Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Shifting the Focus to Fathers’ Parental Rights
Although many states across the country have laws that deal with co-parenting and time-sharing measures in the event of a divorce with kids, a number of fathers’ rights advocates believe that judges are not doing enough to ensure that fathers have an equal hand in day-to-day childrearing. Under Florida Statute Section 61.13, our state’s… Read More »
Learning More About Benefits for Divorced Spouses
If you get divorced in Florida, you are likely to have questions about how retirement benefits will work for your former spouse. Whether you are filing for divorce in your 30s or well into retirement, the issue of Social Security benefits after divorce should be an important topic. We can help you to understand… Read More »
Grandparent Visitation After a Divorce
When Florida couples with children file for divorce, custody and visitation issues typically will focus on the parents and time-sharing agreements. In many cases, however, grandparents feel that their visitation rights aren’t taken into account, particularly in situations where those grandparents have played a significant role in childrearing. According to a recent article in… Read More »
Common Mistakes for Divorcees in Retirement
When you combine the aging population of our state with the typical rate of filing for divorce, you’ll see why it’s important to think about divorce issues that retirees are likely to face. To be sure, data from the census suggests that Florida has the fifth-highest divorce rate in the country, with more than… Read More »
Dividing Military Benefits in a Divorce
Even in the most amicable and uncontested divorces in Florida, dealing with property division can be a frustrating and confusing process. How will your assets and debts be divided? And will you and your spouse be required to sell certain property you’ve acquired during the marriage? In Florida, it’s important to remember that a… Read More »
Dementia and Competency to Seek Divorce
If an older adult in Florida suffers from dementia, will a court consider him competent to file for divorce? That’s the question that a Palm Beach County circuit judge recently faced when 87-year-old Martin Zelman filed for divorce. Ultimately, Circuit Judge Charles Burton decided that Zelman “isn’t competent enough to seek a divorce” from… Read More »
Complicated Feelings and Military Divorce
Does filing for divorce still have the stigma it carried decades ago? While many Americans have come to view divorce as a situation for which we should express sympathy and kindness, some still feel there’s some dishonor in being a divorcee. In particular, according to a recent story in Stars and Stripes Magazine, stigma… Read More »
Florida Court Rules on HOA Documents
If you’re involved in a dispute with your homeowners’ association in Hollywood, Florida, you’ll want to know more about a recent decision from Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal. In Pudlit 2 Joint Venture LLP v. Westwood Gardens Homeowners Association Inc., the court held that the governing documents of a homeowners’ association, rather than… Read More »
Alimony Reform and Co-Parenting Issues
Did you know that Florida lawmakers have introduced a new issue into the bill aimed at alimony reform? And, according to a recent article in the Orlando Sentinel, many legislators aren’t happy about it. In short, Senator Tom Lee asked Senator Kelli Stargel, who sponsored the alimony reform measure, to include a provision about… Read More »
Same-Sex Divorce Upheld in Florida Appellate Court
Earlier this year, same-sex marriage became legal in Florida. While this change in the law suggested that same-sex divorce also could become a possibility in our state, no clear decisions had made same-sex divorce clearly permissible throughout Florida. However, a recent decision by Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal issued a decision “cementing the… Read More »
