Family Law

Naples, Florida, Criminal Defense and Family Law Attorney

Divorce

The legal term for divorce in Florida is dissolution of marriage. The process begins when one party files a petition seeking a court order on issues such as property division, child custody, child support, and spousal support. The other side then has 20 days to contact a lawyer and file an answer and possibly a counter-petition.

Child Custody and Support

Florida family courts frown upon split and rotating child-custody arrangements. If child custody is contested, courts will usually pick one parent to have primary custodial custody, based on about 10 different factors. The parent without primary custody will have visitation, which typically translates into alternating weekends, a weekday, split holidays, and split winter and spring breaks.

Paternity Actions

Unmarried mothers and fathers can seek paternity actions in Florida. Mothers usually do so because the father is not paying voluntary child support. Many fathers seek to establish paternity because the mother is either not providing visitation or is playing puppet-master with the father over when he can and can't see his child.

Modifications

Divorce settlements are not written in stone. Many parts of your agreement, such as child support, child custody and visitation, and spousal support can be changed if there is a significant change in your circumstances after the divorce. I offer a free initial consultation to explain how the process works.

Free attorney consultation: If you are facing divorce, a child custody or visitation dispute, or any other family law matter, contact me, Collier County attorney David T. Agoston. I have an office in Naples and a satellite office in Immokalee. Se habla español.