Recent Updates
April 28, 2010
State Must Prove Defendant's Knowledge of Driver's License Suspension
April 13, 2010
Sentencing Commission Votes to Eliminate Recent Criminal History Points
October 15, 2009
Consent to search inside of vehicle does not extend to locked containers
October 14, 2009
Making phone calls to get drugs for personal use not a felony
October 07, 2009
Duval County schools agree to reduce number of students getting arrested
Family
12 days of Christmas According to a Divorce Attorney
December 15, 2008
On Christmas Eve of 2007, James J. Gross, of the Maryland Divorce Legal Crier, posted a funny blog which has been reproduced in various forms on blogs nationwide. It is called the "The Twelve Days of Christmas Divorce"
On the twelfth day of Christmas,My true love sent to me
Twelve demands for relief,
Eleven prayers for property,
Ten thousand for alimony,
Nine hundred for child support,
Eight pages of interrogatories,
Seven requests for documents,
Six requests for admissions,
Five thousand for attorneys,
Four requests to enjoin,
Three pre-trial motions,
Two process servers,
And a complaint for a final divorce!"
During these tough economic times, we know that many persons in Jacksonville and throughout Northeast Florida are having their longstanding fueds with spouses made worse because of money disputes. Problems with money and with children are consistently the two most popular reasons persons get divorced, followed closely by a spouse having an affair. Finacial hardships make it hard to have a divorce but the stress to the persons in the marriage may not be worth trying to save the money from getting a divorce as so as possible and starting your new life for your sake and often for the sake of your children.
While we hope the the economy is going to get better soon, many persons are being laid off and experts say that it will be 2010 or later before the economy improves.
If you find yourself debating about the affordibility of a divorce in these times, please feel free to call and discuss with us at (904) 731-3800.
Court Attempts to Make Husband Pay for Wife's "Future Law Suits"
December 10, 2008
Florida is an "equitable distribution state" which means that any marital assets or liabilities must be justly divided and assigned in a divorce proceeding. Courts often have to get creative in their distribution in order to make the process fair, and to reach a just resolution in the case. Recently, however, a court may have taken that process a little too far.
In Perkovich v. Humphrey-Perkovich, (33 Fla. L. Weekly D2717a) the parties were seeking a divorce but ran into a problem with assigning some future liabilities. The court found that the Wife, who was a doctor, had treated patients during the course of the marriage and noted that the "very nature of the Wife's profession creates exposure to lawsuits." The court held that any lawsuit for malpractice stemming from a patient that the Wife had treated before the parties separated was considered a marital liability. The trial court then ordered the Husband to pay a portion of all expenses related to any future malpractice lawsuits not covered by insurance.
On appeal, the District Court overturned the trial courts decision holding that "the trial court's conclusion is speculative, at best" and that it was "error to assign responsibility for potential future claims of this type to the Former Husband." The District court also noted that Section 61.075(5)(a), Florida Statutes, which defines "marital liabilities", only encompasses those liabilities that are actually "incurred" during the marriage. Since there was no actual liability present, only the possibility of a liability, the court reversed the trial court's decision.
To avoid the situation that happened in Pekrovich, we zealously advocate that the judge must follow the law and not just come up with whatever conclusion they want to reach. Martial property, which includes debts and assets, needs to be based on ample evidence and not pure speculation or possibilities. If you can't quantify it, then the court shouldn't be distributing it.
Husband Plants Drugs in Divorce Case
December 10, 2008
Just when you think you've seen it all... A Nassau County man was arrested for trying to frame his wife for armed drug possession. The couple had been going through a nasty divorce and the Husband, John Burkette, was looking for some leverage against his wife. Mr. Burkette conspired with two other individuals to plant a makeup bag filled with a drugs and a handgun in his wife's car. The group then used a confidential drug informant to phone in a tip to the police. Officers pulled over the wife's car and found the goodies, but suspected that the drug bust was a little too good to be true. After questioning the informant a little bit more, the plot was revealed and officers focused their sights on Mr. Burkette.
Aside from the obvious issues in this case, the story is illustrative of the frustration and anger that parties go through in a divorce proceeding. Divorces can be lengthy and taxing on the parties involved, and in some cases, the frustration can boil over and lead to extreme behavior. And by his actions, Mr. Burkette may have just set the new standard for "extreme".
Check out these articles to learn more about this story:
Nassau County Man Arrested - Article
Bad Housing Markets Impacts on Divorce
December 09, 2008
Recession...recession...recession. You can not watch the news or read a paper without hearing that word in every headline. With the failing economy and the out-of-control housing market, there are few areas of our lives that are not feeling the impact of this economic mess. Divorces are no exception. The financial woes of this country are steadily taking their toll on couples trying to separate from each other and are causing major problems.
For starters, divorces are taking substantially longer to complete because of the difficulty in selling the marital home. For most people the marital home is the biggest source of wealth and must be sold in order to reach a fair division of the parties' assets. This means that couples are locked into prolonged litigation while they wait for the market to come around, and are often forced to watch their one true asset decrease in value right before their eyes.
Additionally, the financial crunch is making it next to impossible for couples to live separately while the divorce works its way through. This means that couples are forced to live with each other and the unhappy cohabitation leads to more fights, more litigation, more legal fees, and in some cases, moredomestic violence. The bottom line is that the housing market, and the downward-spiraling economy are decreasing the value of homes and increasing the legal expense to couples in the divorce process. A truly deadly combination for some.
Check out this article in Miami Today News for more details: MiamiTodayNewsArticle
