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Leavengood & Nash, P.A. is a law firm that understands how family law issues can take a toll, both financially and emotionally, on our clients. We care about our clients and their families and work hard to find the resolution that is best able to preserve working relationships between adults and provide for the well-being of your children. We help people with:
At Leavengood & Nash, we treat our clients with the respect and the dignity they deserve. Our goal is to provide our clients with unparalleled client services by thoroughly understanding our clients’ needs and providing compassionate, personalized accurate and affordable family law advice.
Furthermore, Leavengood & Nash is in a unique position to counsel clients on their finances given our decades of experience assisting people out of their financial difficulties, many of which arise from the increased expense that a divorce creates.yh As a result, the firm’s comprehensive knowledge of divorce and bankruptcy law and the inter-relationship of the two, uniquely qualifies Leavengood & Nash to comprehensively help our clients solve their family and financial problems -- one law firm to plan for and help solve all of your problems.
If you are in need of assistance, please contact the firm that has been trusted in the Tampa Bay area for three generations. We will be happy to assist you with your family law issue.
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DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
Florida couples may be eligible to dissolve their marriage by way of a simplified procedure. These dissolutions are "do-it-yourself" and were designed so the services of an attorney may not be necessary. Even if it is “simple” however, competent legal representation may be inexpensively acquired to guide you through this process and insure that no fatal errors are made.
The simplified dissolution of marriage process is designed for couples who do not have dependent children and have agreed on a division of their property and debts. Therefore, not everyone can qualify. A husband and wife can use the simplified dissolution of marriage only if:
- they both agree to the use of this form of dissolution proceeding;
- they have no minor (under 18) or dependent children;
- they have no adopted children under the age of 18;
- the wife is not pregnant;
- at least one of the parties has lived in Florida for the past six months;
- the parties have agreed on the division of all of their property and obligations; and
- the parties agree that the marriage is irretrievably broken and want to end their marriage.
If couples do not meet the above requirements, they must use the regular dissolution of marriage process. If your marriage is contested, it is important to discuss your case, facts and circumstances with an attorney qualified to assist you with these matters. Please contact a Leavengood & Nash professional today to assist you with these matters.
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
You may go to court yourself for an injunction to protect yourself against assault, battery or sexual battery by your spouse (whether you are separated or not) or your former spouse. If you feel you are the victim of such domestic violence, you should contact the office of the clerk of the circuit court in your county for information and assistance.
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EQUITIBLE DIVISION OF MARITAL PROPERTY
Marital property may include cars, houses, business interests, retirement benefits & pensions, cash, stocks, bonds, bank accounts, personal property and other things of value that were acquired or built, generally speaking, during the marriage.
Florida statutes and case law provides for an "equitable distribution" of such marital property. In essence, the marital property should be divided fairly or equitably (not necessarily equally) between the parties regardless of how the title is held. The division is based upon all facts of the case and the contribution of both spouses to the marriage and is considered in conjunction with all other awards, such as alimony and interests in non-marital property.
There is no set or established way to determine how the court should divide the property. Factors that are considered include:
- debts as well as assets;
- the nature and extent of the property;
- whether the property is marital or non-marital property;
- the duration of the marriage; and
- the economic circumstances of each spouse.
If you and your spouse can agree, and if your agreement is reasonable, it will likely be approved by the court. If you cannot agree, however, the court will divide the property after a trial.
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ALIMONY
The court may grant alimony to either the husband or the wife. There are generally speaking three different types of alimony: Rehabilitative alimony, Permanent alimony and lump-sum alimony. Rehabilitative alimony may be for a limited period of time to assist in redeveloping skills and financial independence. Permanent alimony continues until the receiving spouse's remarriage or the death of either party. Permanent alimony is typically only granted after longer marriages (i.e., ten years or longer). The court may grant some combination of the two. Lump-sum alimony is awarded where one party pays the other party a lump-sum payment of money or property.
In awarding alimony, the court also considers all relevant economic factors, such as:
- the parties' prior standard of living;
- length of the marriage;
- age, physical and emotional condition of both spouses;
- financial resources and income-producing capacity of the assets
- spouse’s receive;
- the time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to find appropriate employment;
- the services rendered in homemaking & child rearing, and
- education and career building of the other spouse.
The court may consider any other factor necessary to do equity and justice between the husband and wife. You have the right to find out about all your spouse's income and assets through the use of discovery procedures which your attorney will explain to you.
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TAXES AND DEBTS
There are very important tax considerations to be aware of in any divorce, including the dependency deduction for children, taxability and deductibility of child support and alimony in their various forms, and effects of property transfers. It is important to find out how these laws affect you before you get divorced. If these tax effects are not considered and weighed, it may be too late to correct mistakes after they have been made. Leavengood & Nash is a law firm that possesses both attorneys and certified public accountants that are well-versed and trained in taxes, providing you with a one-stop-professional-shop qualified to efficiently and effectively answer and assist you with all of your problems.
Any debts that the husband and wife may have should also be resolved at the time of the divorce. The question of who should pay mortgage payments, income tax liabilities, credit card debts, personal loans, car payments and other debts should not be overlooked. Lastly, it is critical that you consider the potential implications that an eventual bankruptcy may have upon agreements reached in a divorce. Again, Leavengood & Nash is uniquely qualified to identify, plan for, and answer these question in advance.
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CHILD CUSTODY AND VISITATION
It is the public policy of Florida to ensure each minor child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents after the parents have separated or divorced, and to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities of child rearing. The father is given the same consideration as the mother in determining custody regardless of their child's age, sex, or other factors.
In most cases, parental responsibility for a minor child will be shared by both parents so that each retains full parental rights and responsibilities with respect to their child. This requires both parents to confer so that major decisions affecting the welfare of the child will be determined jointly.
You and your spouse may agree, or the court may order, that one parent have the ultimate responsibility over specific aspects of the child's welfare, such as education, religion, removal from the area, and medical and dental needs. If the parents have a substantial conflict over any of these areas the court will decide for them. The court can order varying types of shared parenting arrangements depending on the evidence presented. The court may designate one parent's home as the primary residence and afford the other parent frequent and continuing contact, or, the court may order rotating custody where the time spent with each parent is equal.
In rare cases, the court can order total parental responsibility and custody to one parent. To do so, the court must determine that shared parental responsibility would be detrimental to the child.
In considering issues between parents and their children, the best interest of the child is the primary consideration by the courts. Florida law requires both parties to attend a parenting course prior to entering a final divorce. Consult your county clerk's office for information on courses offered.
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CHILD SUPPORT
You and your spouse each have a responsibility to support your children in accordance with their needs and your financial abilities. Support may be by direct payment or by indirect benefits, such as mortgage payments, insurance, or medical and dental expenses. Ordinarily, the obligation to support your child ends when that child reaches 18, marries, or becomes financially independent.
Some of the issues concerning child support which must be considered include: (a) the amount of support; (b) the method of payment; (c) ways to assure payments are made; (d) when child support may be increased or decreased; and (e) who claims the dependency deduction for tax purposes. Other questions may need to be answered, depending on the circumstances of your case. Guidelines for support which apply to all cases generally are based on the income of the parents and the number of children with adjustments for substantial overnight contact.
If you have a problem getting support payments from your spouse or former spouse, or visitation and access to your child is denied, you should bring this matter to the attention of the court. It is not proper to withhold visitation or child support payments because of any alleged wrongdoing by your spouse or former spouse.
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