Fort Myers Divorce Law Blog

3 mistakes to avoid when parenting through divorce

On behalf of Thompson Family Law, P.A. posted in blog on Friday, April 20, 2018.

If you are caught up in the divorce process in Florida and wondering when it will all end so you can move on with your life and raise your kids, it is very likely you may make mistakes if you rush. You are aware that you must give your partner her or his fair share of marital assets. However, you are not too happy that you must maintain contact with your ex for the sake of your kids.

Parenting is not always easy, especially when you must learn to co-parent with your ex-spouse. There are things you can do to minimize conflict and improve your parenting schedule and relationship. Here are a few considerations to keep in mind.

Cryptocurrencies are often uncovered by Florida divorce attorneys

On behalf of Thompson Family Law, P.A. posted in High Asset Divorce on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

When it comes to divorce, some husbands and wives will go to great lengths to hide their assets from their spouse in hopes of avoiding having to turn over their hard-earned assets. While it's illegal for someone to take and hide money or belongings when a divorce is imminent, many spouses do it anyways, hoping to never get caught.

Many attorneys have become skilled at uncovering hidden assets over the years. They often know many of the tricks of the trade when it comes to what's most likely to be hidden and where it's most apt to be found. As cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, have gained in popularity in recent years, it's required family law attorneys to take their cyber-sleuthing skills to a completely new level.

What does a judge consider when making an alimony award?

On behalf of Thompson Family Law, P.A. posted in Alimony on Friday, April 6, 2018.

Contrary to what many paying spouses may think, alimony is not intended to penalize the paying spouse for deciding to move forward in divorcing their husband or wife. It's instead intended to help equalize the playing field between one spouse and another, especially when there's a disparity in income between the two.

When deciding how much and for long spousal support payments will be ordered to be paid, a judge will consider a variety of factors including how long the marriage has lasted, the spouses' ages and both their mental and physical health.

Do imprisoned parents have any child custody rights?

On behalf of Thompson Family Law, P.A. posted in Child Custody on Friday, March 30, 2018.

While it may would seem logical that a parent who is incarcerated in either prison or jail would lose their parental rights while locked up, that's not necessarily the case.

A prisoner may lose many many different civil rights while serving time for a crime they've committed, but visitation and parental rights aren't included on the list. Many times it takes the custodial parent going to court and requesting that a judge legally terminates the incarcerated one's visitation or parental rights for them to no longer be entitled to see their child.

3 benefits of collaborative divorce in Fort Myers

On behalf of Thompson Family Law, P.A. posted in blog on Monday, March 26, 2018.

Although divorce is by its very nature an emotionally challenging time, not all divorces have to be full of conflict and drawn-out legal battles. There are alternative ways to approach divorce in Fort Myers, and a collaborative divorce is one of these ways.

There are several important benefits to seeking a collaborative divorce. If you are looking for a divorce that helps you find shared solutions with your spouse, the collaborative process is one that you should explore and learn more about. Here are three benefits to this process.

Resolving your divorce with mediation can be a win-win scenario

On behalf of Thompson Family Law, P.A. posted in Divorce Mediation on Friday, March 23, 2018.

When couples decide to pursue divorce mediation, they'll often tell you that they chose it because of they've anecdotally heard that it's less emotional trying on both them and their kids. While this is one of the advantages of pursing a mediated divorce, it's only one of many benefits.

One of the reasons we all hear that mediation makes a divorce less emotionally taxing is because mediators are trained to allow both sides to voice their points of view. It's then the mediator's responsibility to take what the spouses each say and come up with a solution that essentially serves as a compromise between the two.

Physical and legal custody: What's the difference?

On behalf of Thompson Family Law, P.A. posted in Child Custody on Friday, March 16, 2018.

If you've recently separated from an ex that you share a child with, then you're likely only now beginning to understand all the different legal jargon used to define a parent's custodial rights.

While you've likely heard the terminology legal and physical custody thrown about before, what you may not know is that there are many different subcategories to each of these types of arrangements. Whichever role you're asked to assume can greatly impact what decisions you're allowed to make in your child's life.

Protecting your credit during a divorce can prove to be difficult

On behalf of Thompson Family Law, P.A. posted in Property Division on Friday, March 9, 2018.

When couples decide to divorce, they often think about how they're to divide up tangible assets. They, however, rarely think about what's going to become of their personal or shared debt. This is one of those things, though, that couples must discuss when it comes to property division.

Having your divorce attorney help you broker an agreement with your ex as to who is going to continue paying on one bill or the other is important. If you don't make such decisions and put them in writing, then your ex failing to pay a bill that's owed or not doing so in a timely fashion could impact both your and your ex's credit for an extended period of time.

What types of assets are divided up upon divorce?

On behalf of Thompson Family Law, P.A. posted in High Asset Divorce on Friday, March 2, 2018.

When couples have been married for some time, remembering which spouse brought certain possessions into the marriage may be difficult to do. Determining which spouse's salary went toward buying one item versus another may also be difficult to do.

While having to make sense of all this while you're married is likely unimportant, if you're headed for divorce, it can make things complicated. In an equitable distribution state like Florida, a judge will hear arguments from both spouses as far as claims to property and contributions to household income are concerned. They will then utilize a formula approved by the state to distribute the marital property.

Why new alimony tax laws may lead many to speed up their divorces

On behalf of Thompson Family Law, P.A. posted in Alimony on Friday, February 23, 2018.

During the past 75 years, each state has been responsible for setting their own rules for how decisions regarding alimony awards would be made. This has made it difficult for legal experts to give a single answer about how its tabulated.

What hasn't changed during this time, though, is how alimony has been dealt with by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Alimony payments have historically been tax deducible for the person paying it. The person receiving it has always had it taxed much like any other income. That's all about to change though.