Legal Documents Prepared on a Budget
You Want to Adopt, but DCF (Florida Department of Children and Families) has Sheltered or Placed your Grandchild or Relative in Foster Care? One of the most heartbreaking and common inquiries we receive at Florida Family Adoptions are relatives (usually grandparents) reaching out for help with filing a pro se Relative Adoption when the child … Read more
The Florida Parenting Class Requirement Most everyone knows by now that if you are a party to a divorce with minor children or going through a paternity action, the State of Florida requires that you take an approved Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course of at least 4-hours. This divorce parenting class is court-ordered in … Read more
COURT ACCESS IN FLORIDA: THE VIEW FROM TWO PERSPECTIVES Justice in Florida will be accessible, fair, effective, responsive, and accountable. ~ Vision of the Florida Judicial Branch – 2008 Over ten years ago, these words led the report from the Florida Supreme Court’s Commission on Trial Court Performance and Accountability addressing the issue of … Read more
THE REAL DEAL ABOUT RELATIVE ADOPTIONS IN FLORIDA Over the past 25 years, the face of Florida families has changed dramatically. As a result, there are more grandparents raising grandchildren and aunts and uncles raising nieces and nephews. Adult siblings are stepping up to adopt and raise their younger siblings. It’s only logical that the … Read more
Help with Florida Divorce Papers and Forms You probably already know that just about everything has it’s own, “National Day.” As I type this on January 3rd contemplating my evening meal, I can’t quite decide whether I want to toast to National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day, National Drinking Straw Day, or National Fruitcake Toss day. … Read more
Dreams without action. What do you have left? Dreams. Some of the most successful people in history were dreamers, but they obviously did more than sleep… they took the next step. One of my favorite quotes goes something like this… If you don’t pursue your dreams, someone else will pay you to pursue theirs. How … Read more
ADOPTION BY GRANDPARENTS AND STEP PARENTS IN FLORIDA I have previously blogged about the mechanics of Florida stepparent and relative adoptions and Florida grandparent adoption forms and Florida relative and stepparent adoption forms. Now I’d like to take a little time to discuss the many advantages and benefits of a stepparent or grandparent adoption, both … Read more
A woman in South Florida called the other day. She wanted to file relative adoption forms in order to adopt her nephew, who she has raised since birth. As a pro se party (no attorney representation), she was having difficulty finding the proper Florida relative adoption forms necessary to bring her case to conclusion. She … Read more
When couples divorce, one party may be entitled to a part of the other’s retirement fund(s). If a judge has ordered that you are entitled to receive a portion of your former spouse’s fund, you will most likely need more than just your Final Judgment of Divorce to make that happen. You will probably need … Read more