Family Law Firm in South Florida

What is Family Law?

Family law is an area of law that addresses legal issues pertaining to familial relationships. This practice includes creating family relationships, breaking them through a divorce, and the termination/adaptation of parental rights.

A family law firm in South Florida may address issues such as:

Adoption
Contested Custody of Children
Child Support Obligations

Family law often represents one of the most emotional areas in law because of this correlation with relationships and children. Family lawyers maintain involvement in notably personal aspects of their clients’ lives.

Divorce

Divorce represents the processes and procedures to break the bonds of matrimony. We can look at marriage as a contract. When the parties get married, they form a legal relationship in the eyes of the State of Florida. They may decide they no longer wish to remain in the relationship and must file court papers to ask the state for a divorce.

Florida is a no-fault divorce state. This means the only reason a party must provide for filing for divorce is that the marriage remains irretrievably broken. Parties must show that they cannot repair their relationship.

During Florida divorce proceedings, the court only divides marital assets and debts. The court will consider any assets or debts acquired during the marriage by either party as marital assets.

A divorce proceeding can serve as the most emotionally charged, devastating issue parties ever face in their lives, especially when children and families get involved. Our family law firm in South Florida understands these emotions with the experience and ability to represent our clients’ best interests in mediation and beyond.

Alimony and Spousal Support

Alimony is the financial support an ex-spouse provides to help maintain their former standard of living maintained during a marriage. Florida alimony types will vary in amount, form, and duration. When you seek alimony or do not pay alimony, our family law firm in South Florida De Socarraz & Jimenez can help you.

Florida alimony is a contentious, litigious aspect of a divorce. Unfortunately, the impact can impose a long-lasting impact on each party’s finances.

The courts determine alimony duration and amount on a case-by-case basis. A qualified attorney can save money in the long run, making the difference in if and how much alimony the courts award.

Child Custody

In a Florida divorce or child custody case, judges consider the family’s best interests when they decide on how to allocate timesharing amongst parents. According to Florida Statute 61.13, Florida custody law doesn’t impose any preference to mothers or fathers when ruling on custody matters. The arrangement depends on the facts and circumstances surrounding the case.

Florida child custody cases do not require an attorney. However, a family law firm in South Florida like ours from De Socarraz & Jimenez can help navigate the case through convoluted legal waters as it traverses through the court system.

When a case reaches litigation, judges decide on cases in the best interests of the children involved. The best course of action is enlisting a legal professional to satisfy all required procedures while presenting a compelling case to the judge.

Child Support

Any child has the right to support from both of their parents, married or divorced. The goal of child support is to provide children whose parents reside in separate households the same financial resources they might experience as if both parents remain under one roof.

The courts largely determine child support by a formula. Most will consider each parent’s income, allowable deductions for taxes and other common expenses, health insurance expenses, and whether or not they require childcare.

Our family law firm in South Florida works with our clients to ensure that calculated child support remains accurate. When a parent attempts to hide income or is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, family law attorneys can help clients display the totality of the circumstances to the court.

Family lawyers will also review calculations by the courts to ensure that they made no errors resulting in inaccurate child support awards.