The Affordable Law Center

08/31/2026

08/31/2026

September checklist
✅ Kids back to school
✅ Fall calendar updated
✅ Closets organized
⬜ Estate plan reviewed

Check Out Ms. Legal Latte... Jackie Says

08/31/2026

At The Affordable Law Center, our mission is clear: to provide dedicated and affordable legal solutions for everyone. We believe quality legal support should be accessible to all, regardless of circumstance. Visit our website to learn more about how we're making a difference with compassionate, professional representation tailored to your needs.

08/27/2026

At The Affordable Law Center, we believe everyone deserves compassionate and trustworthy legal representation. Our team is dedicated to guiding you through life's legal challenges with integrity and care. Discover how we put clients first while providing affordable, professional services tailored to your unique needs. Visit our website to learn more about our commitment to accessible justice.
https://theaffordablelawcenter.com/

08/23/2026

🎉 10 YEARS OF AFFORDABLE LAW CENTER! 🎉

2016 → 2026

Ten years ago, Affordable Law Center began with a simple belief: quality legal representation should be accessible, personal, and affordable.

What started as a vision has grown into something I am incredibly proud of.

⚖️ 10 years of advocating.
🤝 10 years of helping families and individuals through some of the hardest moments of their lives.
🏛️ 10 years of fighting in courtrooms, negotiating resolutions, and finding solutions.
📚 10 years of learning, growing, and building.
❤️ 10 years of clients trusting ALC with matters that truly matter.

And in our tenth year, we celebrated something especially meaningful: ALC’s first appellate victory. 🏆 (and we are happy to take more on!)

But this milestone isn’t only about the cases we’ve handled or the victories we’ve earned.

It’s about what has been built along the way.

A team.
A reputation.
A community.
And a law firm that has continued to evolve without losing sight of why it started.

There have been long nights, difficult cases, growing pains, risks, lessons, and plenty of moments when running a law firm was anything but easy. But every chapter helped build the ALC that exists today.

To our clients—past and present—thank you for trusting us.

To the ALC team—thank you for helping turn a vision into something much bigger than one person.

And to everyone who has supported, referred, encouraged, and cheered us on over the last decade—thank you for being part of our story.

🥂 Here’s to 10 years of Affordable Law Center—and to the next decade of making a difference.

Affordable Law Center
Established 2016. Celebrating 10 Years. Built to Keep Going. ⚖️✨

08/17/2026

Navigating family law matters can be challenging. At The Affordable Law Center, we share valuable insights to help you understand your rights and make informed decisions during difficult times. Visit our website to access trusted guidance on family law issues from compassionate legal professionals dedicated to your success.

08/16/2026

Ready to find legal support that's both professional and tailored to your needs? Visit The Affordable Law Center's website to explore client-focused services designed with affordability and integrity in mind. From family law to estate planning, discover how we can help you navigate any legal challenge with confidence and care. Take the first step toward peace of mind today.

08/12/2026

🏛️⚖️ 15 YEARS OF PRACTICE. MY FIRST APPEAL. A WIN.

After 15 years of practicing law and fighting for clients in the trial courts, I made a decision:

When the other side appealed a ruling we fought for and won, I was going to defend that victory myself.

I stepped into appellate practice for the first time—not as appellate co-counsel, but as counsel for the Appellee, defending the result we had secured for our client in the trial court.

Today, the Fourth District Court of Appeal issued its opinion.

And Affordable Law Center prevailed on the central custody issues we defended.

The case presented an important interstate family-law question involving children who had relocated from Florida to North Carolina.

The trial court determined that North Carolina was the more appropriate forum for the custody-related proceedings. The Former Husband appealed that ruling, seeking to keep those issues in Florida.

We defended the trial court’s decision—and the Fourth DCA affirmed it.

The appellate court rejected the Former Husband’s arguments seeking reversal of the transfer of jurisdiction over:

⚖️ Child custody
⚖️ Timesharing
⚖️ Parental decision-making
⚖️ Parental responsibility

The Court also addressed an important, separate question:

If custody jurisdiction moves to another state, does child-support jurisdiction automatically go with it?

The Fourth DCA held that it does not.

Custody jurisdiction and child-support jurisdiction are governed by separate statutory schemes. Because the Former Husband continued to reside in Florida, Florida retained continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over modification of child support.

The Court therefore affirmed the transfer of the custody-related matters to North Carolina, while reversing in part and directing the trial court to amend its order to expressly retain Florida’s jurisdiction over child-support modification.

And what makes this opinion particularly meaningful is that the Fourth DCA specifically noted that its research had not identified a Florida case directly addressing whether the authority to transfer custody-modification jurisdiction also included the authority to transfer child-support-modification jurisdiction.

Custody can leave Florida while child support stays.

For me, though, this decision represents something even bigger.

After 15 years of practicing law, I took on my first appeal because I believed in the result we had obtained for our client and was willing to defend it at the next level.

Today, I get to say:

We defended our trial-court victory.
We prevailed on appeal.
And Affordable Law Center officially has its first appellate victory. 🏆⚖️

There is something incredibly special about seeing your name—and the firm you built—in a District Court of Appeal opinion for the very first time.

Jacqueline Spence, Esq.
Counsel for Appellee
Affordable Law Center, PLLC

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. But we sure as he*l fight!

07/30/2026

07/25/2026

Jackie Says…

📝 "If it's important enough to remember… it's important enough to write down."

Your memory is great...
Until two people remember the same conversation differently. 😉

☕ Read this week's Ms. Legal Latte on our blog for practical legal tips you can actually use.

📅 New blogs every Tuesday
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🌐 www.theaffordablelawcenter.com