Recent Blog Posts
Addressing 529 College Savings Accounts for Your Child in Divorce
Just as arguing over assets is one aspect of some divorces. The treatment of 529 and custodial college savings accounts is an increasingly common issue for some divorcing parents, and therefore for family law attorneys as well. What will happen to the account, who will manage it, how it should be addressed in the… Read More »
New Study Reveals That Police Exhibit “Persistent Racial Bias” In Traffic Stops, Searches & Seizures, Which Has Significant Implications for Drug Arrests & Charges
According to a new study, regardless of whether a police officer is from a municipal police department, or state patrol agency, the decisions that they make to pull over and search motorists are often affected by “persistent racial bias,” whereby not only are Black drivers more frequently pulled over due to their race, but… Read More »
Deciding What to Do When You Are Potentially Separating as an Unmarried Parent
As attorneys who practice family law here in Florida, sometimes the questions we receive are not from those who have already made up their mind that they necessarily want to move forward with a particular path, such as divorce. Sometimes, for example, we are contacted by those who simply want to discuss precautionary issues… Read More »
When Divorced Parents Disagree Over Whether Their Child Should Return to School This Fall
As the summer winds down and kids get ready for the 2020-2021 school year, most Florida school districts are providing parents with the option to decide whether to send their kids to school in-person or continue with online learning, as they did during the second half of the spring. However, just as the coronavirus… Read More »
Addressing The Dissipation of Marital Assets in Divorce
Unfortunately, each year there are a number of individuals who battle over finances during their divorce, and in some of those cases, dissipation of assets can become an issue. Some may decide that they suddenly need to engage in excessive spending in order to prevent their spouse from getting more of the marital assets,… Read More »
Public Defenders Lack Access to The Resources Necessary to Keep Innocent People Out of Jail
Although in America, citizens who are accused of crimes are supposed to have an advantage because the burden of proof is on the state of prosecution, in practice, this is not the case, and the government often has the edge because they cannot only issue subpoenas, compel testimony, and pressure defendants to enter into… Read More »
Addressing Child Custody Issues When Parents Live in Two Different States
Child custody battles are already complicated and difficult enough without issues also arising related to parents living in different states. Still, they do come up, especially given that people sometimes have to move out of state for work and making long-distance arrangements work can be difficult. Even in cases where both parents file for… Read More »
What’s Next for Qualified Immunity & The Many Criminal Defendants It Affects Each Year
We’ve previously discussed qualified immunity, the legal doctrine essentially created by the US Supreme Court which shields government officials – typically law enforcement – from accountability after using excessive force and violating a defendant’s constitutional rights unless there is an already-existing judicial decision with substantially similar facts finding that an officer engaged in illegal… Read More »
Florida Supreme Court Reverses Yet Another Decision, This Time Opening Door to Mentally Disabled Being Executed
In late May, the Florida Supreme Court reversed yet another one of its previous decisions; this time involving capital punishment and intellectual disabilities, opening the door to allowing defendants with mental disabilities who were previously sentenced to death under an unconstitutional state law to still be executed even though the US Supreme Court ruled… Read More »
Fifth Circuit Reverses Murder Conviction of Florida Man Who Shot Deputy Defending His Niece
In April, a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Florida man convicted of premeditated first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer while discharging a firearm was innocent due to Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law in an important ruling reinforcing homeowners’ rights when it comes to Florida’s laws on justifiable use of force…. Read More »
