Jacksonville Family Law Blog

Florida parents who are involved in child custody disputes may be aware of the many tragic cases of international child abduction recent in the media. Often, parent-child abduction occurs when one of the parents is native to a foreign country. In such a case, the parent may legally leave the United States to visit home and relatives, with the parent left behind typically assuming the other parent and the child will return.

Unfortunately, in too many situations this is not the case, and the U.S. parent is forced to work through the courts, often both here and in the foreign country, to enforce their child custody rights.

To handle such disputes, a majority of nations in North and South America, along with the European Union states, Russia, Australia and South Africa, have signed a treaty called the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Abduction Convention). In these countries, the law requires that all international child custody disputes be handled in the child's home country.

For some couples that seek the joy of parenting adoption is an exciting option. However, some parents may find that their adoption may be in jeopardy should a child custody claim occur. Recently, a couple found their 2-year-old adopted daughter being taken from their home after her biological father filed for custody upon learning of the adoption. His claim was based on a federal law regarding Native American adoptions. The law affects everyone nationwide, including parents of adopted Native American children in Florida.

The toddler's biological father won his paternity claim under the provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act, passed into law in the 1970s. Jim Abourezk, the South Dakota Senator who introduced the bill, hoped it would "preserve Native American culture and families," rather than separate children and their parents. At that time, there was concern that non-Native Americans were coming onto reservations and taking children from their biological families. Abourezk indicated that the law was not intended to be used the way it was to take this toddler from her parents.

A lesbian couple who shared a home and later had a child together took their battle to court to determine which one was the "mother" of the child has had a state appeals court rule that both are entitled to parental rights, according to news reports.

Jacksonville child custody lawyers note that to have the child, one mother provided a fertilized egg, which was then implanted in the other mother and carried to term. When a circuit judge reviewed the case to determine which one of the women was the legal mother of the child, the judge ruled that the woman who carried the child to term -- not the one whose DNA is shared with the child -- is the mother, according to Florida state law that identifies the woman giving birth as the mother.

Some married individuals in Florida seek to end their marriage in ways other than by divorce. You may be scratching your head as to how that can be done, but it can via getting an annulment. An annulment effectively erases a marriage and tries to put people back in the position they were in before the "marriage" took place.

An annulment will affect your finances differently than a divorce because a family court will attempt to put each person back to their original financial status. This means that whatever property, including debt, you brought to the marriage should be yours. Joint assets and debts acquired during the marriage are typically split equally.

With the holidays behind us and the new year begun, some Florida couples may now be considering putting the wheels in motion towards getting a divorce.

While in an ideal world, an amicable divorce settlement would make things less stressful and contentious, often what should be a relatively easy breakup can bring up financial problems for one or both members of the divorcing couple that can last long after the divorce is final.

Here are some commonsense tips offered by Money Talks News on how to protect yourself financially if you will be going through a divorce in the near future:

Close all joint accounts, if possible. This can avoid a situation where an ex-spouse decides to clean out a joint checking or savings account or run up debt on a joint credit card account. A divorce does not automatically cancel joint responsibility for debt or protect you from a joint account holder spending the money down. If your name is on the account, you are financially responsible for the account.

After failing to appear in court, a district court judge issued a warrant for the arrest of a millionaire father and ex-husband who has racked up a $10 million bill for unpaid child and spousal support.

Jacksonville child support lawyers have noted from the news reports that the man, who was once alleged to be living in million-dollar homes, now claims through his lawyer that he lacks the funds to pay off his large debt. The man has said he is without a job and has no income currently coming in.

The long drawn out process of divorce could frighten some people. They might think that divorcing in Florida will take them a year or more, and cost them too much money. Luckily couples can use mediation as an alternative negotiation for divorce without the lengthy courtroom debates. This option typically works best when spouses come to the table with the intent to negotiate.

Mediation involves sitting down across the table from your spouse to negotiate parts of the divorce. This process allows couples to sit down and discuss their past lifestyles and make sure that they are using their values to agree on splitting assets. Not only can this process save the couple money, but also time.

Although each state has different laws regarding alimony, the terms of these laws tend to be very similar from one state to the next and can award divorcing spouses of lower income huge sums of money -- even if they haven't been married very long.

But that may soon change. Jacksonville divorce lawyers note that several states are pursuing massive overhauls to their laws governing alimony payments, and some of them are taking controversial approaches to handling future alimony cases.