You Know Your Family Better Than a Judge Does
- A judge must follow Florida statutes, court rules, and appellate decisions when deciding your divorce.
- You and your spouse know your family, your priorities, and the meaning behind your assets better than a judge ever will.
- Staying out of court gives you greater control over how you divide property, debts, and parenting time and it keeps your decisions private.
- Collaborative Divorce gives you and your spouse an opportunity to create solutions tailored to your family.
A Judge Does Not Know Your Family
When you go through a divorce, you may assume a judge is the person who should decide what happens to your family. The reality is that a judge has limited information about you, your spouse, your children, and the life you have built together.
A judge must apply the law to the facts presented in court. You and your spouse have something a judge does not: firsthand knowledge of your family, your priorities, and what will work best after your divorce.
Your Assets Have Meaning Beyond Their Dollar Value
Florida law provides rules for dividing marital assets and liabilities. Those rules do not account for the personal meaning an asset may have to you.
For example, imagine your spouse gave you diamond earrings for your 15th anniversary. Under Florida law, a gift between spouses during the marriage is considered to be a marital asset unless you have an agreement that designates such gifts as being non-marital. Absent such an agreement, a judge could consider the value of those earrings when dividing your marital property.
You and your spouse may see the situation differently. However, you and your spouse can agree that the earrings were given with the intention they would always belong to you, so you and your spouse can agree that their value should not affect your property division.
You Can Create Solutions a Judge Would Not
You and your spouse also have the ability to create arrangements that are not controlled by Florida law. For example, instead of selling a second home, you could decide to share it or to create a specific schedule for using it.
A judge looking at the numbers could decide that selling the property is the appropriate result. You and your spouse have the ability to consider your actual lives and decide that keeping the property serves your family better than selling it.
You Know Your Children Best
Your children are another reason you should make decisions together rather than leaving those decisions to a judge. A judge will review the information presented in court but will not have the same knowledge of your children’s personalities, interests, relationships, schedules, and needs that you and your spouse have.
Florida law presumes equal time-sharing for minor children, but equal overnights may not work best for your family. For example, if one parent regularly works at night, you and your spouse can consider how that schedule affects the children’s routines and determine an arrangement that better fits their needs and the schedules you and your spouse have.
You Have More Control Outside Court
When you and your spouse reach your own agreements, you have the opportunity to consider priorities that a judge may never fully understand or even be interested in. You also avoid gambling on how a judge will interpret evidence, value an asset, or structure your family’s future.
Collaborative Divorce is a great way to maintain that control. It gives you and your spouse a structured process for working through decisions about your property, finances, and children with guidance from professionals, while allowing the two of you to make the final decisions.
Contact the Law Offices of Robert J. Merlin
You know your family, your children, and your priorities better than a judge ever will. The Law Offices of Robert J. Merlin can help you and your spouse pursue a divorce process that gives you greater control over decisions about your property, finances, and children. To schedule a consultation, call Robert Merlin at (305) 448-1555 Call 305-448-1555or contact us online.
The Law Offices of Robert J. Merlin, P.A. are located at 250 Catalonia Ave., Suite 706, Coral Gables, Florida 33134.
FAQs
Why is staying out of court beneficial in a divorce?
It gives you and your spouse greater control over decisions about your property, finances, and children instead of leaving those decisions to a judge. It also avoids the details of your divorce becoming part of the public record.
Will a judge consider the personal meaning of an asset?
A judge must apply Florida law when dividing marital property. Personal feelings about an asset may not carry the same weight as the legal rules governing its classification and value.
How does Collaborative Divorce give me more control?
Collaborative Divorce allows you and your spouse to create agreements tailored to your family’s needs rather than asking a judge to make decisions based solely on the information presented in court that is controlled by Florida law.
Bob Merlin is a Florida Bar Board Certified Family Law Specialist, he practices in the areas of divorce, time-sharing of children and parenting plans, child support, alimony, paternity, pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, and cohabitation/partnership agreements.
As an experienced Collaborative attorney, Bob continually hones his skills in the Collaborative Process and trains other professionals how to become a Collaborative professional as he is.
“My goal is to help divorcing and other family law clients make well-informed decisions so they experience a more efficient process and feel more in control over their futures.”
