If a wife and husband separate or divorce, a court still cannot directly order one or both of them to work. The court can, however, declare that one or both parties owe a duty of financial support to the other party (alimony; also called maintenance or spousal support) or to the children (child support).
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Close to 95 percent of divorces do not end up in a contested trial. Usually, the parties negotiate and settle property division, spousal support, and child custody between themselves, often with the help of a lawyer. Sometimes parties reach an agreement by mediation, with a trained mediator who tries to help the husband and wife identify and accommodate common interests. The parties then present their negotiated or mediated agreement to a judge.
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Equitable distribution means that a court divides marital property as it thinks is valid, just, and equitable. The division of property could be 50-50, 60-40, 70-30, or even all for one spouse and nothing for the other (although that would be very unusual.) The percentage distribution need not be the same for all property, and the percentage entitlement may vary from one asset to another.
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Both parents, married or not, have a duty to support their child. If the father admits paternity, the father often will be asked to sign an affidavit (a legal statement) to that effect. Then, if necessary, it will be easier to force the father to help support the child. If he does not admit to being the father, the mother may file a paternity suit against him. If this civil action succeeds, the court will require the father to provide support.
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A standard visitation schedule is every other weekend (Friday evening through Sunday); a weeknight (for dinner); the child's winter and spring breaks in alternating years; alternate major holidays; and several weeks in the summer. If parents live far apart and regular weekend visitation is not feasible, it is common to allocate more summer vacation and school holidays to the noncustodial parent.
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Under the laws of almost all states, mothers and fathers have an equal right to custody. Courts are not supposed to assume that a child is automatically better off with the mother or the father.
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Florida courts require mediation of custody and visitation disputes. The mother and father must talk with a court-appointed mediator to try to resolve the problem before putting their case before a judge. The mediator cannot force a resolution, but the parties can be told to try mediation before coming to court.
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It is common for a person to have up to a dozen will substitutes, that is, various ways of distributing property regardless of whether the person has a formal will.
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Pensions, life insurance, gifts, joint ownership, and trusts are but a few of the ways you can transfer property at or before death quickly and inexpensively.
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Some ways of organizing your business protect you from liabity for big personal injury damages if your firm is successfully sued, or you might be personally liable if your firm defaults on a loan. You might lose your home, your car, your brokerage account, and everything.
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