Don't Sign That!!!!!

Its been a while since I have blogged and I apologize for my absence from the Internet. I have a variety of different things that I would like to discuss here and I am going to make an effort over the next several months to have a new entry every Monday.

With that being said, if anyone has any topics they would like to discuss, please feel free to email me here or email my work address at www.bauerfamilylaw.com.

Over the past several months, I have had several people come in for a consultation with signed Marital Settlement Agreements and Parenting Plans. The usual question that is asked is whether or not there is anything that can be done to modify or set aside those contracts. When it comes to divorce proceedings, under most circumstances, especially within a few months after the ink is dry, the answer is going to be no. There are no rights to rescission, there is no setting aside an agreement because it is a bad deal. Once you sign an agreement you are going to be stuck with it absent a showing of a substantial change of circumstances or some fairly serious fraud or duress. Therefore, the best course of action is to have a family law attorney read through your agreement BEFORE you sign it to ensure that you are not signing something that you shouldn't. Most attorneys have a reasonable consultation fee and paying a nominal fee is worth it in the long run if you are unsure as to whether or not you should sign a Marital Settlement Agreement. Please, do not sign anything without first consulting with an attorney.

Questions and Answers

I recently blogged about changes to the Florida Child Support Guidelines that are going to be effective in January of 2011. This particular subject has hit a nerve with many of my readers and also generated quite a few questions. As a result, here are some answers to some of the questions that were posted as a result of the new law regarding child support and what constitutes substantial contact for purposes of credits in a child support calculation.

1. Many people questioned whether or not this law is something that will help or hurt children. To answer this question, I think that we don't have enough data to know whether this law is going to have a negative impact on children. As a practicing attorney with many clients going through divorce, I have seen first hand issues with respect to time-sharing that are specifically related to whether or not someone is going to get the substantial contact credit. I see both sides of the agrument and don't know whether or not this is going to have a big impact on cases settling or people coming out of the woodwork asking for their statutory reductions. True, someone is going to get less child support as a result of this change in the law, but my hope would be that the payor parent will be more willing to help out in other financial ways like school supplies, clothing, and extra-curricular activities as a result of this reduction.

2. The statute does not specifically address extracurricular activities, however, there is a trend, at least in Central Florida to make all agreed upon extracurricular activities shared between the parties and that no party can unreasonably withhold their consent for monetary reasons. I suggest that all parties request that this be put in their Final Judgments and certainly address it in your parenting plan if you and your spouse are coming to a full agreement.

3. Daycare and summer camp expenses should always be a part of child support and addressed by a judge. One of the other changes that is going to go into effect is that childcare is no longer reduced by 25%. If you are paying 100% of the daycare, this will be factored into your child support award or obligation.

4. If you want to get this substantial contact reduction, you need to file the appropriate paperwork with the Court, which
I believe would be a Supplemental Petition to Modify. It is something that you can do on your own by getting the appropriate papers online or from your local courthouse.

If you would like more information or have a specific question, please feel free to email me at christine@bauerfamilylaw.com.