal services, such as Legal Aid, refuse to help them.  Fortunately, Florida’s appellate courts offer some relief to the parent who legitimately cannot afford to pay his or her child support. As an expert in labor & employment litigation, Attorney Peter Mavrick has significant experience in cases such as this.

The Florida Department of Revenue generally files civil contempt proceedings against non-paying or financially delinquent parents.  The objective of the Department of Revenue is to force the non-paying parent to make a payment.  However, as explained by a recent Fourth District Court of Appeal case, Larsen v. Larsen, 949 So.2d 278 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007), and its predecessor Larsen v. Larsen, 901 So.2d 327 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005), civil contempt is not applicable against a parent who lacks the ability to pay a “purge” amount.  A purge amount means a figure a court says will be needed to avoid a penalty, such as incarceration.  The important question is, does the financially delinquent parent have the ability to pay the court ordered purge?  If the evidence, not hunch or guess-work, shows that he or she cannot pay the purge, then there can be no civil contempt or penalty against that delinquent parent.

Get more information from Attorney Peter Mavrick.

In the 2007 Larsen decision, the appellate court reversed a trial judge who held a father in civil contempt for failing to pay his full child support, which had been previously calculated before his financial circumstances had changed.  The father tendered evidence that he lacked the income to pay child support, because he had to pay rent of $560/month, $200/month to the Internal Revenue Service, and paid his ex-wife $500/month; the ex-husband stipulated his monthly income was $1,700.  In other words, the ex-husband had only $440/month to somehow make ends meet, such as buying food to eat, paying for any needed transportation to and from work, and paying for other necessities such as medical care.  The former wife “admitted she did not know the former husband’s salary or if he had the ability to satisfy his financial obligations.”  The appellate court concluded that there was “no substantial, competent evidence to support the trial court’s finding that the former husband had the ability to pay the full amount of the previously ordered support and willfully refused to pay the same.”  The appellate court concluded that the trial court was not justified in holding the father in contempt and couldn’t require him to pay additional funds to the ex-wife; the appellate court reversed the trial court’s decision.

The Larsen case illustrates the general principle that child support obligations must be reasonable and cannot be used as a weapon to force payment a parent does not have.  As economic situations get worse, this case will become an important defense for parents whose finances do not legitimately allow them to meet their previously calculated child support obligations.

Attorney Peter Mavrick practices in the field of business and labor/employment litigation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  The research in this article comes from a pro bono case in which Mr. Mavrick represented an individual in need.  Information contained in this article is accurate as of December 2008.  This article is for general information use only, and does not substitute for specifically tailored legal advice.