Michael Todd Rebuck, P.A.

05/18/2025

$258B monthly surplus. That’s $3.32T over a year. What the hell were liberals and democrats DOING with our tax dollars the last 60 years? 🇺🇸

08/28/2024

10/08/2022

10/08/2022

401,170 car accidents in Florida in 2021.

05/11/2015

Divorce doesn't just affect the people and families associated with the parties. Divorce also has potentially devastating effects on our pets. In most states including Florida, pets are deemed personal property. The family court does not address time-sharing or other special arrangements to ensure our pet’s needs are met. It is common for divorcing couples to take strong emotional positions regarding who will keep the pets. Many couples and families require professional guidance to ensure minimal impact on their pets resulting from divorce.

One alternative for solving the 'pet dilemma' is to award the pets to the parties’ minor children. Under this arrangement, the animals go back and forth between houses on the same time-sharing schedule as the minor children. This arrangement works well in cases where the parents and families communicate effectively and can accommodate the needs of their beloved pets.

In cases where the parties do not or cannot work together, options for pet arrangements become very limited. Because the courts are inundated with issues involving minor children, spousal support, division of assets and other important issues, neither time nor resources can be dedicated to hear issues related to pet care. In Florida, pets are considered personal property and are treated with the same indifference as personal property. In many cases, the court's decision on the fate of the animals ends in tragedy.

Our animal friends are part of the family. They bring us so much love and joy, and they depend upon us for their every need. Our pet's futures are always best handled through negotiation of the parties. Their fate should never be left to the decision of the trial court.

05/11/2015

Alimony Bill dies in waning days of Legislative session .... Maybe next year?

05/06/2015

A parenting plan stipulates the amount of time a child spends with each parent. Married or not, parents should exercise visitation rights as soon as they part ways. Without a custody order or visitation schedule in place, one party typically claims all parental rights. If visitation has been established but one parent does not adhere to the guidelines, the other should take action immediately.

When visitation is established in writing, it serves as an enforceable legal agreement. If one parent breaches the agreement, the other should initiate a discussion to find out why. The issue may be as simple as a change in work hours. Sometimes problems can be resolved by agreement and with a simple schedule change.

When one parent withholds a child from visitation with the other parent, the situation becomes more serious. Parents use their children as pawns for many reasons. If a parent occasionally withholds time-sharing, the other parent should record the dates and times and request make-up time. Failing that, the aggrieved party should hire counsel.

Consistently withholding time-sharing is a violation of court order. In Florida, non-compliance of the parenting plan is a very serious matter. Filing a motion for contempt/enforcement is the typical legal device to preserve parental rights. In the worst offense cases, a supplemental petition to modify may be needed, where judge may decide to make a custody change.

05/05/2015

Kindness is habit-forming.

05/04/2015

When marital assets or debts are mistakenly omitted from a Final Judgment, the oversight can significantly affect the child support obligations, alimony awards and shares of equitable distribution. The trial court handles thousands of divorce cases, and the attorneys are largely responsible for ensuring that all issues are addressed by the court and included in the court's orders. Nonetheless, marital assets and debts may be inadvertently omitted from a Final Judgment due to scrivener error or oversight, which in turn may result in significant financial loss to one or both parties.

If a mistake is discovered after final judgment, the best alternative is to contact an attorney immediately. Mistakes can often be quickly corrected by filing a joint motion. Or, if one party will not agree that a mistake has been made, the moving party may file a motion and set a hearing to address the mistake. Courts are eager to correct oversights if they can be proved by competent evidence. In most cases, a genuine mistake on a court order will be corrected by the court.

05/03/2015

Of course, the previous posts are subject to a pending legislative rewrite of current alimony laws. To be continued ...

05/03/2015

When the court issues an order for alimony, it must include a statement of facts regarding which factors it found to support the award or denial of alimony.

In considering adultery, the court will generally look to see if there was a financial detriment to the non-adulterous spouse. If the cheating spouse took her paramour on lavish vacations, bought them jewelry, or paid rent for the paramour's apartment during the marriage, the non-cheating spouse may be able to show financial detriment. The squandering of marital assets in furtherance of an extramarital affair may influence the alimony award.

05/03/2015

Infidelity is irrelevant as grounds for divorce in Florida, However, cheating behaviors become relevant under Florida's alimony laws, as courts may consider either spouse's adultery when determining whether to award spousal support and how much to award.