Family Law Explained
What Our Clients Say
Client Resources
Choose Your Fate: Seven Courtless Divorce Options
Custody & Visitation
Alimony & Spousal Support
Popular Articles
My Career Change News—The Next Exciting Steps!
I have been practicing Family Law for over 42 years. After witnessing some particularly tragic experiences in family court, I began practicing Collaborative Law.
Attending Your Deposition
If you are scheduled to be deposed, whether in your own case or in someone else’s, it is important to know how to behave so that you are able to avoid costly mistakes.
Success Indicators
There are several commonalities that people who successfully negotiate a marital settlement agreement, i.e., one that both spouses can live with, share with each other.
LGBTQ Divorce
LGBTQ Divorce Lawyers in Tampa
The Florida family law courts and custody statutes define two separate but linked issues: parenting time (timesharing) and parental responsibility. Timesharing is the time that you are with your child(ren). This used to be considered custody and visitation. Parental responsibility defines who makes the decisions about your child(ren). In most situations, it is shared. However, in some cases, one parent has the final decision for all decision or for certain decisions. Families enter into parenting plans with specific timesharing schedules. Many judges no longer allow vague schedules because of the post-judgment issues they can create. Instead, timesharing schedules should be specific and include details about holidays and school breaks. Parenting plans also address many common issues, such as child support and parental responsibility.
LGBT Family Law Solutions
Not only can Open Palm Law assist in same-sex divorces, but also in helping same-sex couples to create their families through adoption and surrogacy. Let us help your family.
FAQs for LGBTQ Divorce
Yes. When same-sex marriage became legal in Florida, so did the right to divorce your same-sex partner.
Certain laws that protect married people can be negative to folks if they want a divorce and are not allowed to obtain one. For example, in Florida, a person cannot completely disinherit their spouse or remove him/her as beneficiary of tax-free retirement accounts. Further, the IRS does not allow married people to file as “single,” which sometimes carries a tax penalty.
Now that same-sex marriage is legal in Florida, it is easier to protect a parent’s rights in this situation. Florida allows married people to adopt their spouse’s children through a fairly simple and inexpensive process known as step-parent adoption.
