West Palm Beach Modification & Enforcements Lawyer
Divorce decrees are not written in stone. They are established to reflect the current situation when two parties get divorced. Over time, circumstances can change. Modifications may need to be made in child custody, child support or alimony, if you or your former spouse have experienced significant change in your living situations. This is a highly complicated area of the law that can lead to bitter disputes.
Modifications may need to be made in child custody, child support or alimony, if you or your former spouse have experienced significant change in your living situation. Contact skilled West Palm Beach child support, custody, parenting plan & timesharing modification lawyer William Wallshein for more information.
Child Support & Custody Modifications
A divorce agreement will not necessarily serve as an indefinite solution. Substantial changes in an economic or personal situation can spur the need to modify a child support or child custody arrangement. Whether your work situation has changed or you need to relocate out of state, changes cannot be made formally without modifying the child support or parenting plan agreement.
Decades of Experience Modifying Agreements in Children’s Best Interests
I am William Wallshein, a West Palm Beach child support modification lawyer with more than 38 years of experience. I understand the challenges that can be presented when seeking to modify support or custody arrangements. Nothing can be changed without proving a modification would be in the child’s best interests. Disputes can quickly arise with conflicting views over what would be in a child’s best interests. Based on my years of experience, I know how to negotiate in your favor without adding fuel to the fire. Contact my West Palm Beach law firm to learn how I can help you modify or enforce a divorce agreement.
Handling Child Support Modifications in Florida
If your income or your former spouse’s income has increased or decreased, it may be possible to change the amount of child support you pay or receive. I am a former certified public accountant (CPA) who knows how to work with numbers and accounting principles. You can feel confident knowing you would not be shortchanged from a child support modification.
I also have a strong background handling complicated contested modifications. When one parent plans to move or wants more time with their children, this will affect not only the custody arrangement but also child support. I offer a common sense approach to guide clients through the modification process, while seeking solutions in children’s best interests.
Seeking Child Custody Modifications in Children’s Best Interests
Child custody modifications are not written in stone. A substantial change in either parent’s living situation could cause a custody arrangement to be modified. I have extensive experience handling modifications based on a variety of circumstances, such as:
- Job relocation
- New job or a job loss
- Serious illness
- Changes in a child’s needs
- Chemical dependency issues
- Incarceration
- Neglect or abuse concerns
Not every child custody modification is black and white. Often parents have conflicting views over what would be in the children’s best interests. I have extensive experience working in family law and know the right experts to consult, including child psychologists, guardian ad litems and parenting coordinators. In highly contested cases, the right experts can make all the difference in supporting your claim to modify or enforce the current custody arrangement. I offer a compassionate approach blended with skilled advocacy to help you secure a resolution that would be most beneficial for your children.
Parenting Plan Modifications
When a child’s parents divorce or separate, a parenting plan is key to childrearing. Parenting plans are required in all instances where parents time-share a minor child. They are co-parenting tools that outline each parent’s responsibilities and set out a time-sharing schedule. Sometimes, however, the family situation changes and the parenting plan must be modified. If you want to modify your Florida parenting plan, talk to a West Palm Beach parenting plan modification lawyer today.
A parenting plan is a court order. This means that parents must obtain court approval to modify them. In order to modify a parenting plan, Florida requires a “substantial, material, and unanticipated change of circumstances” since the issuance of the plan. To get a modification, a parent must show both that the circumstances have substantially changed since the custody determination and that it is in the child’s best interests to modify the parenting plan.
Changed Circumstances
Florida’s parenting plan statute does not specify what constitutes changed circumstances. Instead, the courts examine the facts of each case, in some instances considering the child’s input. Though the determination is made on an individual basis, it may be helpful to look at examples of what constitutes changed circumstances, which include:
- Evidence of one parent alienating the child from the other;
- One parent’s failure to follow the parenting plan;
- One parent inappropriately making unilateral decisions about the child’s welfare;
- One parent’s interference with the other parent’s time-sharing;
- Forbidding the child from calling the other parent;
- Refusing to return the child after visitation;
- Willfully and falsely alleging abuse against the other parent;
- Making obscene and derogatory comments about the other parent;
- Serious concerns about one parent’s moral fitness;
- Misleading the court in order to gain custody of the child;
- Causing disputes and arguments in front of the children when they have time sharing with the other parent; and
- Making co-parenting as difficult as possible.
However, if the parents merely have an acrimonious relationship and do not communicate, this, without more, is not sufficient to qualify as changed circumstances and warrant a modification.
Procedure
Ideally, the parents will be able to come to an agreement on how to modify their parenting plan. In that case, they can generally get the modifications approved by a judge in order to make the changes legally effective. But a judge may alter the proposed changes to make sure they meet legal standards, even if the parents do not agree to the judge’s changes.
Sometimes, before approving any requested modifications, a judge will require the input of a guardian ad litem, who is a third party representing the child’s interests in the situation. The guardian ad litem can make recommendations to the judge, based on the child’s best interests. The court may also require the parents to complete a parenting education course.
Offering a Common-Sense Approach to Protect Your Best Interests
I am William Wallshein, a West Palm Beach custody modification lawyer with more than 38 years of experience. Whether you are trying to modify an agreement in your divorce or need help fighting to enforce a current arrangement, I have the skills and tenacity to protect your best interests. I offer a common-sense approach to understand the issues at stake from modifying or maintaining the current family law decree. Contact my West Palm Beach law firm to learn how I can preserve your personal and financial interests during a free initial consultation.
Seeking Modifications When Substantial Circumstances Change
As time evolves, circumstances change. What was once a workable child custody or support arrangement may no longer be effective. Unexpected economic downturns can also have far-reaching implications that may require spousal support or child support to be modified. During an initial consultation, I will work with you to understand why you are looking to modify your parenting plan or support arrangement, such as:
- Job loss
- Salary increase or salary cut
- Cut in working hours and need for less day care
Modifying child custody, child support or alimony arrangements can be highly complicated, especially when children are involved. Changing a parenting schedule will ultimately affect the child support arrangement. I am an experienced family law attorney prepared to anticipate all of the issues that need to be addressed when modifying a divorce decree. I will work with you to make sure your financial and personal interests are preserved.
My top priority is to explain why modifying the current child custody arrangement would be in your child’s best interests. I have access to experienced child physiologists and other family experts who can explain why a modification would be beneficial for your child. I am also highly in tune to the financial implications involved. I am a former certified public accountant (CPA) prepared to address all the financial issues stemming from a modification.
Pursuing Divorce Decree Enforcements in Florida
Has your former spouse refused to follow the parenting plan agreed to in your divorce? Are you struggling to secure child support payments on a regular basis from your ex? Do you fear your former spouse may try to uproot your kids after securing a new job out of state? You may feel overwhelmed, but you have legal options.
I have extensive experience seeking to enforce child support, child custody and alimony arrangements. When children are involved, everything should be done in their best interests. However, determining what would be in their best interests can be highly complicated. Based on my years of experience, I know how to make a case explaining what would be most beneficial for a child. If your child has thrived with the current arrangement, this can be a negotiating tool to try and enforce it. When necessary, I can bring in child physiologists or other experts to help us build a strong case.
Time-Sharing Modifications for Military Divorce
There are many issues to consider when you and your spouse have decided to divorce. Many of the issues can be fairly straightforward, like equitable division of property, where will each spouse live, who will the children live with, and what will the parenting plan look like. The issues become even more difficult to parse through where you or your spouse is a member of the military. As a member of the military, the ability to do your job may conflict with the ability to parent and be around for your kids. If you or your spouse is a member of the military and you are considering a divorce, it is important to speak with an experienced West Palm Beach military divorce lawyer.
Modifications Made for Parents in the Military
Over the last few years, family courts, with the utmost goal in mind of joint parenting, have looked for ways by which men and women who are military service people can not only serve their country as necessary but also ensure that these men and women maintain a close relationship with their children when they are not on active duty. Florida does this by providing military men and women who are going through a divorce with specific modifications to enable them to be co-parents to the greatest extent possible.
Modifications for Military Parents Dependent on Status
According to Florida law, many of the child custody and child support modifications made for men and women of the military relate directly with the person’s status – whether he or she is considered activated, deployed, or temporarily active. The status may dictate whether certain modifications in time-sharing with the children will be possible. The status of service will determine the type of temporary conditions and custody arrangements will be put in place to allow both parents the most time with their children.
Best Interests of the Child
Though the parent’s status is important, the greatest factor to be considered by the court when determining family arrangements and child custody is the best interest of the child(ren). If the Court finds that it is in the best interest of the child to have a specific custody arrangement, then the arrangement will stand until either the interests of the child have changed or the parent’s military status has changed. Then the court will evaluate what the next temporary custody arrangement will be.
Change in Status for 90 Days or Longer
When the parent is going to be deployed, is activated, or otherwise on an assignment for longer than 90 days and the change in status of the parent will materially change the parental arrangement currently in place, the parent may designate a family member, stepparent, or other relative of the child to exercise the military parent’s parenting and time-sharing plan. This is to ensure that the child is looked after, and when the arrangement in place is joint custody, the shared burden is not entirely shifted to the non-military parent. This will also provide a stabilized arrangement for the child, especially when the military parent’s status changes consistently.
Where the other parent has an issue with the designation of the military parent’s family member, then a hearing may be prescribed, whereby the military parent may be allowed to testify to the court via phone, video teleconference, or affidavit, among other mediums, that the person designated is in the best interest of the child.
Contact a West Palm Beach Modification & Enforcement Attorney
Whether you are seeking to enforce a child support arrangement or need help with a modification, I have the skills and legal resources to protect your best interests. Contact my family law firm today to schedule a free initial consultation. My West Palm Beach office is located near I-95 and PGA Boulevard.
