New legislation that could bring sweeping changes to family law cases in Florida has been introduced in the form of Senate Bill 1596. This bill, if passed, would eliminate permanent alimony. The bill would also change the definition of a long-term marriage and put a cap on alimony awards. This bill could greatly …
Florida Alimony Bill is Officially Dead for 2017
The Florida Senate has officially declared SB 412 relating to alimony “Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.” The Bill would have provided guideline ranges for setting alimony, while still giving judges some discretion in awarding alimony in long term marriages. The Bill died in committee. The proposed Bill may have made it easier to negotiate …
Collaborative Law – An Alternative to Conflict Driven Divorce Litigation
Collaborative Law rules for Florida family law cases are being considered by the Florida Supreme Court. Collaborative Law offers a new alternative to the traditional adversarial court process. The American court system is based on conflict. Our rules and procedures are designed to facilitate an orderly, controllable fight. This adversarial process, focuses on a winner and …
A Fresh Start
Closing out another year as a family lawyer. This year we celebrate 26 in practice and it has been an amazing journey. I feel so truly blessed to be able to help kids, families and parents get a fresh start in their lives. Our clients usually come to us with a heart wrenching crisis. They …
Alimony Change Likely
Drastic Changes to Florida Alimony Again a Real Possibility February 19, 2015 Silvia R. Sanders Two years ago, the legislature overwhelmingly passed a drastic alimony overhaul bill. This bill was the product of special interest groups only on the side of “alimony reform”, and many thought the bill went too far. One of the most …
Divorce in Florida – Infographic
Divorce Laws and Statistics in the State of Florida Florida has the 8th highest divorce rate in the country at 4.3 divorces per 1000 people in the year 2010. The national divorce rate for the same year stands at 3.6 percent. This infographic identifies additional divorce statistics for Florida as well as some legal numbers …
The Standard for a Change in Time Sharing in Florida
In an original determination of time sharing, the main factor the court considers is the best interest of the child. There can be no presumption for or against either parent, or a particular time sharing schedule. Once the initial determination has been made, however, the standard changes considerably. To change a time sharing schedule, a …
Child Support Calculations in Florida
There are dozens of free child support calculators online. Some of them are fairly good, but getting an accurate number for child support is not as easy as just visiting a website. The Florida Guideline formulas are complicated. Every week I receive a call from a client who thinks he or she knows what child …
Christmas Vacation and Time Sharing (Visitation)
Every year I get at least one call regarding Christmas visitation. Florida law no longer uses the terms “custody” or “visitation”. Judges deal with time sharing. Our children only have a limited of Christmas’s as children, and they have a right to make the most of all of them. These limited number of Christmas mornings …
About Silvia
Silvia Sanders
Silvia has 25 years of experience as a divorce, custody, and family law attorney in Florida. She is dedicated to exceptional service for clients.
About Tristan
Tristan Sanders
Tristan Sanders has 23 years experience practicing family law. His father and grandfather were both Orlando trial attorneys.