Protecting Yourself Online: Divorce & Social Media

Protecting Yourself Online: Divorce & Social Media

Social media allows us to comment quickly and casually about our lives, but during a divorce, the consequences of sharing sensitive information may affect the outcome of a divorce settlement. In Florida, divorce lawyers and family law attorneys can use blogs, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter posts and more, as evidence in court, so it’s important for people in the midst of divorce to be careful about over-sharing.

In the midst of a painful divorce, it can be tempting to make negative comments about an ex. It’s important to understand the repercussions if you choose to do so. If there are children involved and the court believes your dialogue traumatic or damaging, contact with your children may be restricted. A child’s well-being is incredibly important in the eyes of the law.

 

During a Divorce Avoid Posting these Things on Social Media

If you’ve been celebrating your new single status by attending more parties or bars than usual, you may want to remove sensitive photographs from the web, especially if you have children. You could be seen as an irresponsible parent, and you could lose custody.

Social media users also need to avoid the impulse to show off new purchases. Avoid posting pictures of the Harley your spouse wouldn’t let you buy, a new vacation home in Puerto Rico, or of the flying lessons you’re taking. Evidence of major purchases or extravagant spending could impact your divorce settlement or give the other party cause to investigate your earnings statements.

 If you have a new girlfriend or boyfriend in the picture, be sure to keep it private. A skilled divorce attorney may try to position you as someone who wasn’t committed to the marriage.

 For someone going through a divorce, protecting your image is important. If you feel like you can’t control yourself online, it might be best to refrain from using your accounts until the divorce is over.

Contact Our Caring and Experienced Orlando Family Law Attorney Today

 If you or someone you know has experienced these divorce warning signs, schedule a consultation to discuss your situation with an experienced family law attorney. You don’t need to go through the divorce process alone. Our family law attorney at Law Office of Erin Morse will help you discuss your case, understand the Florida divorce process, your options and rights, and help guide you through this process. We proudly serve our clients throughout Orlando and the surrounding areas; including Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Lake, Brevard and Osceola counties.  
 

Schedule a consultation today by calling us at (407) 900-7451 or completing a contact form.
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Modifying A Parenting Plan

Modifying A Parenting Plan

Children grow up fast and as they grow their needs, desires, goals, and interests all change, as does the relationship with their parents. A child might be more attached to her mother during infancy and childhood, the child may become more attached and develop a better relationship with her father during adolescence. Children of a committed couple can simply choose which parent they would like to spend more time with while children of divorced couples must comply with orders the court enters. These orders can direct that they live primarily with one parent and may even dictate how often they see the other parent. These orders are contained in a parenting plan.Parenting plans may be modified as circumstances change and the child grows. Sometimes it can become a difficult process to modify a parenting plan, especially if the other parent is objecting to changing the plan.

 

Modifying the Parenting Plan When Both Parties Agree

 Before discussing how to modify a parenting plan through the court, it should be mentioned that parents can in virtually every circumstance modify a parenting plan by agreement. One possible exception, for instance, is if one parent has put the child’s life in danger in the past. Courts are eager to encourage divorced parents to work together and communicate one another about their children’s needs and take measures to meet those needs.

 For example, suppose a divorced couple has one child in common. At the time their parenting plan was entered, the child was only two years old and the parenting plan called for each parent to exercise visitation with the child for 1 week at a time (that is, mother would have the child for one week, and the father would have the child for one week). But now the child is ready to start school and father lives in a different school district than the mother. The parents can agree amongst themselves to alter the parenting plan to allow the child to reside with the mother during the school year with the father having some weekend visitation in exchange for the father getting extended visitation periods on school breaks and during the summer or any other agreement the parties wish to make.

 To protect yourself in the future, it is always recommended that you inform your attorney that you have made a change to the parenting plan by agreement. A written agreement should be drawn up that memorializes the changes you are making. Both parties should then sign the agreement along with their attorneys, if any, and the original signed agreement should be filed with the court. This prevents the other parent from attempting to claim later that there was no agreement and you are attempting to interfere with his or her parenting time.

 

What To Do If The Other Parent Does Not Agree to Modify the Plan

 If the other parent will not modify the parenting plan, you must get an order modifying the parenting plan from the court. Unless there is an immediate emergency (i.e., the child’s life or health is in immediate danger), the court will not modify the parenting plan without holding a hearing and allowing both parents to present their respective views. Even if a court does modify a parenting plan without a hearing because of an emergency, the court will need to hold a hearing shortly after modifying the plan to determine whether the plan should remain as modified or if it needs to be changed back.

 In determining whether to modify a parenting plan, the court is to make decisions it believes are in “the best interest of the child.” It will generally modify parenting plans when there has been a substantial, unanticipated change of circumstances and the modification of the plan is in the best interest of the child. “Substantial” means that it must be of a permanent or near-permanent nature; “unanticipated” means that the situation was not or could not have been anticipated by the parties or the court at the time the original parenting plan was ordered.This is a rather ambiguous standard and leaves the court with a great deal of discretion when deciding what parenting plan is appropriate. What this means for you, the parent seeking to modify a parenting plan will need to convince the court that the modified parenting plan you are seeking is in the best interest of the child and that the previous parenting plan no longer serves the child’s best interest.

 

Conclusion

 Modifications of parenting plans are granted by the courts, but you must have compelling evidence to support your contentions and request. An attorney can help evaluate your situation and advise you as to whether your motion is likely to be denied or granted. If the attorney believes you have a good chance at being successful in your motion, your attorney can help you locate evidence and witnesses to support your motion and present this information to the court.

Contact Our Caring and Experienced Orlando Family Law Attorney Today

If you or someone you know is in need of a modification, schedule a consultation to discuss your situation with an experienced family law attorney. Our family law attorney at Law Office of Erin Morse will help you discuss your case, your options and rights, and help guide you through this process. We proudly serve our clients throughout Orlando and the surrounding areas; including Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Lake, Brevard and Osceola counties. Schedule a consultation today by calling us at (407) 900-7451 or completing a contact form.

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9 Rules to Make Joint Custody Work

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9 Rules to Make Joint Custody Work

We asked our experts for their best rules for making shared child custody work for you, your ex, and your kids.Coordinating schedules. Divvying up holidays. Shuffling kids between houses. Sharing child custody isn’t always easy, especially when you’re trying to agree with someone you couldn’t stand being married to. The good news: “Studies show that shared-custody situations work best when both parents are cooperative, respectful, agree on shared custody, and manage their emotions,” says JoAnne Pedro-Carroll, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and author of Putting Children First: Proven Parenting Strategies to Help Children Thrive Through Divorce. “These qualities make it more likely that parents will help their children adjust to family changes.” We asked our experts for their best rules for making shared child custody work for you, your ex, and your kids.

Rule #1: Speak no evil.

 Expert after expert (most of whom were divorced themselves) repeated this: Don’t speak poorly about your ex. “Badmouthing the ex will be internalized by the child because they are made up of both you and your ex,” says David Pisarra, fathers’ rights attorney at MensFamilyLaw.com and author of A Man’s Guide To Child Custody. “What you say about the ex is what the child will react to, and also think about themselves.” Even though you may be pissed at your ex, your child still loves him or her as a parent. Regardless of your feelings about your ex – justified or not – keep them to yourself.

Rule #2: It’s not about you.

The divorce was about you, but custody is about the kids. “Divorce causes emotional tunnel vision and people get so focused on their own hurts and needs that they lose sight of the goal of creating a good childhood,” Pisarra says. Custody is not about getting exactly what you want, or even demanding equity at any cost. “The hardest part for co-parents is remembering that time with the child is not a prize to be won, but a gift to be cherished,” Pisarra says. Shared custody works best when both parents set aside their ego and realize that what is best for the child is not always what feels good for you as a parent.”

Rule #3: Be realistic about your own schedule and commitments.

“Often during a separation or divorce, parents make unrealistic custody grabs based on fear or insecurity,” says Laura Wasser, a celebrity divorce attorney in Los Angeles and author of the new book It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way. Instead, look at custody as a business arrangement. Remove your emotions from the situation and look at the facts.

Rule #4: Choose a custody arrangement that accommodates your children’s ages, activities, and needs.

When deciding on a custody arrangement, you’ll want to take the following into consideration.

1. Your children’s ages and personalities

2. Your family schedule

3. The career and social commitments of each parent

4. The academic and extracurricular activities to which your children are committed

5. Your child-care arrangements and the distance between the parents’ homes.

Here are three of the most common joint custody arrangements:

1. 2-2-3 plan Monday and Tuesday with Mom, Wednesday and Thursday with Dad, Friday through Sunday with Mom. Then the schedule flips: Monday and Tuesday with Dad, etc.

2. 2-2-5 plan Monday and Tuesday with Mom, Wednesday and Thursday with Dad, and then alternating Friday through Sunday between the parents (one week with Mom, the next with Dad). This schedule often works better when kids are older and have their own schedule of practices, playdates, and obligations.

3. Alternate week plan week 1 with Mom, week 2 with Dad, and so on.Infants usually remain in primary care of the mothers, but toddlers and preschool-age children actually benefit from switching back and forth between households. “Generally, mental health practitioners who specialize in development recommend that for younger children, more frequent transitions actually are beneficial,” Wasser says. A 2-2-3 plan allows the child to see both parents regularly. As they get older, kids can graduate to a 2-2-5 arrangement. Then, if it’s easier, parents can switch to an alternate week plan.”

Rule #5: A bad spouse doesn’t equal a bad parent.

Your ex may have dropped the ball and driven you crazy, but Wasser reminds her clients that “even though he or she may not have been a good spouse, it is still possible for him or her to be a good parent.” In most case, Wasser says, “it is unquestionably best for children to have frequent and continuous contact with both parents.” Your marriage may not have worked, but your parenting can still succeed. “For good or bad, the child wants and needs to feel the love of both of parents,” Pisarra says. How to do that? Put the needs and well-being of your children first. “Remember that when the children are with your ex, they are with the one person in the world who loves and cares about them as much as you,” Wasser says.

Rule #6: Find an agreeable way to communicate

For joint child custody to work, communication is key. For the sake of your children (and your sanity), you need to find a method of communication that works for you and your ex. “These days we have so many tools with which to organize custody,” Wasser says. “There are Google calendars, icalendars, cell phones, texting, and emailing – all which provide parents with the ability to communicate with each other quickly.” Pisarra directs his clients to the website OurFamilyWizard.com, which offers joint calendars, expense logs, common document storage for things like a child’s immunization record or school calendar, and a message board that keeps an accurate and non-modifiable record of your communications that can be admitted in court, if disagreements arise.

Rule #7: Pick your battles.

Let’s be frank. Parenting is hard enough on its own, and co-parenting adds another layer of complexity. Prevent as many as conflicts as possible with your ex by open communication, but when disagreements do arise, consider if the conflict is truly worth fighting over. “Try to be as rational about your positions as possible and remember that if a judge has to decide it, no one will like the decision most likely” Pisarra advises. “Fight only for the things that are worth fighting for. School choices, vacations, and parenting time are worth the fight. Things like food choices, unless there’s a known medical issue like diabetes or food allergies, are not worth the fight.” Save your energy and good will with your ex and the courts for those things that do matter.

Rule #8: Let your child feel heard.

 A child experiences lots of change during a divorce. Allowing the child to express feelings and confusions about the divorce and custody arrangement can help him feel a sense of control in the midst of all that change. “Children need to have input in the process, and depending on how old they are,” Pisarra says. “That can be a simple matter with preteens, or hard to discern with toddlers.” Involving your 5-year-old might mean letting him choose which Lego sets he wants to bring to his dad’s house. Involving preteens and teenagers in creating a custody schedule can help ensure the schedule meshes with the teen’s extracurricular activities. Plus, a child who feels that his input was received is more likely to be agreeable to the schedule. But, says Wasser, “While it is important to listen to your children and hear their feelings, impressions and preferences, the child’s opinion is only one factor that goes into making child-custody decisions.” Let your children feel heard, but also make the best decision for their well being.

Rule #9: From time to time, review the arrangement and adjust as needed.

Just as your kids will grow and change over time, so should your custody arrangement. “Many parents find it helpful to review a custody agreement from time to time to assess how it is working for their children and to make adjustments, particularly as children grow and circumstances change,” says Dr. Pedro-Carroll. You and your ex may change too. Says Wasser: “If you are hoping to eventually get to an equal time share arrangement but have not historically spent as much time parenting, gradual increases are recommended.”

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