Delray Beach Family Law Blog

Florida families might have a tough time deciding when and if someone needs to intervene to protect young children. Many people may not want to offend a parent by insinuating that his or her home is not an acceptable environment for his or her children. When it comes to child custody, sometimes, difficult decisions must be made. 

Recently, Florida authorities arrived at the home of a young mother with several small children. When the authorities arrived, the mother did not hear them enter because she was asleep in a locked bedroom, admittedly tired from a night out with friends. The children were found in a state of neglect, with unkempt appearance, dental problems, and even bleeding wounds from stepping on broken glass in the home.

Many people have qualms about divorce. We make a promise for life and we intend to keep it. But sometimes the person we married when we were 18 or 20 is not the person we are married to when we are 35 or 40. Sometimes our partners become lonely and alienated, or develop coping behaviors that are not conducive to a relationship.

Our partners become, in other words, toxic. That toxic person leads to a toxic relationship, and research shows that toxic relationship leads to unhappiness, illness and even an early death.

In the state of Florida, a child discovered to be living in unsafe conditions can be removed from the care of his or her parents. When social services becomes involved, it falls upon social workers to use their training to decide if a child is being abused or neglected to the point that he or she may benefit from a new living situation. Especially with a drug epidemic taking hold across the nation, more children than ever are being removed from a parent's care. In some situations, a child may have another relative that is qualified to care for them, and a relative can attempt to modify child custody in a court of family law. 

There is a growing need for loving, stable homes for children in Florida and other states. Often, a child who is removed due to problems in the home winds up on foster care. The foster care system is totally overwhelmed. Reports from state officials indicate that there are children who are often bounced from house to house, sometimes several times a week. 

A Florida resident may decide to file for divorce for a number of reasons, and this year, the scale for his or her decision may be tipped toward filing quickly for an important reason. Federal tax laws will change in 2019, and the new laws will directly affect people involved in a divorce. Traditionally, a person who had been ordered to pay alimony or spousal support could deduct the amount paid on their income taxes. The new law revokes this previous opportunity for taxpayers. 

Under the new laws, a divorced person who pays alimony will no longer be allowed to deduct the amount from the income claimed on their federal tax return. The federal government is looking to save money by eliminating such deductions. Now, a person may have to pay more in taxes, though the amount of alimony received by the other party will remain the same.