Grandparents’ rights in the state of Florida is a somewhat tricky matter. There is language in the law that allows for grandparents’ rights and visitation and even custody, but many times people believe that grandparents have more rights than they actually do. Many years ago, there was a statute that actually gave grandparents visitation. It simply stated in a divorce or if one parent was dead the deceased child’s parents could seek visitation of their offspring. Basically, the Supreme Court of Florida knocked that down saying that parents had a right to raise their own children, and grandparents do not have a right to interfere with the raising of your children.  Think about it, it does make sense. It was ruled unconstitutional. Let’s say you had a falling out with your parent, do you want that parent to be able to petition the court to see your children against your will?  So it completely makes sense that grandparents’ rights are limited.

When preparing alimony agreements, one must be very careful with the language. The language in any type of agreement does not have to be overly intelligent. Many times lawyers like to use big words and Latin phrases to try to prove how smart they are.  Any alimony agreement, or any legal agreement for that matter, needs to be extremely clear and unambiguous by any reader.  The more words to clear things up, the better. I like even giving examples sometimes of what I mean when I prepare an agreement. Sometimes lawyers like to act too smart and it actually can come back to haunt them by leaving a lot of grey area in an agreement.

A Marital Settlement Agreement is when parties to a divorce basically agree to terms. This can be partial or it can be full.  For example, a Marital Settlement Agreement can dispose of all equitable distribution.  Or it could dispose of all alimony and other things.  A Judge does have to approve it if you have agreed on all children’s issues.  It is much easier for a Judge to set aside an agreement if he or she does not think the best interests of the children have been maintained.  Having said that, when an agreement is reached it is difficult but not impossible to have one set aside.  Basically, you should never sign one without seeking the advice of an attorney.  I can’t tell you how many times people have come to me trying to get out of an agreement that they signed.  Marital Settlement Agreements are not rocket science.  If they are clear, they will usually stand. 

Kenny Leigh & Associates specializes in divorce as well as other family law litigation, and represents men exclusively. The following are some of our cases and the results we have attained. As you read the examples below, you should keep in mind that the facts may be different from your case; nuances exist in every case that may not be obvious, but that can definitely affect the outcome. Additionally, a judge could wake up on a different side of the bed one day, causing a completely different ruling.

When dividing proceeds from a personal injury lawsuit, it is important first to go the equitable distribution statute.  Basically, everything that was acquired from the point of marriage to the point of filing a petition is marital and subject to equitable distribution.  The rule of thumb is that everything gets split equally.  Even though a person may not acquire funds from a personal injury lawsuit, if the action took place during this timeframe (point of marriage to point of filing) then that money could be subject to equitable distribution.  Also, as with any blog and the law, it is important to remember that when you read these blogs, although it may seem directly on point, there is a lot of gray area in the law and your case may differ ever so slightly.  Also, prenuptial agreements can come into play on stuff like this as well.  When trying to determine how to separate personal injury, or tort, proceeds, the court should take an analytical approach to look at the nature of a workers’ compensation or personal injury damage award to determine whether property is separate, belonging to one of the spouses, or marital property subject to equitable distribution.