The old way of thinking was that you wanted to “win custody”, and have the child all to yourself. However, to deprive a child of the involvement of the other parent is not usually in the best interests of the child. Florida law has moved in the directions of flexible parenting plans.

Child custody generally refers to the care, control, and maintenance of a minor. The old legal concepts of refer to custody, visitation, primary residential parent, and secondary residential parent.

It is also important to understand that the law has changed, and instead of am emphasis on custody, it’s all about developing a parenting plan where parents share the responsibilities of child rearing.

State Law

Another preliminary issue is determining which state has jurisdiction over your child custody proceeding. For some the answer will obviously be Florida, but here is a quick run down so you are at least starting out in the right state (always helpful).

It’s important to understand that all child custody proceedings in Florida are governed by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. Basically, this Act requires all child custody litigation take place in the courts of the child’s “home state,” which is defined as the state where the child has lived with a parent for six consecutive months prior to the commencement of the proceeding (or since birth for children younger than six months).

Concepts for Florida Child Custody Issues

It is very important to keep in mind that the overarching principle regarding every decision the court makes for a child is to act in “the best interest of the child.” This central dogma touches every aspect of child custody issues.

Florida law states that it is in the best interest of a child:

1. To ensure that each minor child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents; and
2. To encourage parents to share the rights, responsibilities, and joys of child rearing.

Steven W. Hair, focuses his practice as a divorce attorney, family law attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, and Safety Harbor.

For more information, visit our website at www.FamilyLawClearwater.com
or call (727) 726-0797.

It seems cold, callous and unthinkable. You either get a divorce, or you don’t. One would not want to be accused of planning a divorce. However, perhaps you should do just that, according to the Wall Street Journal, September 6th.

Divorce is a huge step and not one to be taken lightly due in part to its enormous emotional and financial ramifications. But as the economy continues to improve, more couples who have postponed their divorces are likely to pursue them.

National U.S. divorce statics are pretty lousy. There is no reliable central database and some states, most notably California, don’t even count the number of divorces annually.

That said, the reported number of divorces runs at about 40% of marriages. In 2011, for instance, there were 877,000 divorces and 2.1 million marriages, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Whether it’s the seven-year itch or you’re just plain unhappy and you feel it’s time to make a change, there a few things you need to consider before you file.

1. Know What You Own and Make Copies.

Gather as much information as possible, as early as possible, regarding your family’s finances, says Solon Vlasto, a financial planner in McLean, Va. “As a divorce progresses, documentation becomes more difficult to locate,” he says.

Begin by making a list of assets, debts and sources of income. Try to obtain at least three years of tax returns. Gather employee and retirement-benefit information and insurance documents. Make copies of everything.

Start tracking expenses, if you haven’t already. The more information you collect, the better. There will be a point in the divorce where you’ll have to review your cost of living, Mr. Vlasto says.

Create a record of all valuables such as jewelry, art and collectibles, says Nicole Feuer, a divorce mediator in Westport, Conn. “Take photos, as sometimes these items can ‘disappear’ in a divorce,” she says.

James Gambaccini, a financial planner in Fairfax, Va., says you should sign up for electronic statements for all of your individual accounts so that your spouse can no longer see these by opening the mail. Also, be sure to change your individual account passwords so that your spouse isn’t tempted to log in to your accounts, he says.

Don’t hide money, though, says Lili Vasileff, a collaborative-divorce practitioner in Greenwich, Conn. “It gives rise to dishonesty and fraud and it will be discovered in divorce,” she says.

If you have reasonable grounds for concern, seek legal advice for how to preserve your financial assets before filing for divorce, she says.

2. Save and Budget.

One of the most overlooked aspects of divorce is budgeting for it, says Ms. Vasileff.

“Decide how much you will budget and which accounts will be used to pay for your divorce expenses,” she says. Try to avoid tapping into the “wrong” accounts to pay for it. Taking money out of an individual retirement account, for example, may cost a penalty and taxes, she says.

You’ll need liquid funds for legal costs and possibly for a separate living arrangement, and money for daily expenses. You should have at least three months’ expenses plus several thousand more saved for your attorney’s retainer, she says.

“Keep this cash in separately titled checking accounts, money-market savings and short-term CDs rather than any long-term investments,” she says.

You’ll also need to create a budget to support your likely scaled-down lifestyle. Most people grossly underestimate how much they spend, says Molly Goetz, a financial adviser in Towson, Md.

After the divorce, you may end up with half of your previous assets but be spending the same amount as before, she says. “Start thinking about the life you want to lead post-divorce and determine what steps you might need to take to achieve that,” Ms. Goetz says.

3. Watch and Establish Credit.

Get an individual credit card if you don’t have one already, and consider freezing joint credit cards.

Obtain a credit report for yourself, says Anthony Ogorek, a financial planner in Williamsville, N.Y. A credit report will detail balances outstanding as well as open and closed lines of credit.

“This can be critical in the event a spouse tries to retaliate by running up credit balances,” he says.

It can also determine if your spouse has opened accounts you are unaware of, says Bonnie Sewell, a financial planner in Leesburg, Va. You can obtain a copy of your report free at AnnualCreditReport.com.

4. Watch the Timing.

Mr. Gambaccini suggests looking to file your divorce in a year when you’re earning less money—for example, when you get no bonus or there is a big decline in the value of your investments. While a court will typically look at income over many years, having a recent decrease in earnings may lower future payments, such as alimony, he says.

During the Great Recession, several of Mr. Gambaccini’s clients suffered income declines. “They saw this as a way to get out of a bad marriage at a discount,” he says.

5. Consider Selling the Family Home.

It can be a mistake to try to keep the marital home, says Mr. Vlasto. While there’s often a strong desire to keep it, especially when children are involved, a home is an expensive asset to maintain, he says.

Maintenance, taxes, homeowners-association fees and insurance all add up quickly.

“All expenses need to be considered,” he says.

Consider whether you’ll realistically be able to afford the home post-divorce, especially if your ex-spouse died, became disabled, lost a job or couldn’t make alimony payments.

6. Look into Alternatives.

Explore various options for divorce resolution, Mr. Vlasto says. “Litigation isn’t the only option,” he says. “It’s expensive and you have the least amount of control.”

Consider other methods of getting help during your divorce, such as mediation, arbitration and collaborative divorce, depending on your situation.

Steven W. Hair, focuses his practice as a divorce attorney, family law attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, and Safety Harbor. For more information, visit our website at www.FamilyLawClearwater.com

or call (727) 726-0797.

If you are contemplating divorce and are concerned about financial planning, you are probably wondering about what the Social Security consequences would be if they were divorced. Many questions need to be answered.

We got the following information from the Social Security Administration website:

• If you are age 62-plus, were married 10 years or more, and are currently unmarried (and you are not entitled to receive a higher benefit based on your own work), you can receive benefits based on your ex’s earnings, even if he or she remarried.
• If you both worked, the lower earner may receive benefits based on the higher earner’s work.
• If you never worked, you can collect benefits on your ex’s work, and your ex is still eligible to collect what he or she has earned over the years.
• If your ex hasn’t yet applied, but qualifies for benefits, you can still receive benefits if you have been divorced for two years.
• You can collect a divorced spouse’s benefits without reducing the amount of your ex’s benefit.
• The longer you wait to collect divorced spousal benefits, up to your full retirement age, the higher your benefit will be.

If you have questions about divorce, child custody or other family law matters, perhaps you should consult with Steven Hair. Steven W. Hair, focuses his practice as a divorce attorney, family law attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, and Safety Harbor. For more information, visit our website at www.FamilyLawClearwater.com

or call (727) 726-0797.

According to an article in the New York Times, the collection of child support from absent fathers is failing to help many of the poorest families, in part because the government uses fathers’ payments largely to recoup welfare costs rather than passing on the money to mothers and children.

Close to half the states pass along none of collected child support to families on welfare, while most others pay only $50 a month to a custodial parent, usually the mother, even though the father may be paying hundreds of dollars each month.

Critics say using child support to repay welfare costs harms children instead of helping them, contradicting the national goal of strengthening families, and is a flaw in the generally lauded national campaign to increase collections.

Karla Hart, a struggling mother of four here, held out her monthly statement from the county child-support office.

Paid by the father: $229.40.

Amount deducted to repay federal costs of welfare: $132.18.

Her share: $97.22. “That extra money was a bill I could pay,” said Ms. Hart, 56, who has lupus and other serious ailments but against her doctor’s advice has started working at a day care center, in a failing effort to achieve solvency.

Reflecting a growing, bipartisan sense that diverting child support money to government coffers is counterproductive, Congress, in the Deficit Reduction Act passed in early 2006, took a modest step toward change. Beginning in 2009, states will be permitted to pass along up to $100 for one child and $200 for two or more children, with the state and federal governments giving up a share of welfare repayments they have received in the past.

The Bush administration has set a goal of increasing the share of collections distributed to families and reducing the amount retained by the government. But the drive to reduce the budget deficit has gotten in the way. As part of last-minute budget crunching, the Republican-controlled Congress in that same act reduced by 20 percent the child-support enforcement money it gives to the states, starting this fall. Many states say the effort to force them to pay more of the enforcement costs will impede collections and prevent them from passing more money on to needy families.

“There was a real groundswell toward the idea of giving more of the money, or even all of it, to the families,” said Vicki Turetsky, an expert on child support at the Center for Law and Social Policy in Washington. But that momentum has been stopped short, she said, by the financing change.

Ms. Hart was luckier than most mothers in her position because for more than eight years, under a federally approved experiment, Wisconsin gave all money collected from noncustodial parents to the families. When the experiment ended last year, she lost most of the check.

“My daughter told me this morning that she needed $9 for something at school, and I was like, ‘But I have to pay the rent,’” Ms. Hart said. “I gave it to her, and now I have to find that money someplace else.”

Barry A. Miller, the chief of the North Carolina child support office, said North Carolina, like about half of all states, passed no support money on to families. “We were seriously considering a change, but it’s doubtful we could do that now,” said Mr. Miller, who is also the president of the National Council of Child Support Directors. In North Carolina and elsewhere, lost federal aid may instead force cuts in personnel and enforcement.

On Nov. 15, 24 governors from both parties sent a letter to Congress asking it to repeal the cuts, arguing that they would hurt one of the government’s most cost-effective programs, which raises more than $4 in child support for every $1 spent on enforcement.

The intensified national effort over the last decade to establish paternity for babies born out of wedlock and to collect more support money, mainly from fathers, is often described as a great success. And indeed, collections have increased significantly, to some $24 billion in 2006 from $12 billion in 1996, helping many families avoid penury.

But for the poorest men and women, the story is mixed. Young fathers with little education or job prospects find themselves in arrears and facing jail time or the loss of their driver’s licenses as a result, making it all the harder to start earning and paying, said David J. Pate Jr., an assistant professor of social work at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

One startling indicator of how pervasively the poor are affected is highlighted by Daniel L. Hatcher, a legal expert on welfare issues at the University of Baltimore School of Law, in a forthcoming law review article. Of the nation’s total uncollected child-support arrears of $105 billion in 2006, Professor Hatcher writes, fully half was owed to the federal and state governments to recover welfare costs, rather than to families.

If you are considering divorce, or have child support or child custody issues, perhaps you should meet with Steve Hair. Steven W. Hair, focuses his practice as a divorce attorney, family law attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, and Safety Harbor. For more information, visit our website at www.FamilyLawClearwater.com or call (727) 726-0797.

So you are thinking about getting a divorce. Obviously one of the first things you might be concerned with is how much your child support will be.

There are a number of factors to be considered in determining child support.

• Net Monthly Income of Non-Custodial Parent:
• Net Monthly Income of Custodial Parent:
• Number of children who are the subject of the pending action:
• Monthly Cost of daycare paid by Non-Custodial Parent:
• Monthly cost of daycare paid by Custodial Parent:
• Monthly cost of Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance paid by Non-Custodial Parent:
• Monthly cost of Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance paid by Custodial Parent:

There are websites out there with child support calculators that you give you a pretty good idea of what your amount will be. Google “Child Support Calculator Your State” to find one for your state.

Here in Florida, it is important to know that he Florida Child Support Enforcement Program Can Help You.

The Florida Child Support Enforcement Program is administered by the Florida Department of Revenue. They provide a number of services to families that need assistance with child support throughout Florida. There are only two counties in which an alternative organization handles child support services: Miami-Dade County (child support matters are handled by the State Attorney’s Office) and Manatee County (child support matters are handled by the Manatee County Clerk of Court).

Contact the Florida Child Support Enforcement Program for help with any of the following matters related to child support:

Determining Paternity
If you had a child out of wedlock and are not sure who the father is or need to establish legal paternity, the Florida Child Support Enforcement Program can help you. In Florida, there are five ways to establish paternity: marriage, acknowledgement of paternity, administrative order based on genetic testing, court order and legitimation. The Florida Child Support Enforcement Program can assist with all of these methods of determining paternity.

Establishing Child Support Orders
If you do not have a child support order in place, the Florida Child Support Enforcement Program can assist you with applying for court-ordered child support. You must have a child support order through the courts for child support payments to be a legal obligation. It is the goal of the Child Support Enforcement Program to get both parents to agree to the amount of child support based on state guidelines that are in place to help determine appropriate amounts of child support.

Enforcing Child Support Orders
The Florida Child Support Enforcement Program can help enforce child support orders by suspending the offender’s licenses (professional, driver, hunting, fishing, etc.), denying a passport, issuing an income deduction order, intercepting money (IRS tax refunds, lottery winnings, workers’ compensation benefits, unemployment benefits, insurance settlements, etc.), placing liens against property and freezing financial accounts. When all else fails, a negligent parent may be arrested.

Modifying Child Support Orders
Over time, financial and life circumstances change and child support orders need to be modified. Either parent may request a review of an existing support order. For a support order to change, either parent’s financial situation must have changed enough to create at least a 10 percent difference in monthly child support. Generally, a parent must wait at least three years to seek a child support modification.

If you are considering a divorce, perhaps you should consider calling Steven Hair. Steven W. Hair, focuses his practice as a divorce attorney, family law attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, and Safety Harbor.

For more information, visit our website at www.FamilyLawClearwater.com
or call (727) 726-0797.

A trip can help you develop a new attitude. Refer the Las Angeles Times.

PEOPLE sometimes take trips for deep reasons. They’re turning 50 and feel compelled to see Florence; they’ve just recovered from an illness and want to trek in the Himalayas; they’re divorcing and need to escape the anguish.

Psychologically motivated trips like these are, in a sense, gambles with life. The transition or crisis makes people more willing to free themselves from routine, feel in a heightened way or make life changes based on events on the road. They are my favorite kinds of trips.

I took one a decade ago, and it changed me. I was in the middle of an ugly divorce, and my life was changing, but into what, I did not know.

I couldn’t find the threshold and didn’t want to walk through the door. Then my parents offered to send me anywhere I wanted to go. I was jobless, childless, husbandless and couldn’t think of a reason to say no, so I took a divorce trip, the polar opposite of a honeymoon.

I’ve heard of women who have gone to swinging singles resorts in the Caribbean after a divorce. One, a beleaguered single mom, came home from such a place on Haiti, having danced every night until dawn with several men who seemed interested in her. She did not get involved but felt more attractive to the opposite sex afterward, no small gift.

“Travel can help you get away from the scene of pain,” says Harriet Lerner, a psychotherapist and author of “The Dance of Connection” (Quill, 2002). “This is especially important because it’s normal to have crashing self-esteem after a divorce.”

A friend of a friend went to a Caribbean island in the throes of divorce and slept with a Frenchman she met on the beach. On the plane home, she wondered what in the world she had been thinking, given the dangers of sexually transmitted disease.

Marilyn Mason, a Santa Fe, N.M., psychologist and author of “Seven Mountains: Life Lessons From a Climber’s Journal” (Penguin Putnam, 1997), says it’s dangerous for disenchanted lovers to travel because they might meet someone who looks better than the spouse back home, thereby precipitating divorce. West L.A. psychotherapist Marion Solomon, author of “Narcissism and Intimacy: Love and Marriage in an Age of Confusion” (W.W. Norton, 1989), says people who feel devastated by divorce should not travel to find someone new. “They have to be careful,” she says. “If they think whoever they meet is going to be a lifelong partner, they might be disappointed.”

Still, travel seems to me as good a prescription for divorce and other traumatic life passages as antidepressants. In the aftermath of a divorce — and before AIDS made people wary about sleeping with strangers — a friend who had just separated from her husband traveled from India to the Mediterranean, where she spent a week on the beach with a man she met on the tour. The two then went their separate ways without looking back.

Sex isn’t mandatory on a divorce trip; other things can be at least as fulfilling. Dunham Gooding, director of the American Alpine Institute in Bellingham, Wash., which sponsors two-week climbs of peaks in Asia, Alaska and South America, doesn’t know precisely what motivates participants.

But he says they are rewarded in ways that could benefit anyone going through the uncertainty and turmoil of an important life passage.

“Entering a landscape as challenging as the mountains is completely absorbing,” Gooding says. “People’s decisions matter and have immediately measurable results.” Moreover, there’s the “psychological refreshment of going into a grandly beautiful place,” as Gooding puts it.

Some of the same benefits accrue from travel of any kind. For me it was a simple trip to Europe, on my own for the first time.

If you are considering a divorce or have other family law problems, consider calling Steven Hair. Steven W. Hair, focuses his practice as a divorce attorney, family law attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, and Safety Harbor.

For more information, visit our website at www.FamilyLawClearwater.com
or call (727) 726-0797.

Refer Chicago Tribune

The Tribune’s story on proposed legislation that would require casinos to check on whether big winners owe past due child support (“As others head off deadbeats at casinos, Illinois stands pat” Oct. 04) did not accurately convey the position of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. The story stated that the department’s stance contributed to the proposal being “stopped cold.” In fact, the department agreed with the intent of the legislation but wanted to work with the sponsor to craft a bill that could be implemented efficiently and in compliance with the federal and state child-support laws that it operates under. These concerns were not an insurmountable obstacle to passage of the proposal.

The department has taken a number of steps in recent years to increase payment pressure on non-custodial parents who fail to meet their obligations. One of these measures, working with the Secretary of State’s Office to block driver’s license renewals for parents who owe past due support, has yielded more than $230 million in past due support alone. We have also worked with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to block the issuing of hunting and fishing licenses for those with past due support.

We have teamed up with the Illinois Lottery to seize winnings from those with past due obligations. We have also partnered with the Federal government to prevent new passports from being issued to those with past due child support.

These efforts to support children and families have been recognized at the national level: In 2010 the National Child Support Enforcement Association awarded Illinois Outstanding Program of the Year.

In order to implement a system to intercept winnings at casinos, and even race tracks, the department would have to work closely with the casino and race track industries to create a secure, accurate database that could be accessible to the appropriate personnel on a 24/7 basis. We would also need to design a mechanism to transmit the funds to the department so that they can be passed on promptly to the families to which they are due.

Such a system would require more work on the part of the department and the gambling industry, but it would be well worth it if it enables us to recover a greater percentage of the money that children and families are legally owed and depend on for their daily needs. We continue to support a legislative solution to this issue, and look forward to working with all stakeholders to assist children and families across Illinois.

Steven W. Hair, focuses his practice as a divorce attorney, family law attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, and Safety Harbor.

For more information, visit our website at www.FamilyLawClearwater.com
or call (727) 726-0797.

refer Chicago Tribune, June 5 2008

refer Chicago Tribune June 1, 2014

Illinois joins debate over child custody disputes

Chicago Tribune,  Lisa Black, Oct. 24, 2013

You would probably consider using a collection agency to collect a business debt. Why not consider using an outside agency to collect child support?

According to the Chicago Tribune, Lee Ann Verzi just started receiving child support from her ex-husband last year. Her daughter is 33 years old.

The St. Charles woman turned to a collection agency that specializes in obtaining child support after she learned there is no statute of limitations in Illinois. In return, the company, Support Collectors Inc., will keep 30 percent of the total her ex-husband pays.

If you are having problems with child support issues or any other family law situations, give Steven Hair a call.

Steven W. Hair, focuses his practice as a divorce attorney, family law attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, and Safety Harbor.

For more information, visit our website at www.FamilyLawClearwater.com
or call (727) 726-0797.