What is ‘Discovery’ in a Divorce Case?

After you have filed your case, the next step is the Discovery Phase—the process of gathering information about what you know, what your spouse knows, and what third parties may know about your case. Discovery reaches not only financial information but any information necessary to your case. 

It can include information available from the other party or third parties regarding issues surrounding the divorce, including facts concerning your financial life or those related to the children, adultery, possible abuse and neglect and other issues.

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Is a Final Judgment Really Final?

When a judge has entered the final judgment in your divorce case, in most instances, you are officially divorced. One thought you might have is “at least that is over”—but is it really over?

Unfortunately, maybe not.  You may be involved in ongoing litigation even after you are divorced. If you or your former spouse are not happy with the outcome of the case, there may be remedies available for to both of you to challenge or correct the final judgment. 

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Insights From An Experienced Divorce Lawyer

After more than 20 years of being a practicing attorney focused primarily on family law, I would like to share some important insights about the divorce process.

In many marriages, one parent is more rigid and strict, and one parent is more relaxed and lenient. The more rigid parent will not likely gain control over the more relaxed parent’s parenting style and successfully impose his or her more stringent rules on the other parent. Instead, both parents will likely have to learn to work together, and if nothing else, learn to look the other way on contentious issues.

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Is Mediation An Option In My Divorce Case?

Mediation is a settlement process where a neutral third party, a mediator, assists the parties by facilitating settlement discussions to resolve the outstanding issues in the divorce case. During mediation, the parties remain in control of the outcome, and if they can come to a mutual agreement, the case resolves voluntarily on terms approved by the parties.  In contrast to mediation, a trial is a completely different ball field, where parties lose the control to decide the elements of their divorce and instead opt to have a judge make those determinations.

My Ex Is Not Stable. How Can I Get Supervised Time-Sharing?

Time-sharing is a schedule of how the children will spend time with each parent. Unless otherwise notified, the court assumes that both parents are “good parents” and have no issues that affect their ability to parent their children.

However, if your spouse has problems that call into question his or her ability to parent the children safely, you may need to think about a supervised or safety-focused parenting plan.

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Can Social Media Affect My Divorce Or Family Law Case?

Many people routinely share personal details about their lives online, where countless numbers of people can see them. When you’re going through a divorce or other family law proceeding, it might be tempting to post insults about your ex or vent to your online “friends.” But keep in mind that unless you have configured privacy settings on your social media profiles, chances are your ex and his or her attorney also are reading your posts.

Most social media platforms offer users the option to restrict access to their information with privacy settings—but many people don’t restrict access. Even when users do restrict access, their information may still be available to other users.

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Can Child Support Be Modified?

Under Florida law, child support is always subject to modification—in fact, it cannot be designated as “nonmodifiable.”  This includes child support ordered from a previous divorce, a paternity action or a support order established by the Florida Department of Revenue.

If there is a prior order in place, a parent, or in some instances the Department of Revenue, may file for a modification if there is a substantial change in circumstances. A change in circumstances can result from many things, but to modify child support the change must be “sufficient, material, involuntary and permanent in nature” and significantly impact the support obligation.

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