Key Biscayne Family Law Lawyers

Quality Legal Assistance From Dedicated Key Biscayne Family Law Lawyers

Family law matters are often highly emotional; issues such as divorce, child custody, and guardianship often carry a lot of weight, as the outcome can have a big impact on your future and the future of your family. It is, therefore, essential to have representation from an experienced family law attorney who is willing and able to listen and adapt to your needs at every stage.

That is exactly what you will find at Miami Family Law Group, PLLC. We have been helping people navigate family law for over three decades. We are trained mediators and tested trial litigators, and we have a host of resources at our disposal, including trusted experts in things such as finances and mental health. We will keep your case moving forward without ever compromising on your rights. Whatever your case throws at us, we will be prepared to advocate on your behalf.

We always keep our clients engaged and informed so that they can be empowered to make important decisions and can begin to feel confident about the next stage of their lives. Schedule a meeting with a compassionate Florida family lawyer by calling today at 305-520-7874.

What Our Key Biscayne, FL Family Law Lawyers Can Do for You

Our family lawyers are committed to providing a space where you feel supported. We always prioritize the needs of your children, and we will advocate fiercely on your behalf. We take a holistic approach to divorce, which includes both mediation and litigation.

Our law firm is dedicated to family law matters, which means that we help people like you every day. Our dedicated family law attorneys are always developing their skills, and regardless of the complexity of your case, we have you covered.

Our legal services include divorce, child custody, alimony, guardianship, divorce modification, support enforcement, prenuptial agreements, and more.

Some of the things that make us stand out include:

• We Speak Spanish - We believe that everyone should have access to high-quality legal representation, which is why we ensure that we have experienced attorneys on our team who can speak Spanish.
• We Understand Family - We understand family and will always prioritize the needs of children. We create a family-friendly environment and will use mediation to foster healthy family dynamics wherever possible.
• Three Decades of Experience -Our law firm has been established for over three decades. During this time, we have built up the skills, experience, and resources necessary to achieve the best possible outcomes for our clients.

Divorce Proceedings in Key Biscayne, FL

Separating your life from someone who you have shared an intimate relationship with can be wrought with challenges. Separating your assets and debts, formulating a parenting plan, and determining support payments will have a big impact on your future. Therefore, it is important to have the guidance of a divorce attorney who can ensure that your rights and interests are considered at every stage.

Mediation

In the state of Florida, family courts expect couples to try and come to agreements on the key issues of their divorce using mediation. At Miami Family Law Group, PLLC, all of our attorneys are trained mediators, and we will work with you and your ex-spouse to come to amicable agreements that are in line with family law.

Successful mediation has many benefits, such as:

• Helps the divorce move along faster, as you are not required to wait for the court to be available to hear your case on multiple occasions.
• Saves money on court fees.
• Helps foster a healthy relationship between you and your ex-spouse, which could be particularly important if you have children.
• Helps protect children from conflict.
• Gives you the opportunity to make personalized agreements that fit in with your life, such as formulating a parenting plan that takes your work commitments into account.

All decisions you and your ex-spouse make must be approved by a family court judge to ensure that they are meet the requirements of Florida's family laws. A trained divorce mediator will help ensure that your agreement considers all relevant legislation so that the judge will be more likely to approve it.

Litigation

If there are factors of your divorce that you cannot agree on, then you will need to attend trial hearings for each contested issue. The judge will work with your attorney to review your case and make a final decision. At Miami Family Law Group, PLLC, we will always be prepared to take your case to court if necessary.

Domestic Violence

You may not be required to attend mediation sessions if you have suffered domestic violence from your ex-spouse. If you have experienced abuse, your attorney will help you file a protection order to prevent your spouse from contacting or approaching you. They will also help you submit evidence of your claims to ensure that they are considered when decisions are made in regard to your divorce.

Child Custody Disputes

Family law issues that involve children are often the most contentious. In accordance with Florida family law, all decisions must be made with the child's best interests at heart, but it is common for people to disagree on what that is. Usually, the judge will try to keep both parents involved in the child's life while also creating stability.

It is important to minimize the emotional impact that divorce has on children as much as possible. You can help protect your child by not speaking badly about your ex-spouse with them and not talking about the details of the divorce. Our lawyers will work with you to ensure your child's needs are always prioritized, and they will always be open and honest with you.

Formulating a Parenting Plan

Parents have rights and responsibilities towards their children, which includes the right to care for them. Therefore, most child custody cases will result in a shared parenting plan. A Key Biscayne family law attorney will help you formulate a parenting plan that creates stability and prioritizes your child's needs, education, and well-being. If an agreement cannot be reached, then a judge will make a ruling on your behalf.

A parenting plan will:

• Specify how much time each parent spends caring for their child and when.
• Make clear who is responsible for health care and school-related matters.
• Determine whether one or both parents will retain the right to make important decisions on their child's behalf, such as those relating to school, health care, and religion.

Typically a parent will only lose their rights toward their children if they are believed to be a danger to their children's well-being. For example, a parent who has a dependency on drugs or alcohol may be seen as unsafe and unable to properly care for their child. However, even in this scenario, a parent may still be awarded supervised visitation with their child.

If you are seeking sole parental rights and responsibilities, then it is important to speak to a child custody lawyer as soon as possible who can help you provide evidence of your claims and protect your children.

To determine whether a parenting plan is in a child's best interest, the judge may consider factors such as:

• Each parent's ability to meet their child's needs.
• The degree to which each parent has been involved in their child's life up until this point.
• Minimizing disruption to the child's life.
• In some child custody cases, the child's preference may also be considered. However, ultimately, the decision must reflect the child's best interests.

Alimony

Spousal support, commonly referred to as alimony, involves payments that one spouse may be ordered to pay another after divorce. However, a disparity in financial resources alone is not sufficient to justify alimony payments. Instead, Florida law considers one spouse's ability to pay and the other's needs.

Alimony is not awarded in every case, and when it is, it is usually to help ensure that the lower-earning spouse has the financial resources to support themselves after divorce. It is often only awarded for a limited amount of time, such as to give one spouse enough time to find employment or undergo training. Other times, a permanent alimony order may be put in place if one spouse is considered to have a permanent inability to support themselves.

When determining whether to award alimony, the Judge may consider factors such as:

• The length of the marriage.
• The amount of separate property belonging to each spouse.
• The couple's prior standard of living.
• Each spouse's mental and physical health.
• Each spouse's age.
• Each spouse's ability to earn money.

Regardless of whether your ex-spouse is requesting alimony payments or you are hoping to secure them, we can advocate for solutions that will support your rights.

Property Division in Florida

Property division in Florida family law is based on equitable distribution. In an equitable distribution state, the property is first separated into separate property and marital property.

Separate property is anything you already owned before marriage. The separate property continues to belong to you after the divorce. Marital property is all property and debts that either party gained while married.

In Florida, all marital property is assumed to belong to each party equally unless the judge determines that there is a justification for why one spouse should keep more marital property than the other. Some factors they could consider include:

• The contributions of each spouse to the marriage, such as childcare.
• Whether either spouse was solely or primarily responsible for certain debts.
• How long the marriage lasted.
• The financial circumstances of each spouse.
• Whether one spouse helped the other with their education or career.
• Any other factors the judge considers relevant.

Narcissist Divorce

Divorcing a narcissist has unique challenges, and it is important that you have support from an attorney who understands how to best support you. Some common signs that your spouse could be a narcist include:

• Grand gestures
• Delusions of grandeur
• A sense of entitlement
• Lack of empathy
• Belittles others
• Refusal to accept criticism

If you are divorcing a narcissist, they will try to manipulate the situation. They could even become dangerous, and they could start to behave in unpredictable ways. An experienced divorce lawyer will understand how to set boundaries so that they are not able to control the situation. They will guide you through each negotiation and support you to ensure your needs are heard.

Prenuptial Agreements

A prenuptial agreement, also known as a prenup, is a legal agreement that a couple arrives at before they marry. A prenup addresses the issue of ownership of assets so that if their marriage does end in divorce, certain assets will be protected from division.

Although this may feel unromantic, it can be an incredibly important document. Many types of people can benefit from creating a prenuptial agreement, such as:

• Someone with significant assets.
• Someone who earns significantly more than their spouse.
• Someone who stands to inherit significant assets.
• Someone whose spouse owes significant debts.
• A business owner or someone with a considerable stake in a business.
• Someone who has children from a previous relationship.

Modifying a Divorce Decree

Even if the decisions made in the formulation of your divorce decree were originally the right ones, as life moves on, your obligations could become increasingly difficult. A divorce decree is a legally binding document, so you cannot stop meeting your obligations for any reason. Instead, you should seek help from a Key Biscayne family law lawyer who can help you file for a post-judgment modification.

In order to modify the terms of your divorce decree, your attorney will help you file a petition for modification along with evidence of why it is necessary. Common justifications include:

• Your child's needs change.
• You lose your job and cannot afford child support payments.
• One party develops a disability or illness.
• You uncover new facts, such as hidden assets that should have been divided in your divorce decree.
• You move to a new state.
• You gain new obligations that make it difficult to adhere to the current parenting schedule.

At Miami Family Law Group, PLLC, we will help you and your ex-spouse mediate a modification to your divorce decree. This continues to foster healthy relationships and ensures that the modification meets everyone's needs. If you and your ex-spouse cannot agree, then we will advocate on your behalf in front of a judge.

Enforcement of a Court Order

When someone fails to pay court-ordered child support payments or alimony, the payments never disappear; they accumulate and quickly gain interest. Therefore, if your ex has failed to make payments on time or in full, it is important to speak to a family lawyer to determine your options.

At Miami Family Law Group, PLLC, we will first try to mediate with your ex-spouse to determine a payment plan that they are able to meet. However, if they refuse to cooperate or continue to miss payments, then we will take your case to a judge. A judge could garnish their wages or size their property to repay you. They could also find them in contempt of court, which can carry fines or even jail time.

If you are unable to make the payments asked of you, then we can also help you file for a modification, and we will help you negotiate a manageable payment plan for the payments you have missed.

Paternity

When a child is born, it is clear who the mother is. However, establishing who the father is can sometimes be more difficult. If the mother is married to the father when the child is born, paternity will be automatically granted. However, if the parents are not married, then the father may need the help of a family law attorney to establish his parental rights.

If both parents agree to who the father is, then paternity can be easily established by both parties signing an official document. However, if they do not agree, then the father will need to file a petition requesting that the court grant them paternity. After a paternity order is issued, the father will have the same parental rights and responsibilities as any parent. The child can also benefit from their father being officially named as their legal parent, such as health insurance benefits and the right to inheritance.

If you do not believe you are the father of a child, then an attorney can help you disprove paternity. Once paternity is disproven, you will no longer be legally required to pay child support payments or care for the child. Proving that you are not the father could involve DNA tests, travel and phone records, and witness testimony.

Guardianship

A guardianship is a legal relationship that grants decision-making powers to a guardian on behalf of a ward. A ward is someone who is not able to make those decisions for themself, such as a minor child or a mentally ill or disabled adult. The guardian may be granted the power to make medical decisions, financial decisions, or both.

A guardian may be required for a child whose parents are not able to make those decisions on their behalf. For example, if their parents have died, become ill, or have lost their parental rights due to their behavior, another person may be named as the child's guardian.

Guardianship is complex, as you will need to establish why it is necessary, what form of guardianship is appropriate, and why you would make a good guardian. A family law lawyer will help you protect your loved one and ensure that everyone's rights are protected.

Speak to a Key Biscayne, FL Family Law Attorney Today

When you secure representation from an experienced family law attorney at Miami Family Law Group, PLLC, you can be confident that you are taking every possible step to protect the future of yourself and your children.

We will support you from start to finish, and we will never compromise on your rights. We are skilled mediators, and we can help negotiate agreements that will meet your needs. However, we will ensure that you are never left vulnerable by always being prepared to take your case to court.

Utilizing over 30 years of experience, relationships with experts who can assist with family law cases, and a dedication to the needs of our clients, we will help you transition to a new life with confidence. Arrange a meeting with a compassionate family lawyer serving Key Biscayne today by contacting our office at 305-520-7874.