Located in Broward County, Pembroke Pines is a South Florida city with a population of about six million residents as of 2015. As of 2000, over half of the city’s households were married couples, and over one-third were households with young children. The average family size was 3.13. Divorce may be a challenging time for families. Decisions made during a divorce may affect each family member for the rest of their life, and children are especially vulnerable to the complicated emotions that may arise. If you are considering dissolving your marriage, you should consult experienced Pembroke Pines divorce lawyer Carmen G. Soto. She has practiced as a family law attorney for more than 15 years. Our firm is proud to offer flexible payment plans to allow for our clients’ specific financial circumstances.
In Florida, your divorce is no-fault. This means that the court will not need to make a determination about whether wrongdoing by either spouse caused the marriage to end. Instead, either spouse may obtain a divorce if one of them has lived in Florida for at least the six months immediately prior to the divorce, and they are able to establish that the marriage is irretrievably broken.
If you have children, your divorce will include decisions about timesharing (formerly known as child custody) and support. Judges in Florida are required to base their decisions on a child’s best interest, and each case will be determined individually. However, there is a presumption that children are best off when they have frequent contact with both parents, and both parents make decisions about how they are raised. Mothers are not presumed to have a greater right to spending time with a child.
When the parents negotiate a written parenting plan between themselves, they will need to get approval from the court. The written plan will need to specify the plan for timesharing, as well as how the former spouses intend to share responsibility for any daily parenting tasks that will need to be performed and how each of them will communicate with the child. The parenting plan also will need to provide a designated address for the purpose of school registration, and it will need to state who will take charge of education and health care matters that arise.
In many cases, one parent will need to pay child support to the other parent. The specific timesharing arrangement in the case generally will have an impact on the amount of support that the court orders. It is important for parents to recognize that the child support is being paid for the child rather than for the other parent. The child support goes toward the child’s shelter, electricity, food, water, and sometimes health insurance.
Even under the best of circumstances, divorce may be challenging. If you are considering taking this step, Pembroke Pines divorce attorney Carmen G. Soto can offer experienced and skillful representation. Members of our staff can speak Spanish for your convenience. Contact us at 954-523-0703 or via our online form to set up a consultation with a family law attorney. Since we are located directly across the street from the new Broward courthouse, we will not need to charge you travel costs or parking fees related to court proceedings.