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Divorce in Florida

The Law Office of Deborah S. Korleski

Representing clients in Orange, Seminole and Osceola Counties.

Divorce in Florida

The information I am providing you here should be considered to be very general in nature. I will discuss issues related to equitable distribution of marital property, alimony, child support, parental responsibility and attorney’s fees. Depending on your situation, the issues I discuss may or may not apply to you. Please remember that the hiring of an attorney to represent you in any matter is a very important decision. If you are considering hiring an attorney, your decision to do so should not be based solely upon advertisements. Please be advised that no communication resulting from your use of this web site will create an attorney-client relationship between us. In order to create an attorney-client relationship, you and I will need to meet and execute a written retainer agreement.

If you decide to hire me to represent you in any manner, I hope to help you better understand the court process that you are likely to encounter. I also hope to provide you with information that will assist you in making decisions to help you reach a favorable and fair result. Expect to be an integral part of the process. If you would like to schedule a consultation, please call me at the number listed below or you may e-mail me at the e-mail address which is also listed below. My office is located just south of downtown Orlando and is convenient to I-4 and the East West Expressway.

In Florida, a divorce proceeding will not be granted unless the marriage is irretrievably broken. Also, based on evidence presented at a hearing, certain residency requirements must be met. The filing of a divorce action is commenced by filing in the circuit court a petition for relief.

Whether you are involved in or are contemplating the fling of a divorce proceeding, you are likely to encounter the division of marital property. This refers to the dividing of the tangible property of the marriage. Florida courts begin with the premise that the distribution of the property should be equal, unless there is a justification for an unequal distribution based on several relevant factors. I encourage clients to work with their spouse to develop a fair and reasonable agreement related to the division of marital property. Please note however, if you and your spouse cannot agree on how to reasonably divide the marital property, the court will not have a problem in making the property division decisions for you. Since marital property issues can be complex, I invite you to call my office to schedule a consultation to discuss your specific situation.

Alimony may be ordered by a court in a divorce proceeding. The court may grant alimony to either party which can be rehabilitative or permanent in nature. In any award of alimony, the court may order periodic payments or payments in lump sum or both. Although Florida is a “no fault” state, the court may consider the adultery of either spouse in determining the amount of alimony, if any, to be awarded. In order for a court to award alimony, it shall include findings of fact relative to certain factors, including the necessity to do equity and justice between the parties. Since alimony issues can be complex, I invite you to call my office to schedule a consultation to discuss your specific situation.

If you have children, you will also be faced with child support, custody and visitation issues. Child support is a right belonging to a child, cannot be waived by either spouse and is based on a child’s need and the parties’ ability to pay. In Florida, child support is determined by the application of guidelines created by the Florida legislature. Every application for child support must include an affidavit asserting the party’s financial situation. It is an amount that is calculated by taking certain financial factors into consideration. In addition, it is permissible for the court to impute income to an unemployed or underemployed parent when such unemployment or underemployment is found to be voluntary on the part of a parent. Finally, a court may deviate from the amount of child support award, but the deviation must accompany a written finding explaining the deviation.

In Florida, courts award custody and visitation rights of children in accordance with the best interests of the child. The court will order that the parental responsibility for a minor child be shared by both parents unless the court finds that shared parental responsibility would be detrimental to the child.

Since child support, child custody and visitation issues can be complex, I invite you to call my office to schedule a consultation so that we may discuss your specific situation.

Usually, parties are concerned with attorney’s fees associated with representation in family law proceedings. Please note that one attorney cannot represent both spouses in a divorce proceeding. In addition, fees based on the amount collected on behalf of a client in a domestic proceed is prohibited in Florida. It can be said that the more contested the proceeding will be between the parties, the more attorney’s fees parties are likely to incur. In other words, the more issues that you and your spouse are able to agree upon, the less you are likely to spend on attorneys litigating the issues on your behalf. It should also be noted that after considering the financial resources of both parties, the court may order a party to pay a reasonable amount for attorney's fees, suit money, and costs to a party. This is considered by the court on a case by case situation. To give you a better idea as to what attorney’s fees you can expect to incur, I invite you to call my office to schedule a consultation so that we may discuss your specific situation.

In closing, I will again remind you that the hiring of an attorney to represent you in any matter is a very important decision. Please do not base your decision to hire an attorney solely upon advertisements. Any communication resulting from your use of this web site has not created an attorney-client relationship between us. In order to create an attorney-client relationship, you and I will need to meet and execute a written retainer agreement. If you would like to schedule a consultation, please call me at the number listed below or you may e-mail me at the e-mail address which is also listed below.

Deborah S. Korleski

Attorney At Law

924 Delaney Avenue

Orlando, FL 32805

Phone: (407) 843-5423

Fax: (407) 426-0508

Email: korleskilaw@bellsouth.net

Disclaimer: The information presented on this web page is provided by Deborah S. Korleski, Attorney at Law, who is solely responsibly for its content.