Category: Family Law

Couples who live apart for years often assume their finances split the day someone moved out. Florida law says otherwise. The line between marital and separate property is drawn by statute, not by a change of address.

The Date That Actually Divides Property

Florida’s equitable-distribution statute treats assets acquired and debts incurred during the marriage as marital, whether they sit in one spouse’s name or both. The law even presumes property gained after the wedding is marital unless a spouse shows otherwise. The classification cutoff is narrow, landing on the earliest of three events:

• The date the spouses sign a valid separation agreement;
• Another date that agreement names; or
• The day one spouse files the petition for dissolution of marriage.

Physical separation is not on that list. If a couple splits in 2023 but no one files until 2026, what each spouse earns, buys, or owes in between can still fall inside the marital estate.

How Florida Courts Have Applied the Rule

In Dove v. Freer, a wife ran up $35,570.06 in credit-card debt on living expenses after separating but before filing. The trial court called it nonmarital because it arose after the couple parted. The appellate court reversed, holding that without a valid separation agreement, the filing date controlled and the debt was marital.

Earlier rulings point the same way. The Fourth DCA reached the same result in Fiala v. Fiala, where about ten years apart did not shift the cutoff off the petition date. In Yon v. Yon, the First DCA rejected the argument that a marriage being “effectively over” set the date.

How to Protect Your Finances Before You File

If you are separated but not yet divorced, the following few habits can help:

• Note when you physically separated, but do not treat that day as the legal cutoff.
• Consider a written agreement to set financial boundaries before filing.
• Keep records showing the source of any inheritance or gift you view as separate.

Assets gained during the gap may still be nonmarital when they come from an inheritance, a nonspousal gift, a premarital asset, or a valid agreement. And a marital debt does not mean each spouse pays half, since courts weigh factors like each person’s finances and any waste of marital funds.

At Wickersham & Bowers, we can pin down your classification date, trace which assets and debts belong in the marital estate, and shape a filing strategy on your timeline. Reach us or call 386-252-3000.

A child refuses a scheduled exchange, and the other parent assumes that settles it. Florida law does not work that way. A judge treats a child’s stated wishes as one factor among many, weighed only after asking why the child is resisting. 

Here is how Florida courts weigh that preference, what happens when an exchange falls apart, and what a parent should do while the current order remains in effect.

A Preference Is a Factor, Not a Veto

Florida Statutes section 61.13 makes the child’s best interests the controlling standard. A court may weigh a reasonable preference, but only if the child has sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to form one. Florida sets no fixed age at which a minor can cancel court-ordered time-sharing.

The weight a preference receives varies. A mature teenager’s longstanding, reasoned concern is treated differently than a younger child’s reluctance after one bad afternoon, and neither is automatically controlling. Courts also weigh whether the child reports anything unsafe and whether either parent has discouraged compliance.

A Failed Exchange Is Not Automatically Contempt

Florida appellate decisions separate a child’s own resistance from a parent’s willful interference. In Pearson v. Pearson, the child was brought to the exchange location but refused to leave the car. The court reversed the resulting contempt finding because no evidence tied the child’s conduct to the mother.

Wolf v. Wolf reached a similar result involving a comparable refusal, although the court upheld contempt over the mother’s separate failure to participate in court-ordered family therapy. A contempt finding generally requires a clear order, present ability to comply, willful noncompliance, and competent evidence, so one difficult exchange rarely settles the matter alone.

Respond to Refusal Without Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands

The existing plan stays enforceable until a court says otherwise, and section 61.13(4) gives judges remedies for an unjustified denial of time-sharing, including make-up time, attorney fees, and contempt. Parents are generally better served by continuing to follow the plan, documenting each exchange neutrally, and avoiding pressure directed at the child.

At Wickersham & Bowers, we work with Florida parents facing this kind of standoff. We can help evaluate whether enforcement or modification fits your situation. Call us at 386-252-3000 or reach out to talk it through.

After a separation, disagreements often surface over who gets the final word on school choices, medical care, or extracurricular activities. Florida law generally favors shared decision-making between parents, so when one parent starts making these calls alone, it can raise real legal questions.

Shared Responsibility, Specific Authority, and Records

Florida no longer uses the word “custody” in its statutes. Instead, parents share parental responsibility, meaning both retain rights and must confer on major decisions affecting the child, unless a court finds that the arrangement would be detrimental. Even within shared responsibility, a judge can still give one parent ultimate say over a defined area, such as education or nonemergency health care. 

Florida appellate courts distinguish between narrow, evidence-supported final decision-making authority and broad, catch-all control. Courts have reversed orders that effectively gave one parent sweeping authority inconsistent with shared parental responsibility. 

Recent Florida case law also stresses due process: Before a parent loses decision-making power over an issue such as schooling, that parent must receive clear notice and a fair opportunity to be heard. Separately, access to a child’s medical, dental, and school records generally cannot be denied to either parent unless a court order says otherwise, even when one parent has less say over the underlying decisions.

Document the Pattern and Ask for the Right Remedy

A parent who feels shut out should start by rereading the parenting plan, since it may already spell out who decides what. From there, it helps to keep a simple, dated record of ignored messages, missed appointments, unilateral school or medical choices, and any denied access to records or providers. 

Retaliating by withholding time-sharing or records tends to backfire and can expose a parent to sanctions. Depending on the situation, the right path forward may be enforcement of the existing order or a modification request, which requires showing a substantial and material change in circumstances along with the child’s best interests.

If school, medical, or activity decisions have become a one-sided fight, we at Wickersham & Bowers can help you understand your options under Florida law. Call us at 386-252-3000 or contact us to talk through your parenting plan and next steps.

When a marriage ends, a closely held business can become one of the hardest assets to divide. A closely held business is a company owned by a small number of people, often spouses, relatives, or a single owner. In Florida divorces, problems often arise when business income, household expenses, company accounts, and personal assets overlap.

Florida Courts First Classify the Business Interest

Florida uses equitable distribution in divorce. That means the court starts with the idea that marital assets and debts should be divided equally, unless specific facts support a different result. The court must also separate marital property from nonmarital property before dividing anything.

A business may raise questions in both categories. One spouse may have started it before marriage, but the business may have grown during the marriage. A spouse may own the shares, while both spouses helped build the company. The court may also look at whether marital money paid business debts, covered payroll gaps, bought equipment, or supported expansion.

That does not mean one spouse automatically receives half the company itself. Often, the real issue is the value of the marital interest and how that value fits into the larger property division.

Mixed Finances Can Make Valuation Harder

Business valuation becomes more difficult when personal and company finances blur. For example, a spouse may pay personal expenses through the business, use company vehicles for family needs, delay income, or run personal purchases through business accounts.

Florida law now addresses closely held business interests more directly. For marital interests in closely held businesses, Florida Statute § 61.075 uses fair market value as the standard. Fair market value generally means the price a willing buyer and willing seller would agree to when both understand the relevant facts and neither faces pressure to act.

Goodwill can also matter. Goodwill is the value of a business beyond its equipment, cash, and physical property. Florida’s updated statute distinguishes between business value and value tied to one person’s continued involvement, skill, or reputation.

Protect Your Business and Your Financial Future

At Wickersham & Bowers, we help clients address divorce, property division, and related family law issues with careful attention to the facts. When a closely held business is involved, we can help you understand what questions need answers before you make long-term decisions.

Call 386-252-3000 or reach out through our contact form to discuss your situation.

A parenting plan is a court-approved plan that explains how parents share time and decision-making for their child. During the school year, even a plan that looked workable on paper can start to break down. Homework, transportation, after-school activities, sick days, and school meetings can expose gaps that parents did not notice before. When those problems repeat, families may need to look closer at the plan and decide whether it needs clearer rules or legal enforcement.

School Schedules Can Expose Weak Spots

Florida parenting plans generally address parental responsibility and time-sharing. Parental responsibility covers major decisions, such as education and health care. Time-sharing covers when the child stays with each parent.

School-year conflict often starts when those two parts overlap. One parent may schedule tutoring on the other parent’s time. Another may miss pickup, ignore school emails, or make education decisions without discussion. These issues may seem small at first. Over time, they can affect the child’s routine and create stress that follows them into the classroom.

A strong parenting plan should explain more than where the child sleeps. It should also give practical direction for school transportation, notices from teachers, extracurricular activities, and who handles urgent school-day problems.

Courts Focus on the Child’s Best Interests

Florida courts use the child’s best interests as the guiding standard in parenting disputes. That does not mean every inconvenience justifies a court fight. A judge will usually look at the pattern, the seriousness of the problem, and how the conflict affects the child.

For instance, if you’re occasionally late, you may need to communicate better. Repeated missed exchanges, refusal to share school information, or decisions that block the other parent’s involvement may raise larger concerns.

If the same school-year issues keep coming up, written proof can help. Save teacher emails, attendance notes, pickup details, texts, and activity schedules so the pattern is easier to explain later.

Talk Through Your Options Before the Conflict Grows

School-year parenting disputes can wear down both parents and children. We help Florida families review parenting plans, address custody and support concerns, and consider practical next steps before the conflict becomes harder to manage.

To speak with Wickersham & Bowers, call 386-252-3000 or fill out our contact form.

In Florida, shared parental responsibility means both parents keep full parental rights and must work together on major decisions affecting their child. That sounds straightforward until a real disagreement shows up. One parent wants a school change. The other says no. A medical issue comes up, and both parents dig in. 

Shared Parental Responsibility Does Not Mean Constant Agreement

Florida courts generally order shared parental responsibility unless the arrangement would be detrimental to the child. The focus stays on major decisions, not every routine choice. A court-approved parenting plan must spell out how parents will handle daily responsibilities, time-sharing, communication, and decision-making for matters such as health care, school-related issues, and other activities.

That structure helps, but it does not eliminate conflict. A deadlock happens when parents with shared decision-making authority cannot reach an agreement on an important issue. In many families, the hardest disputes involve education, nonemergency medical care, counseling, and extracurricular commitments. Florida law does not expect parents to agree on everything. It does expect the parenting plan and, if needed, the court order to address how major decisions will be made.

Florida Courts Can Assign Final Say on Specific Issues

When repeated stalemates make co-parenting harder, a Florida court may give one parent ultimate responsibility over specific aspects of the child’s welfare. That authority is not unlimited. The court may assign final decision-making in defined areas, such as education or health care, based on the child’s best interests. Courts do not award one parent blanket control over every part of the child’s life just because the parents disagree.

If shared parental responsibility would be harmful to the child, the court may instead order sole parental responsibility. Florida law specifically directs courts to consider evidence of domestic violence, abuse, neglect, and related safety concerns when deciding whether shared responsibility is detrimental.

Build a Better Parenting Plan

A strong parenting plan can prevent future deadlocks before they start. Wickersham & Bowers handles family law matters involving child custody and support, divorce, mediation, parental rights, grandparent rights, paternity, and domestic violence issues in Florida. We can help you review whether your current parenting plan gives enough direction when major decisions stall. To discuss your situation, call 386-252-3000 or reach out through our contact form.