On June 16, 2020, the Florida Legislature passed and, on June 30, 2020 the Florida Governor signed CS/CS/SB 124: Custody of Minor Children by Extended Family. See Laws of Florida, Chapter No. 2020-147. An “extended family member” may ask the…
How do parenting plans provide for consent to mental health treatment for a child? What does “mental health treatment” mean and include? What if parents don’t agree on mental health treatment their child should continue, undertake, or stop? May one…
Overview of Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program for businesses COVID-19 has affected.
On December 5, 2019, the Florida Supreme Court amended the form for income deduction orders. Florida Family Law Form 12.996(a).
Florida publishes new disciplinary procedures for court appointed parenting coordinators
The Collaborative Law subcommittee of the Florida Bar’s Family Law Rules Committee has proposed new collaborative process Family Law Forms 12.985(a)-(g), which dovetail with the 2017 Uniform Collaborative Law Process Act, Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.745, and Florida…
By: Hanna Horvath, Policygenius The richest couple in the world is a couple no more. What is a prenup? Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon and the richest man in the world, announced he and his wife, MacKenzie, are getting…
Parents in Florida divorce and paternity cases must agree to a “Parenting Plan” or have a judge decide on a plan. In collaborative practice, parents work with a collaborative neutral facilitator and collaborative professional team. The team helps parents write…
Parents who “share parental responsibility” retain full parental rights and responsibilities for their child. Both parents confer with each other to make decisions for their child. – Section 61.046(17), Florida Statutes. Before deciding, separated parents who share parental responsibility must…
Florida law treats consent to “mental health treatment” for a child differently from other major decisions responsibility for which parents share. In 2016, Florida law changed to mandate provisions in parenting plans. – Section 61.13(2)(b)3., Florida Statutes, amended by Laws…
In 2016, Florida law changed to mandate, in parenting plans designating shared parental responsibility, that either parent retains the right to consent to mental health treatment for their child. Section 61.13(2)(b)3., Florida Statutes, amended by Laws of Florida 2016-241 (enacting…
Florida family judges must determine parenting matters according to the child’s best interests and the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. There is an exception: modification of a parenting plan and time-sharing schedule requires showing a substantial, material, and…
Florida’s divorce and paternity statutes don’t define “mental health treatment.” When they’re sharing parental responsibility, each parent retains parental consent to mental health treatment. However, by clarifying and agreeing to the scope of “mental health treatment” for their child, parents…
As parents resolving divorce or paternity issues attempt to state precisely their intent about “mental health treatment” for their child, definitions may guide their Florida collaborative practice team and them. Florida Juvenile Justice System – Techniques That Constitute “Mental Health…
For our Parenting Plan, “Mental Health Treatment” means these techniques, as defined in Florida Administrative Code, Rule 63N-1.0081: (a) Individual therapy or counseling; (b) Group therapy or counseling; (c) Family counseling or therapy; (d) Behavior therapy; (e) Psychosocial Skills Training;…
Florida law and administrative regulations support mental health treatment providers’ accepting informed consent by only one parent or authorized guardian to mental health treatment for a child. Parents whose parental rights remain intact jointly are the natural guardians of their…
Under Florida Law, mental health treatment providers, and their professions’ corresponding statutory informed consent requirements, include: Mental Health Provider Informed Consent References Psychiatrist licensed under Chapter 458 or 459, Florida Statutes Section 458.325(1), Florida Statutes provides, for electroconvulsive or psychosurgical…
A parent who disagrees with the other parent’s consenting to mental health treatment for their child often faces costly, time consuming, and inadequate remedies. The parent who doesn’t consent may ask the court to modify the parenting plan, but must…
Collaborative Marital Settlement Agreements should address ownership of and beneficial interests in: assets subject to beneficiary designations under wills assets subject to beneficiary designations under life insurance policies retirement plans employee benefit plans assets subject to pay-on-death or transfer-on-death designations.…
With few exceptions, upon entry of a final judgment of dissolution or annulment, any provision of a will that “affects” a former spouse is void under section 732.507(2), Florida Statutes. After the dissolution, divorce, or annulment, the will must be…
Under the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Sveen v. Melin, 138 S. Ct. 1815 (June 11, 2018), section 732.703, Florida Statutes, which applies to decedents dying on or after July 1, 2012, does not unconstitutionally impair contracts by retroactively…
Has the collaborating spouse named the other spouse as beneficiary under a will? Is the collaborating spouse participating in an insurance policy or benefit plan section 732.703 affects? Does the collaborative practice team have detail about any beneficiary designations under…
Florida’s Collaborative Law Process Act, section 61.56, Florida Statutes, took effect July 1, 2017. On May 18, 2017, the Supreme Court of Florida adopted a new Florida Family Law Rule 12.745 and Rule 4-1.19, Rules Regulating the Florida Bar. The…
PART III, CHAPTER 61, FLORIDA STATUTES COLLABORATIVE LAW PROCESS ACT 61.55 Purpose. 61.56 Definitions. 61.57 Beginning, concluding, and terminating a collaborative law process. 61.58 Confidentiality of a collaborative law communication. 61.55 Purpose.—The purpose of this part is to create a uniform system of practice for…
RULE 12.745. COLLABORATIVE LAW PROCESS(a) Application. This rule governs all proceedings under chapter 61, part III, Florida Statutes. (b) Collaborative Law Process. (1) Initiating Process. (A) A collaborative law process begins, regardless of whether a legal proceeding is pending, when…
RULE 4-1.19 COLLABORATIVE LAW PROCESS IN FAMILY LAW (a) Duty to Explain Process to Client. A lawyer must obtain the informed consent of a client in a family law matter before proceeding in the collaborative law process after providing the…
The Challenge: Apportioning premarital and marital components of retirement assets in collaborative cases can be tricky. How could the collaborative team approach the challenge? One tool that may be useful as the collaborative team develops options for allocating the…
For multiple covered assets, section 732.703, Florida Statutes, provides, upon dissolution or annulment of marriage, the designation of one former spouse as beneficiary upon death of the insured other former spouse is ineffective. See State Farm Life Insurance Company v.…
With a few exceptions, upon entry of a final judgment of dissolution or annulment, any provision of a will that “affects” a former spouse is void under section 732.507(2), Florida Statutes. See Carroll v. Israelson, 169 So. 3d 239 (Fla.…
Introduction – Florida law provides that, upon dissolution or annulment of marriage, designations of one former spouse as beneficiary on death of the other spouse, multiple covered assets pass as if the insured decedent’s former spouse predeceased the insured decedent. This…
The president of a corporation, manager of a limited liability company, trustee of a family trust, or principal of another business entity receives a summons in a Florida family law case. One spouse contends the other’s control, ownership of an…
This is the first installment of a seven-part series by Michael P. Sampson. Many couples who could not marry now can. The United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges framed the issue of the fundamental right to marry…
This is the second installment of a seven-part series by Michael P. Sampson. Partners may acquire a home together, and they may contribute different amounts toward the purchase price. During their relationship, they may contribute different amounts toward improvements, the…
This is the third installment of a seven-part series by Michael P. Sampson. Domestic partnership agreements should list or include an attached schedule of each party’s separate property. If the parties agree, the agreement should protect ownership of property and…
This is the fourth installment of a seven-part series by Michael P. Sampson. Florida law generally provides, when there is no premarital agreement, a marrying person’s right to alimony depends on the person’s need for alimony and the other party’s…
This is the fifth installment of a seven-part series by Michael P. Sampson. Florida law provides for various death benefits if a married person predeceases his or her spouse and they have no premarital or postnuptial agreement. For unmarried domestic…
This is the sixth installment of a seven-part series by Michael P. Sampson. To reduce risk of later attack on the domestic partnership agreement, domestic partners should make fair and reasonable financial disclosures to each other prior to signing the…
This is the final installment of a seven-part series by Michael P. Sampson. How do domestic partnership agreements (DPAs) and prenuptial or premarital agreements differ? Marriage contracts between two people who plan to marry are prenuptial agreements or antenuptial agreements.…
A parent who moves with a child from the child’s home country to another country, or retains the child in the other country, may face accusations that the move or retention is wrongful. The parent who stays behind may assert…
In the Matter of the Adoption of D.P.P., 158 So. 3d 633 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014), the Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed an order vacating a second parent adoption. The trial court terminated the parent-child relationship between a mom…