So we are all watching the news and hoping that the government shutdown will be over soon. But what if you are one of the people not getting paid? What do you do about child support?

The failure to pay child support can have consequences – the possibility of jail time, a requirement to pay your ex-spouse’s attorney’s fees, garnishment of future pay and liens on assets, revocation of your driver’s license, and a negative impact on your professional and personal reputation, to name a few.

So if you are one of the many who is experiencing a loss of income due to the government shutdown and you have legally-enforceable support obligations, what are your options?

First, the worst thing to do – just stop paying without any advance notice. This leaves you exposed to accumulating arrearages, on which interest will begin to accumulate. Plus, it makes it impossible for your ex-spouse to plan how to meet the financial needs of the children who are, after all, your children as well.

Instead, first review your court order/agreement to see if there is a provision which details what process must be following in the event of a “change of circumstances.” Consulting an experienced family law attorney is also a wise plan.

If you have decent communication with your ex-spouse, explore whether the two of you can work together to agree on a payment plan through which you will pay what you can, while deferring part of your payments until your income resumes. Clarifying the agreement through an email exchange is preferable to a mere oral agreement.

In the absence of the ability to cooperatively work things out, have your attorney contact your ex-spouse’s attorney, or meet jointly with a mediator to work out a temporary fix which best addresses the needs of all those involved.

Finally, if it becomes clear that you will be without income for a significant period of time, consider the need to legally modify your support obligation. Remember though, it is important that you not put off initiating this process for too long, since getting a reduction extending back retroactively prior to the date on which the request for modification was filed with the court is extremely unlikely.

This government shutdown is causing suffering to many people. But with a careful and thoughtful process, you can minimize the pain both to yourself and to those to whom you owe an obligation of support.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.

So if you are contemplating divorce, one thing that you may not thought about is your pet. For some people, this is no small issue. It is common to hear people say that their pet is like a member of the family. So, like child custody, perhaps pet custody is an issue that you are going to have to negotiate.

Pet sharing after a divorce makes some sense. The average dog owner spends more than $1,000 a year on Fido, and those with more disposable income drop their animals off at day care, buy them BarkBoxes and health insurance, and snap little raincoats on them when it drizzles. According to a recent report, in 2018, pet spending in the U.S. hit a record $86.7 billion, nearly double what it was just 10 years ago.

Blame the boom on—who else?—millennials, who have fewer children than previous generations and own more animals. In fact, a full 75 percent of Americans in their thirties have dogs and 51 percent have cats, according to a 2016 report. To a generation that’s saddled with student loan debt and concerned about overpopulation, climate change, and the chemicals in American cheese, pets could represent a comforting, safe investment. But what happens when the pet is part and parcel of a household that finds itself upended by separation? A legitimate custody arrangement, in many cases.

For decades, house pets—formally known as companion animals—have largely been treated as property in divorce cases. If you bought the pet or paid the lion’s share of its bills, it was yours. But that’s beginning to change.

Back in 1995, there was a precedent established in Bennett vs. Bennett, a Florida case in which the judge ruled that animals were personal property—much like, say, the Vitamix or the Dyson—and courts therefore didn’t have the authority to grant custody or visitation schedules. But, since 2017, Illinois, Alaska, and, just last month, California have passed bills that change that tune completely, and have empowered judges to consider the well-being of the animal instead of the desires of the human owners—and to assign a joint custody schedule that’s in the critter’s best interest.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.

Couples living together before marriage these days is a lot more common than in previous years. A common philosophy is that it reduces divorces because by having a “trial run”, if it doesn’t work, you bail out before getting married. Is that really true?

Late last month, the Journal of Marriage and Family published a new study with a somewhat foreboding finding: Couples who lived together before marriage had a lower divorce rate in their first year of marriage, but had a higher divorce rate after five years. It supported earlier research linking premarital cohabitation to increased risk of divorce.

But just two weeks later, the Council on Contemporary Families—a nonprofit group at the University of Texas at Austin—published a report that came to the exact opposite conclusion: Premarital cohabitation seemed to make couples less likely to divorce. From the 1950s through 1970, “those who were willing to transgress strong social norms to cohabit … were also more likely to transgress similar social norms about divorce,” wrote the author, Arielle Kuperberg, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. But as the rate of premarital cohabitation ballooned to some 70 percent, “its association with divorce faded. In fact, since 2000, premarital cohabitation has actually been associated with a lower rate of divorce, once factors such as religiosity, education, and age at co-residence are accounted for.”

It’s not unheard-of for contemporaneous studies on the same topic to reach opposite conclusions, but it’s somewhat surprising for them to do so after analyzing so much of the same data. Both studies analyzed several cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth, a longitudinal data set of women (and men, starting in 2002) between the ages of 15 and 44, though Kuperberg’s study incorporates some data from another survey as well. And, this isn’t the first time researchers have come to differing conclusions about the implications of premarital cohabitation. The practice has been studied for more than 25 years, and there’s been significant disagreement from the start as to whether premarital cohabitation increases couples’ risk of divorce. Differences in researchers’ methodologies and priorities account for some of that disagreement. But in the curious, still-developing story of whether cohabitation does or doesn’t affect the odds of divorce, subjectivity on the part of researchers and the public may also play a leading role.

Intuitively, a trial run of living together before marriage should increase the stability of a relationship. One such study questioned whether the relationship between cohabitation and divorce was a product of selection: Could it just be that people who were more likely to consider divorce an option were more likely to live together unmarried?

However, over the years, many researchers began wondering whether earlier findings that linked cohabitation to divorce were a relic of a time when living together before marriage was an unconventional thing to do. Indeed, as cohabitation has become more normalized, it has ceased to be so strongly linked to divorce. Steffen Reinhold, of the University of Mannheim’s Research Institute for the Economics of Aging, pointed out in a 2010 study that in European countries, the correlation disappeared when the cohabitation-before-marriage rate among married adults reached about 50 percent; the U.S. seems to have just gotten to this threshold. In 2012, a study in the Journal of Marriage and Family concluded that “since the mid-1990s, whether men or women cohabited with their spouse prior to marriage is not related to marital stability.” This is the same journal that just published a study finding the opposite.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.

It’s been a couple of years since same sex marriage was legalized. You had to know at that time that next would come same sex divorce. However the divorce may be more complicated than traditional divorce. Refer CNBC 10 Nov 207.

Same-sex divorce poses complications for some splitting couples

•The legal date of a same-sex marriage might not accurately reflect how long the relationship has lasted.
•In some cases, parental rights are not clear-cut.
•Mediation, which tends to be less costly and more flexible, can be a better option than litigating a divorce.
From divvying up assets to asserting parental rights, the details of divorce that can be more clear-cut with heterosexual marriages are creating complications for same-sex couples.

“The reality for many same-sex couples who are divorcing is that they had relationships in place prior to the marriage — some for many, many years,” said Joyce Kauffman, principal of Kauffman Law & Mediation in Roslindale, Massachusetts. “The courts have broad discretion in these matters, and that discretion can go in your favor or not.”
The 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges meant that all 50 states — 13 of which still banned same-sex marriages — would be required to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry within their own borders and acknowledge marriages that originated in other states.

The landmark ruling also delivered marital legal protections afforded to heterosexual marriages, including rights related to medical decisions, certain tax benefits and access to employee benefits.

Divorce is more complicated. There are federal regulations that play a role, most of which are tax-related — i.e., the current deductibility of alimony payments and the untaxed transfer of certain retirement assets. But much of how divorce is handled happens at the state level.

The biggest sticking point often relates to when the marriage began, which can dictate how assets are divided and whether a spouse receives alimony (also known as spousal support). Generally, the longer any marriage has lasted, the more weight it carries when judges are determining how to award a lower-earning or no-earning spouse a percentage of assets and/or alimony.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.

Have you ever wondered how Millennials feel about prenuptial agreements? They like them. According to the news, they are getting prenuptials more often than previous generations. Do you wonder why that is?

Career Aspirations:

The Millennial generation grew up believing that their dreams could be a reality. This belief has a positive impact on a career vision plan. Many Millennials are choosing non-traditional paths and are inspired to work toward their goals, no matter how difficult or seemingly unattainable they may seem. As Millennials have matured, there has been an increase in “disruptors” – companies that form to challenge the traditional market leaders. The Millennial’s are often building up assets prior to marriage and want to preserve those assets as their separate property upon entering a marital relationship. A valuable benefit of a prenup is that it protects the parties’ assets, including businesses and business interests, and helps to establish how the economic side of the relationship will work moving forward. With the increase in start-up businesses by Millennials, a prenup can afford protection to the business owner and also provide for the non-owner if the couple so chooses.

Marrying Later in Life than Previous Generations:

Chasing career dreams and ambitions can take time, and many Millennials are putting marriage to the side until they’ve achieved certain goals. Couples that marry later in life have often amassed a larger amount of assets (and debts) than if they had married at a younger age. In the same way that prenups can protect the parties’ assets, these contracts can also provide protection from debt. It is smart to become informed about how marriage may impact assets, income and debt. This can be done with an experienced family law attorney. Then an informed decision can be made about whether or not to proceed with a prenup.

Increased Student Loan Debt:

Another reason couples sign a prenup is to provide certainty with respect to debt acquired before the marriage. The prenup can also address debt acquired after the marriage date. (For example, the parties may want to require mutual agreement on debt in excess of a certain amount or how payments towards a pre-existing separate property mortgage will be addressed.) The PEW Research Center found that Millennials are actually the “most educated” generation to date. Millennials, as a whole, have viewed an undergraduate college and graduate school education as necessary, and have taken on much more debt than previous generations in order to get it. When coupled with any other outstanding debt (credit cards, car/home loans, etc.), it makes sense that Millennials would want to enter into a prenup to ensure that the financial responsibilities will be divided fairly in the household. The financial disclosure included in prenup negotiations sets the state for clear expectations about how finances will work during the marriage.

The Financially Savvy Millenial:

Certain myths about prenups are not considered valid by Millenials (and others!) There is no longer a stigma attached to wanting a prenup and the document is positively viewed as bringing certainty and security to the economic side of the relationship. Open and honest conversations about how things will work during the marriage are viewed as a platform for establishing good communication and trust.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.

Divorce is bad enough, but if your spouse id self employed, that adds some new challenges. The main issue is that income and assets might be harder to measure. In any case, if you or your spouse are self-employed and you are seeking a divorce, it is essential that you know what to expect and how to protect yourself.

Divorce as a Self-Employed Party

If you are self-employed, you need to enter into the divorce process prepared to defend your business assets. While the division of property is a tricky subject in any divorce, it can be more challenging when one or both parties are self-employed. It is possible your spouse may try to claim that you earn more than you do, which could potentially jeopardize your fair share of the shared marital property. It could also alter the way in which spousal support and child support are handled, which could significantly impact your financial situation.

To protect your finances and your business, try implementing these divorce tips:
•Gather as much documentation as you can in regards to your business assets and financial situation. The more information you have, the better.
•Hire an accountant. A hired professional can sift through your business accounts to evaluate your worth, which is far more likely to hold up in court than any estimated figures your spouse may present.

Divorcing Your Self-Employed Spouse

Anyone who does not subscribe to a typical work situation as a W-2 employee will typically have an easier time hiding assets in a divorce. If your spouse is self-employed, he or she can potentially hide the actual value of their company to receive more in property division, spousal support, and child support negotiations. To prevent this from happening, you should do what you can to determine your spouse’s real income and financial situation.

If you and your spouse are lucky enough to share an amicable relationship, you are probably less likely to worry about any financial deception, whereas individuals involved in a contentious divorce might be more concerned. In any situation, no matter how much you trust your spouse’s integrity, it is essential that you examine their finances to protect your financial future.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.

If you are just starting divorce proceedings, temporary orders are probably the first piece of reality that you are going to encounter. You have to have a plan to function under while you are figuring things out.

Once your divorce is final, you and your ex-spouse will have a detailed agreement outlining how to handle each aspect of your divorce. Your settlement agreement can include rules regarding child support payments, spousal support payments, child custody, what to do with your shared property, and so on. However, while you’re in the thick of the divorce process, how are you and your spouse supposed to handle these issues?

Temporary family law orders can help you, and your spouse, navigate any unclear areas of your divorce while the legal process continues to progress. Official court orders can take years to go through, which is why temporary orders can be so essential, especially for spouses who share children and need a parenting plan to implement immediately.

If you are going through a divorce and you need a plan to adhere to during the divorce process, make sure you understand how temporary family law orders can work for you.

When Do You Need Temporary Orders in a Divorce?

The legal process in a divorce case can last months or even years. During that time, many couples still need to figure out how to handle shared parenting, splitting properties, and their new financial situation. For example, if one parent typically cares for the children as a primary occupation, the parents may have to figure out a new parenting plan that allows the other parent time with the children after work or on weekends. Also, the non-working parent may need financial assistance or need to find a job and select a childcare facility.

Usually, these kinds of issues need to be handled immediately, and they certainly can’t wait until the divorce is finalized and the court has made official orders. So, in the meantime, temporary orders can provide legally-binding guidelines for spouses to follow.

How Temporary Orders Work

The court grants temporary family law orders when necessary. Usually, these orders last until both parties reach an official settlement. Temporary orders can occur either through scheduled court hearings, as ordered by a judge, or through the mediation process.

These orders can handle the following matters on a temporary basis:
•Establish a child custody arrangement
•Create a visitation plan
•Provide spousal support
•Provide child support
•Grant one spouse the possession of the house, car, or other property

Obtaining Temporary Family Law Orders

If you wish to obtain a temporary family order for your divorce, you must first file a petition, after which you can file a motion for a temporary order with the court. In the motion, you must specify why you need the temporary orders and what you want the order to include. Depending on what you ask for, additional paperwork may apply. For example, if you are asking for a temporary order regarding child custody or visitation, it is important to have a proposed parenting plan beforehand. Also, if you are requesting an order for child support or spousal support, make sure any other additional worksheets and forms are filled out.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.

So maybe you hadn’t thought about what it might be like traveling with the kids now that you are divorced. It is a little different and there are new things to be concerned about. Taking trips with the family post-divorce should continue to be a fun, memorable experience regardless if it’s a day trip or longer. Moving forward, most families benefit when the parents work out a concrete plan for how vacation time will be spent with the children. This helps to create stability and certainty in making vacation and travel plans and in the children’s lives.

Parenting time during holidays and vacations is usually addressed as part of a comprehensive parenting plan. This plan is the foundation for how the co-parenting will work. It addresses decision-making on behalf of the children as well as logistics. It can also address whether there are any limitations on travel depending on each parent’s concerns. Here are some examples of questions that arise:
•Who is permitted to travel with the child?
•Will a significant other be included?
•Which parent provides the travel gear?
•Will travel include missed school days?
•How will communication with the non-traveling parent take place?

The amount of detail can vary between agreements. Even when parents communicate well, it is a good idea to look at the school calendar and create a default schedule to ensure that expectations about spending time with the children are clear and can be met. Parents and children want to be assured of regular, meaningful contact on a weekly basis as well as during holidays and vacations.

Below are some other important points to consider and discuss when developing a parenting plan:

As mentioned above, agreements often include scheduling of school breaks, holidays and a breakdown of each parent’s vacation time. There are various worksheets and programs available for creating an access schedule. Parents may find it useful to spell out any preferences or “first choice” of dates and/or time frames. Although these preferences may change over time, discussing them can be a good starting point for developing a solid co-parenting plan. Alternating the “first choice” for time with the children during the summer break is one way to share the children’s time off. Some parents prefer to maintain a set week every year or need to accommodate their respective work schedules. These issues can be addressed in the agreement.

Communication process:

Aside from school breaks and holidays, which generally rotate between the parents, it is useful to discuss the communication process for vacation scheduling. This includes not only how the vacation dates get chosen, it also includes how all planning and logistics related to the vacation will be coordinated and communicated by and between the parents. For example, parents may want to stipulate the time frame for notifying each other of the travel itinerary (e.g. if one parent has scheduled vacation time with the children, when does that parent need to notify the other of plans to travel out of state/country?). Additionally, parents may want to require written notification of the travel arrangements through email or text, so that the plans are memorialized.

Once a parent’s vacation is scheduled with the children, co-parenting considerations continue. A basic itinerary is usually exchanged and should include departure dates, method(s) of transportation (including flight numbers or other tracking numbers), hotels/lodging, scheduled excursions/activities and contact information (cell phones, hotel contact numbers, etc.). Most parents find it useful to discuss how and when communication will take place between the children and the non-traveling parent. For example, the parents may coordinate having the children contact the non-traveling parent upon the plane landing, arrival at the hotel, when returning from daytime excursions, etc. Having this discussion will also give the non-traveling parent the opportunity to address any safety concerns (or other concerns) about the trip.

International travel:

International travel can be more complicated than domestic travel to coordinate due to time differences, technology concerns (international calling plans, availability of internet, etc.) and the general idea of the children being in a different country. In addition to providing detailed itineraries, there are other ways to reduce the stress of international travel for the non-traveling parent as outlined below:
•Passports: Many agreements specify which parent will hold the children’s passports and, if passports have not yet been obtained, which parent is responsible for securing them. Parents may also find it helpful to create a general schedule for when documents should be exchanged between the parents, i.e. if the non-holder is taking the children on an international trip, the holder should produce the passports to him/her at least two weeks (or some other agreeable time frame) before the scheduled departure.
•Safety concerns: With so many possible vacation destinations both near and far, the possibilities seem endless. Parents may want to weigh in on the possible destinations for their children, regardless of which parent will be the traveling parent. A common consideration is to look at the current political climate and United States Department alerts and warnings to determine if a vacation in a particular country would be safe. Another consideration may be the ease of access in and out of that country.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.

Mediation is the newest trend in family law. There are many benefits to it. And there are also benefits to using a consulting attorney during the process.

Informed Decision-Making: Consultation during the mediation process with an experienced family lawyer can be done in a way that supports the process choice while advocating for the goals and priorities of the client. The consulting attorney provides specific legal advice and answers the client’s questions and/or helps the client form questions during the mediation process. The lawyer’s practical experience and the law can provide valuable reference points and inform the decision-making. That does not necessarily mean that the law has to play a greater role in self-determination – especially when a litigated outcome is often uncertain. The consulting attorney should respect the client’s sense of fairness and respect the choice of a collaborative model. Lack of knowledge about relevant law could create an imbalance or lead to misunderstandings. It could also lead to feelings of regret if applicable law is not put into proper perspective while the decision-making is taking place. While a mediator may provide a general understanding of the law pertaining to each issue as the basis for dialogue and negotiations, the mediator is a neutral and the information provided is impartial. He or she does not represent the interests of either party to the mediation. Rather, the mediator’s role is to facilitate communication between the parties and help them to reach a voluntary resolution to their dispute. (I note that mediators may draw the line differently on the role of the law in the mediation process.)The parties continue to be responsible for the ultimate resolution. A consulting attorney can help move the process forward in a constructive way by helping the client to make informed decisions.

Supported Decision Making: Clients who choose the mediation process want to make their own decisions rather than have a judge or other third party make decisions for them. Some clients feel they need the support of an advocate as they move along in the process. This may be due to several factors, including: the nature of the parties’ relationship, the level of financial savvy, the complexity of the negotiation, the level of comfort with negotiations and the individual’s ability to voice his or her own thoughts during the mediation. The lawyer can support the client during the mediation by helping the client prepare for the negotiations and help with the development and analysis of options in the spirit of a collaborative negotiation. Clients who do not want to litigate are entitled to secure the support that they need to reach what they consider to be a fair and reasonable resolution.

Working Towards a Binding Legal Contract: The ultimate agreement is a binding legal contract outlining the legal rights and responsibilities of each party. Each client must understand all of its provisions and the impact upon the client and his or her family. Even with full participation in the process with a competent mediator the review of the actual written agreement can be overwhelming under the emotional stress of separation and divorce. The consulting attorney reviews the agreement with the client (outside of the presence of the client’s spouse), provides independent legal advice and makes sure that the client understands and agrees with all of the terms of the agreement. This ensures that the agreement correctly reflects the intentions of the client and avoids mistakes or future misunderstandings. While a mediator can certainly review the agreement with the parties, it is done in an impartial role distinct from the role of independent counsel.

Final Thoughts: The role of consulting attorneys should be discussed openly at the beginning of the mediation process. Analysis and advice from an experienced consulting attorney can support the mediation process. The parties have the right to secure the support they need to ensure meaningful negotiations because the parties ultimately have the responsibility for the resolution of their matter. Sensitivity to the clients’ needs and desire for support in determining a resolution of their family matter must be an integral part of the mediation process.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.

Establishing whose fault things are does not help in the negotiations. When the horse is out of the barn, let’s just move forward to putting all these things behind us. Here’s what we try to move towards:

Establish a focus and listen

One of the key components to effective negotiation is to listen to the other party (really listen!) and focus on the problem. How you express yourself and how you react to the other party impacts the productiveness of the dialogue. Stay away from personal attacks as they create stress and do not lead to good results.

Choice of process

Examine the different processes available for resolution of the issues and choose one that feels comfortable for both parties. Research how each process works to determine whether it is the right one for your situation. Examples are mediation, collaborative law and direct or kitchen table negotiation.

Time Management

Establish a realistic time frame for how and when the negotiation will take place. Understand what information is needed to make decisions, how and when it will be produced and who will take responsibility for gathering the information.

Focus on the future not the past

Establish priorities and then, after all of the necessary information is collected and understood, stay flexible and take a careful look at options for resolution.

Be creative

Solutions are usually richer when both parties spend their energy considering options, alternatives and “what-ifs” that work for both parties.

We know where the blame game can lead. There are more effective ways to resolve disputes – especially when it comes to the family.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.