About Our Firm

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Founded in 1997 we are experienced and knowledgeable Tampa attorneys practicing exclusively in Divorce, Family, Stepparent/Relative Adoption, Criminal Defense, and Personal Bankruptcy. We practice primarily in the cities of Tampa, Riverview, Brandon, Valrico, Lithia, Carrollwood, Northdale, North Tampa, Plant City as well as Hillsborough County, Pinellas County and Pasco County. We have offices conveniently located throughout Tampa Bay. Our lawyers have extensive experience practicing in contested and uncontested divorces, including military divorces, and family law, child support, child custody and visitation, relocation of children, alimony, domestic violence, distribution of assets and debts, retirement/pensions (military and private), enforcement and modification of final judgments, paternity actions, adoptions and name changes as well as criminal defense. We offer a free consultation to discuss your options. Please call us at 813-672-1900 or email us at info@familymaritallaw.com to schedule a consultation. Our representation of our clients reflects our dedication to them. We look forwarding to hearing from you! Se habla EspaƱol.

Saturday, May 4, 2019

Is Texting Your Spouse During a Divorce Case a Good Idea?

Communication is a common issue for many couples, and those going through divorce will particularly struggle with how to navigate this area of interaction in light of the emotional and legal aspects of this process. Some level of communication is usually a good idea for most divorcing couples, especially if they are trying to negotiate a settlement and/or share children. Click here to learn more. 

Attorney Fees and Costs: How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Divorce Attorney in Tampa Bay?

Divorce may be the right decision for a particular relationship, but getting to the end and seeing a judge officially dissolve the union is an entirely separate matter. Accessing the legal system for any issue comes with a financial cost, and the complexities of divorce, both from a legal and procedural standpoint, make it inadvisable for a spouse to navigate a divorce case without the assistance of a divorce attorney. Click here to learn more.

Group Looking to Eliminate Permanent Alimony

Anyone associated with divorce knows about the financial strain of this event, and some spouses are able to weather the transition better than others. For those with little to no access to financial resources, alimony is often requested to at least cover the costs of living for the first few years post-marriage. For the person ordered to pay, this ongoing obligation, which is often in conjunction with child support, is hard to meet. Click here to learn more.

Are There Risks with Doing a Divorce Yourself?

Dealing with the emotional, financial, and psychological fallout of divorce is no small thing, and even couples who know this step is coming still generally walk through the same process to transition to life outside of marriage. The biggest hurdle to moving on is the divorce process itself, and some spouses are intent on bringing the marriage to a close in the most efficient and least costly way possible. Click here to read more. 

Negotiating a Parenting Plan

Parents seeking divorce have a large task in front of them, as they consider, negotiate, and settle on the terms that will govern child custody. Divorce is particularly hard for children, and trying to find the right balance that addresses the desires of both parents to have an active role in the child’s life against the child’s need for predictability, stability, and consistency is hard. In Florida, these agreements are called parenting plans, which cover how the parents will divide parenting time and decision-making authority. Click here to learn more.

How to Protect Your Privacy During a Divorce

Divorce is one of those intensely personal life events that must be mentioned because of the drastic changes it triggers, but going into the details of the situation is typically limited to immediate family and close friends. For those that pursue the traditional court process to obtain a divorce, one element of the legal system in this country can prove to be unnerving and unpleasant.  Click here to learn more.

Options When a Parent Exposes a Child to Drugs

Drug and alcohol abuse are issues that can drastically affect a child’s quality of life, but is a situation a child may not be able to recognize or appreciate for its instability and danger. If child custody is shared, this habit is a true concern that needs to be addressed. Obviously, the issue in these circumstances is the addicted parent’s ability to safely and appropriately care for the child. Click here to read more.

What is Parental Alienation?

Parents generally realize that an environment with lots of conflict is not good for a child’s wellbeing, and divorce can put this knowledge to the test, as it pushes some spouses into highly adversarial positions. However, when children are involved, parents do try to keep things on an even keel to facilitate better cooperation post-divorce. Further, while divorced parents may disagree, both usually realize that having a close relationship with each other is important for the child’s development and welfare and try to support that relationship. Click here to learn more.

When do Courts Award Sole Custody?

The default for divorced parents in Florida, and most other states, is that parenting time, formerly referred to broadly as custody, will be shared. While the ideal is that the child spends roughly equal amounts of time with each parent, typically one parent will have primary responsibility for childcare, with the other parent taking the child on weekends and one or two evenings during the week. Moving to the other end of the spectrum, sole custody is not only discouraged but very hard to achieve outside of the most extreme cases.  Click here to learn more. 

The Limits of Snooping on a Spouse during Divorce

If a married couple decides to get divorced, chances are the level of trust each spouse has for the other is pretty low. In many cases, this mistrust is justified based upon past actions of the other spouse that eroded confidence in the feasibility of continuing the relationship. The high level of emotional distress that divorce provokes can also lead some spouses to engage in questionable behavior, both as a means to punish or embarrass the other side, or to gather damning evidence to present at trial. Click here to read more. 

Home Equity Lines, Mortgages and Divorce

Distinguishing and separating financial obligations are one of the most difficult parts of divorce. The longer a couple is married, the harder it is to figure out when and how many items of property were acquired or which funds were used to maintain them. Family homes and real estate in general is particularly tricky to assess, especially if one spouse brought property into the marriage and the other spouse derived https://www.familymaritallaw.com/home-equity-line…ages-and-divorce/ a benefit from it.  Click here to read more.

Enforcing a Foreign Divorce Decree

People get married at a variety of places around the world, often having no familial, personal, or professional connection to a location, but merely a desire to get married in a certain atmosphere. Divorces are issued all over the world as well, but may only be validly issued by a court with authority or jurisdiction to hear the matter. Consequently, the original court usually retains jurisdiction over enforcement and modification of their issued divorce orders, which can prove problematic when a person moves to another State or country. Click here to read more.

Options for Getting a Spouse Out of the Home

When a relationship starts to go south and spouses begin to consider getting divorced, an early question in this process is often who will stay in the family home and who will leave. This issue can become a huge point of contention, as both spouses likely have rights to be in the home, usually through being listed on a lease or home mortgage. Ideally, the couple can negotiate an acceptable resolution in which one will leave without the need for court intervention. Click here to see more.

Don’t Expect Facebook to Be Private in Divorce

Social media is an important outlet for millions of Americans, and serves to keep people connected with family and friends. These connections are particularly important for moving through a divorce, but the information posted on these platforms can prove problematic if there are images or posts the other spouse could use to challenge claims made by the other party. Click here to see more. 

Friday, May 3, 2019

Does Infidelity Matter in Divorce?

Marriages end for a large number of reasons, but one circumstance that often drives this decision is infidelity by a spouse. Not being able to trust a spouse to remain faithful is a deal killer for most relationships, and is bound to generate a lot of emotional pain. The wronged spouse may also feel compelled to air this information in the ensuing divorce proceedings as a way to retaliate for the bad behavior. Click here to read more.

When Would a Court Give Custody to a Non-Parent?


Raising a child without some help and contributions from family and friends is virtually impossible.  Childrearing is a full-time, constant endeavor that requires help from the outside for a parent to fulfill her or her responsibilities.  However, when it comes to who as final authority over a child, one or both parents are overwhelmingly the only individuals considered for this role.  Click here to read more.

5 Frequently Asked Questions About Divorce In Tampa

Everyone understands the basic concept of divorce. It is a legal process people must go through when they want to formally end their marriag...