Working Out the Terms of your Spousal Support Agreement in a Collaborative Divorce

Spousal support, also known as alimony, is an issue that arises in many Florida divorces. It is the money one partner pays to the other after their divorce, generally for a fixed period of time but sometimes, until the receiving spouse remarries or either partner dies. This money is intended to help the spouse who opted out of the full-time workforce to care for the couple’s home and children during the marriage to avoid financial hardship.

 In a collaborative divorce, the divorcing couple works together to make their own determinations about their divorce settlement, rather than having the court make them. Alimony is often an issue discussed during collaborative divorces alongside parenting time and the division of the couple’s marital assets.

In Florida, you Can Waive your Right to Seek Spousal Support

Florida law permits individuals to waive their right to seek alimony in the event of their divorces in prenuptial agreements. This is not the case in all states.

 Just like a collaborative divorce, a prenuptial agreement requires a couple to be flexible and willing to work together to make determinations that benefit them both, even in unpleasant situations like divorce.

 Waiving Spousal Support in Exchange for a Larger Share of Marital Assets

 When you divorce through collaboration, rather than litigation, you and your spouse work together to reach a divorce agreement that best fits your needs. In any divorce, dividing your marital assets is a component of the final settlement and often, it is the largest component of the settlement. Talk about potentially opting out of alimony in exchange for a more favorable share of your marital assets with your spouse, but also with your lawyer privately – there could be issues you do not initially recognize, like large tax burdens associated with certain marital assets or the long-term impact of choosing not to create an alimony order.

Collaborative Divorce is All About Keeping Control of your Divorce

Couples who choose collaborative divorce are often more satisfied with the results of their divorces than couples who divorce through litigation.

If you took on lower-paying jobs or opted out of the workforce completely during your marriage, alimony is a way to protect your financial future. Do not confuse the need to be amicable in a collaborative divorce with a need to agree with everything your spouse suggests. If you feel alimony is in your best interest, explain this and support your position with relevant facts during your collaborative divorce meetings. Your lawyer is your advocate, but you also need to advocate for yourself.

Work with an Experienced Winter Park Divorce Lawyer

When you are considering divorce, you have a lot on your mind. Before you begin the collaborative divorce process, discuss these issues with your divorce lawyer so you begin the process educated about Florida’s divorce laws and what you can expect given your case’s unique circumstances. Contact The Law Offices of Aubrey Harry Ducker, Jr., P.L.C. today to schedule your initial consultation with us.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.079.html

 

Seniors were Green before Being Green was Green!

In a checkout at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

 

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."

 

The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

 

She was right -- our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day.

 

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.

So they really were recycled.

 

But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.

 

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings.

 

Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.

 

But too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

 

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

 

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

 

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

 

But we didn't have the "green thing" back then.

 

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

 

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then?

 

When you need an attorney, or want to find an attorney to help with Elder Law, Guardianships or Family Law, Call me at 407-645-3297 or visit my website at www.aubreylaw.com 

 

This came in my email today:

Hello!  My name is Jan Killilea   Please LIKE our Facebook page:   First Wives Advocacy Group   Here is what you can do TODAY:   1. LIKE our Facebook page: First Wives Advocacy Group, which is run by women just like me. We VALUE your privacy just as we value our own. We will NEVER disclose your name without your permission. You don't have to be a first wife, divorced or even a woman to lend your support; you just have to care that WOMEN are treated FAIRLY by our State Legislature.   2. FORWARD this email to your friends and family and ask them to JOIN you in supporting our fight to have women's contributions VALUED.   3. And stay tuned!

From Corporate LIFE to Corporate WIFE   I live in Florida, am 54 years old and went from corporate life to corporate wife 30 years ago. When I met my ex-husband, we both earned about the same salary.  He was an insurance adjuster and I was an account executive in San Francisco, CA.  We fell in love, got married in Reno, Nevada for $25 and moved to Massachusetts to raise a family.  TOGETHER we decided to become a one-career family and that my corporate, paying career would end.   We wanted to raise our children in a traditional marriage just as our parents had done.  This took sacrifice and hard work as a team!  His career started to take off and I gave birth to our first child in 1984, our second in 1986 and our last in 1988.  While he traveled extensively, I stayed home to manage our young and growing family. My ex-husband's growing career led us to nine corporate relocations, with our final move to Florida in 2005.   During our relocation to Florida in 2005 my ex-husband had an extra-marital affair with our real estate agent. After attempting to save my marriage for over a year, I finally filed for divorce. My ex-husband married this woman (who was 12 years younger than me) two weeks after our divorce was final. They divorced 23 months later.  We would have celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary in January, 2014.   I am now 54 years old, struggling to find a job and my ex owes me over $100,000.00. He dissipated marital assets during our divorce and still owes me a net balancing payment from our retirement account which he spent on his new home in San Juan Capistrano, CA.  He recently bought a ski house in Carson City, NV for $140,000.00 CASH. In the meantime, "Florida Alimony Reform" repeatedly slanders me, cyber stalks and bullies me and invades my personal life. THIS MUST STOP.     Thanks to Gov. Rick Scott's May 1, 2013 VETO, Florida's alimony and child custody laws remain intact. But this won't stop men like my ex-husband and the men and new girlfriends and new wives behind "Florida Alimony Reform" from trying to influence legislators to support punitive, one-sided legislation. Although I TESTIFIED before the Florida Legislature in February 2013, it wasn't enough. WE NEED YOU!     We will FIGHT for women (97% of ALL alimony recipients are women) and for families to retain the right to have a stay-at-home parent. We will FIGHT the 50-50 child custody presumption. And we will FIGHT the end of alimony at payor's retirement. WHY? Because WOMEN deserve RESPECT and our contributions to families and society must be VALUED.     Will you please STAND WITH JAN for justice and enforcement for ALL WOMEN?

Why Does Divorce have to be So Complex?

Divorce, according to Wikipedia is the termination of a marital union, the canceling of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and the dissolving of the bonds of matrimony between a married couple. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce

Simply put, Divorce ends a marriage. Why is that so Difficult?

Almost every week the New York Times contains an article about divorce, whether involving the children of divorce in a Broadway play, the Collaborative process, a documentary film about divorce in foreign lands, responses to the legislature's plans for "no-fault" divorce, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/opinion/17coontz.html?pagewanted=all or salacious articles regarding specific persons and their problems with divorce, such as the media mogul Rupert Murdoch: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/business/media/rupert-murdoch-files-for-divorce-after-14-years-of-marriage.html
At least for Murdoch, the end may be near:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/business/media/murdoch-divorce-said-to-be-almost-final.html?_r=0

If you pay attention to the news media, you might think divorce is either all too common or incredibly complex. Specific articles regarding divorce after 50,  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/fashion/weddings/divorce-after-50-grows-more-common.html

You may observe that the "children of divorce" suffer years of trauma to their psyche. Even the participants in the divorce process may look to coaches or therapy sessions to help their adjustment to single life. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/fashion/a-program-that-aims-to-lead-to-post-divorce-peace.html

Every major religion has teachings on Divorce, whether it be the requirement of a "get" for Jewish women to be divorced, Islamic requirements for an Imam's approval of the divorce. Even Scientologists have interesting issues:   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/fashion/for-scientologists-divorce-is-no-simple-matter.html

An article last year detailed the Divorce Hotel where, in a weekend, couples could complete all the paperwork to finalize their divorce. The cost ranged between $3,500 and $10,000 depending on many factors. Unfortunately the Divorce Hotel is in the Netherlands! http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/business/the-divorce-hotel-a-true-weekend-getaway.html

Do you know why many lawyers support Same-sex marriage? Same-Sex DIVORCE!
We see in Mississippi the real national problem related to Same-sex marriage - no not those parochial concerns of religion - How do you get a divorce if you were married in Massachusetts and move to Texas? How do you get a divorce when the State of Texas doesn't even recognize the marriage? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/28/us/mississippi-quest-for-a-same-sex-divorce.html

If you have questions regarding Alimony, Child Support, Equitable Distribution, Retirement Plans, Marital Property, call me 407-645-3297 or visit my website: www.aubreylaw.com
I look forward to helping you!

Happy Labor Day!

Since I will not be in the office on Monday, I wanted to wish you all a Happy Labor Day!

Of course the protests going on Thursday, detailed in the New York Times here: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/marching-at-mcdonalds-for-a-15-wage/?hp
As you probably know, the Labor in Labor Day celebrates those that make the country prosperous. The WORKERS of America have always been the backbone to our greatness.
For the history as written more than a century ago, look here: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F3091EFD3E5911738DDDA80B94D0405B828CF1D3
 A few years later, Samuel Gompers, the President of the American Federation of Labor, the AFL in our current AFL-CIO, penned this: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F30612F7355D16738DDDAD0894D1405B808DF1D3

When workers are abused, mistreated and underpaid, Unions begin to look pretty good. The Unions negotiated wonderful employment packages for the Steel Industry, the Auto Industry, and many others that formed the backbone or our manufacturing society right up until the "Union busting 80's" came along and encouraged opposition to unions at all levels of society. You may recall the Air Traffic Controllers' strike that Ronald Reagan oversaw as President of the United States. When he fired all the air traffic controllers, their union was done. Later free trade agreements allowed U.S. industry to move overseas without paying any import duties. The work force in other countries does not have the history of union organization that protects their poorest workers.

Of a more recent vintage: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/opinion/06mon2.html

Finally, from a school assignment come these questions:

–What does “union” mean?
–Why would an employee want to join a union?
–Why might some employers discourage their employees from joining a union?
–What different types of workers’ unions exist?
–What laws regulate the workplace, and why were they instituted?
–What events in history have illustrated the need to identify and protect the rights of workers?
–How might workers in a union voice that they do not like some of the things happening at a workplace?
–What might happen if a worker in a union goes against a union decision, such as working during a strike?
–How has the development of unions affected the United States economy?
–What issues still exist in the workplace that unions might want to change?

How you answer these questions says as much about your background as it does about the future of our great country.
Have a Happy Labor Day. If you need assistance with legal issues such as Collaborative Divorce, Elder Law, Family Law, or Guardianships, call me or visit my website at www.aubreylaw.com

Mortgage Modification Education is going GREAT!
So is my Collaborative Divorce practice.
Guardianships for both the elderly and disabled, check.
What do I have to do to get you to call me?

Looking for Family Law Attorney

How do you find a Family Law Attorney in the Orlando area?

Most people search Google, Findlaw or bing.com. My last post was more than 6 months ago, and I thought I'd try a little experiment. If you click on my link, www.aubreylaw.com or send me an email telling me you read this, I will respond with a summer special offer. My email is aubrey@aubreylaw.com

Let me know how I'm doing!

Chase Bank and SunTrust are making me happy these days. Their Customer Service has improved greatly. Who knows other than those that read my blog?
I have committed to telling people of good customer service when it impacts my life.
Tijuana Flats is surprisingly customer friendly. What other businesses impress you through Outstanding Customer Service?

Great Article on Collaborative Divorce

Occasionally, I like to post links to articles worth reading. This is one: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynn-j-maier-esq/saving-your-sanity-with-c_b_1077335.html

When divorce is the choice, how you go about it matters. Collaborative Divorce is a method of practice that allows the parties, with the help of their attorneys and other professionals, to decide all issues in ways that benefit their family rather than fighting until a court decides in a manner consistent with the thousands of cases also fighting to a decision.

Don't you know what is best for your family? Collaborative Divorce allows you to play a major part in the decision making process. More so that even mediation.

When you need help, Call me! 407-645-3297 or visit my website at www.aubreylaw.com

How Many Attorneys Does it Take?

I know this sounds like a joke, but I was actually serious. How many attorneys you consult about a problem gives an indication of your interest and trust. How many should you consult? If you receive a recommendation from a trusted friend, and the attorney is competent to handle your case, you may not want to waste time getting second opinions.

Most good attorneys, like any good doctor, will be happy for you to seek out a second opinion. Once you have consulted and aquired a number of opinions, in choosing an attorney you should consider a several questions:
Who do you trust more?
Who makes you feel most comfortable?
Whose advice will you most easily accept?
Who has the simplest fee structure?
Who expects the most up front money, or Retainer?
Who has the expertise in your area of law?
Who has been in practice longer?
Who is most up to date on the Law?

In answering these questions, you will be able to select the attorney most competent to handle your case.

Do not be afraid to ask hard questions, such as:
How much will this cost?
What are the negative possibilities?
Am I liable for any other costs or fees?
Will the court order the other side to pay your fees?
Most important when suing for money damages, child support, alimony, or equitable distribution, what are my chances of actually collecting from the defendant?

In the end, the more answers you have at the beginning, the more likely you are to understand the process and potential outcomes.

So, how many attorneys does it take to change a lightbulb? Just One, but it has to be a good Case.

OK, here is the joke: How many attorneys does it take to change a lightbulb? Four. One to change the lightbulb. One to climb the ladder, one to shake the ladder, one to sue the ladder company.

What Not to Expect from Your Attorney

Guarantee: No Attorney should Ever "Guarantee" a certain result from a court. Many times courts rule on issues in line with past rulings; however, a Guarantee of any certain result is prohibited by the rules of ethical conduct. The Attorney can never forsee every possible occurrance or testimony in a given case. With the facts at hand the attorney may recommend a course of action, but any "Guarantee" of what the court will do, is quite simply bad advice.

Promise: Like a Guarantee, for an attorney to "Promise" a certain result is not allowed. The attorney has no control over the other party, and no control over the court.

Advise that the Client Lie: Attorneys are forbidden to illicit testimony they know to be false. This means, if the attorney asks the client a question under oath, such as at trial or deposition, and the client answers in such a way as the attorney Knows the answer if False, the attorney must correct the situtation. There are ethical rules every attorney MUST follow to ensure the integrity of the court system. The most important is not to allow the client to lie to the court.

Willingness to Lie for the Client: Just as the attorney cannot encourage or permit the client to lie to the court, so the Attorney if Forbidden to Lie for the client. If your attorney is willing to lie for you, how can you trust that your attorney will not lie TO you?

Dishonesty: At the heart of the Attorney-Client privilege is the notion that the attorney cannot adequately represent the client without full knowledge and honesty from the client. The Client therefore Must be able to Trust the Attorney to Fully and Fairly answer questions posed. In order to protect the client to fully reveal information that may help or harm the case, the attorney-client privilege prevents the attorney revealing or using the information to the client's detriment.

Perfection: The PRACTICE of Law is truly an art, not a science. Statutes are continually amended by legislatures, interpreted by courts, and exposed by attorneys. Sometimes what has always occurred doesn't and many times the court has not had a question posed in this way. Attorneys may not have all the information necessary to completely anticipate every possible problem. But we try!

If you can accept attorneys are only human, you may be able to accept their assistance!

Financing Available

We extend Credit!!!

Many people ask, in fact today a man asked, "How do you expect me to afford that?"

Our office has a new policy for extended payment plans in some cases.

Balances between $300 and $25,000 can be spread over a year, interest free.

Balances between $1,000 and $25,000 can be spread over 60 months with a lower interest rate than is offered on many credit cards.

I only ask that regular payments be made.

My office in Winter Park, Florida, accepts all major credit cards, cash and most checks.

I represent people in Family Law matters including Divorce, Child Custody, Alimony, Child Support, Paternity, Visitation, Father's Rights, Moving out of state and most other issues that come up in domestic relations court.

I also represent Elders in Elder Law matters including Estate Planning, End of Life Planning, Medicaid Planning and parent child disputes.