By now, you have probably heard of Zoom, the online video conference tool. If you have not already used Zoom, you may have questions about how to use it for a consultation. Zoom is very easy to set up and use and it is secure, meaning attorney-client confidentiality is ensured during the consultation.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR A ZOOM CONFERENCE

To use Zoom, first you need to download the Zoom app. The app is free and can be used with any device (including a smartphone or laptop) that is equipped with a camera. Once you have the app, you can launch it and be ready to join a meeting.
For your conference with Norman Law, we will email you a meeting invitation. To join the meeting, you simply click on the link in the email invitation labeled “Join Zoom Meeting.” When you click on the link, you will be prompted to either download or launch Zoom. Since you have already downloaded the app, just click on “open zoom.us.” Lastly, you will be given options to turn off the video or audio; please do not select either of these. Instead, click “Join.”

ZOOM FEATURES

Zoom has some features that may be helpful in your consultation.

The bar at the bottom of the Zoom screen has several control buttons. At the far-left is the “Mute” button. The Zoom mute button allows you to mute/unmute your microphone with just a click. When your microphone is muted, the microphone icon has a red line through it.

Zoom also allows you to share photos, documents, and other information from your computer/device during a meeting, such as a pleading that has been served on you. You can do so by using the “Chat” or the “Share Screen” button on the bottom bar.

ZOOM SECURITY

We are confident that Zoom meetings are secure. This ensures that all communications are confidential and attorney-client privilege remains protected.

Florida requires that one of the parties must have been a resident of Florida for at least 6 months prior to filing the divorce. A non-resident (resident of another state) party may file for divorce based on the other party’s residency (if one of you is a Florida resident). Residency means an actual presence in Florida combined with the intention of residing in Florida indefinitely. For that reason, maintaining a vacation home, a temporary home, or visiting for 6 months do not establish residency.

Proving Florida Residency

Residency must be proven; the most common way residency is proven is by a valid Florida driver’s license. Other ways to prove residency are by a Florida voter registration card or the testimony or affidavit of a corroborating third party.

If you do not meet the above criteria for residency, you may consider these options:

1. Establish Florida residency for the 6 month period previously mentioned (this step would not require you to wait in order to begin the process of gathering your financial documents and otherwise getting ready to file for divorce).
2. Have the spouse who is a resident of Florida start the filing procedure if she or he meets the residency requirement.
3. Choose another state in which you or your spouse may meet the residency requirements (state residency laws are unique to each state, be sure to check the state in which you were married or last lived together as a married couple as potential options). Our Duval County office can answer questions about Florida law and Florida requirements, but we do not offer divorce representation in other states.
4. Try counseling in an attempt to save the marriage and put your divorce plans on hold.

For questions leading up to or filing for divorce, call the office of Wendy Norman at 904.306.9926 or click here schedule a consultation today.

Florida law provides for equitable distribution of the marital assets and marital debts in a divorce. Does this mean that all marital assets and marital debts will be split equally? Not necessarily. Instead, the assets and debts will be split in a way the court considers to be fair, or equitable.

All Assets and Debts Acquired During Marriage Are Marital

First, the court will distribute any premarital assets and premarital debts to each spouse. This may be straightforward but can be complicated by an asset’s increase in value during the marriage. Next, the court will distribute the marital assets and marital debts. Unless there is a prenuptial/premarital agreement, all assets and debts either spouse acquired during the marriage are considered marital. It does not matter if the asset or debt is in both names or only in one spouse’s name, it is marital.

Determining Distribution of Marital Debts and Assets

In distributing the marital assets and marital debts, what the court finds fair is based on the specific circumstances of each case. The court will consider a number of different factors, including the length of the marriage, the contribution to the marriage by each spouse, career sacrifices made by a spouse, child rearing and homemaking, and the overall financial situation of each spouse.

Considering a Divorce Attorney in Jacksonville? We’ve been serving family law clients for nearly 20 years. We’re committed to timely, cost-effective separation representation and you always have direct access to your attorney throughout the divorce process. For more information, please Call 904.306.9926 or Contact Us online today.

On A Spouse Texting a Co-Worker and Lying About It

We’ve addressed the topic of text messages to an ex-spouse in a previous blog post. Here’s a question posted to Lori Gottlieb of The Atlantic regarding a spouse texting a co-worker that addresses some insightful tips about relationships: Dear Therapist: My Husband Keeps Texting With a Female ‘Friend’

Fostering Friendships and Relationships

Maria Popova of Brain Pickings provides a Sunday newsletter on topics ranging from philosophy to relationships. Her recent post, Pioneering Feminist Philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft on Loneliness, Friendship, and the Courage of Unwavering Affection tackles some important issues surrounding friendship. There is some great relationship advice here too (quoting Mary Wollstonecraft): “Affection requires a firmer foundation than sympathy, and few people have a principle of action sufficiently stable to produce rectitude of feeling; for in spite of all the arguments I have heard to justify deviations from duty, I am persuaded that even the most spontaneous sensations are more under the direction of principle than weak people are willing to allow.”

Preparing Your Kid For Kindergarten

From researching and asking questions about your child’s school, to helpful books; we found this article from Taylor Pittman of HuffPost helpful. Preparing for the first day of kindergarten can be stressful for parents and scary for kids. Her insight is helpful and calming. Highlighting patient support from 7 parents who’ve done it, the article provides good insight: How To Prepare Your Kid For Kindergarten, From 7 Parents Who’ve Been There

A Vaccine for Depression?

We don’t typically address depression and mental illness outside of a patient/healthcare provider realm, but understanding each other is paramount to building and maintaining healthy relationships. Similar stresses we associate with divorce statistics (finances, lack of communication) are tied to depression and our understanding of dealing with and treating it, can be helpful in maintaining happy relationships. The article discusses Ketamine’s remarkable effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness but touches on a larger understanding of depression as well.

Depression is the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 30 percent of Americans at some point in their lives. But despite half a century of research, ubiquitous advertising, and blockbuster sales, antidepressant drugs just don’t work very well. They treat depression as if it were caused by a chemical imbalance: Pump in more of one key ingredient, or sop up another, and you will have fixed the problem.

I’m a Jacksonville Divorce Lawyer located downtown and serving Duval residents for over 15 years. Please feel free to call my office at 904.306.9926 with questions concerning your family law matter.

Divorce Mediation is the most sensible approach to settling disputes; it is even when people are divorcing. Compared to litigation, mediation is less time consuming, more affordable and much less emotionally draining and stressful. Most people are not very familiar with the process of divorce mediation as an alternative dispute resolution method. The lack of knowledge about mediation in general can lead to misconceptions and misunderstandings about the process of divorce mediation in particular.

Some of the most common misconceptions about divorce mediation include the following:

1. Mediators are normally biased (for or against one party or the other)

This is completely incorrect. The mediator is a neutral third party and is not an advocate for either side. The mediator is expected and required to be neutral and impartial throughout the entire mediation process. He or she is the voice of reason for both parties and not just one party. The mediator’s job is simply to help both parties come up with the most sensible and workable resolution of all issues related to their divorce that both people can live with going forward.
The mediator helps to resolve the disputes between the parties in a peaceful way and is neutral throughout the entire mediation process. The mediator does not decide who is right or wrong. His or her job and role is to help both parties resolve their differences and come to an agreement so that a judge does not have to decide things for them.

2. Mediation results in a 50/50 split of assets and debts

This is another incorrect thought about mediation.
If both parties are able to think clearly and be reasonable, mediation is usually successful because it allows since the parties to decide how their assets and debts are split between them. This simply means that both people have the opportunity to provide valuable input to their attorneys and the mediator about the details of their unique, individual financial situation.
In most cases, the mediator will guide both parties to reach an equitable distribution in the most fair way possible. Equitable distribution is a legal term that entails the apportioning of the marital assets and marital debts as part of the divorce. The whole idea behind equitable distribution is that the marital assets and debts be distributed it means “fair” division rather than a strict fifty-fifty split.

3. Loss of certain rights for unfaithful partners

Mediation is usually very successful if spouses are able to agree on the division of the marital assets and debts. The notion that certain rights are lost if a party has been accused of being in an adulterous relationship is incorrect. Florida is a no-fault divorce state, and mediation involves the same laws as those followed by the court during litigation. Because of this, mediation provides both parties an equal platform to amicably resolve all the issues related to their marriage.

4. There is no need to have an attorney during divorce mediation.

This is false. Couples seeking a divorce through mediation are actually encouraged to have an attorney with them at mediation to give legal advice, provide legal opinions, and review and make changes, if needed, to the settlement documents prepared by the mediators. Mediators cannot give legal advice or provide legal opinions to either party. Having an attorney with you at mediation ensures that your best interests are being safeguarded.

Wendy Norman is a divorce attorney in Jacksonville, FL. To schedule a free, initial consultation, please call our office at 904.306.9926 or contact us online.

For couples who have tried to work out their relationship, but have decided that a divorce is the best way to proceed, they will find that there are several pieces of evidence that can be used against them once they go to court. Did you know that text messages are considered admissible evidence? This means that if one party loses his or her temper and texts the other party, the text messages may be used as evidence in court. In many cases, especially when children are involved, text messages can affect the final decision made by the Judge regarding time-sharing (custody), alimony, distribution of assets and debts, etc.

When you are going through a divorce, you must be aware of what you put in a text or email, as well as what you say to the other party in person or over the telephone. For this reason, we have a few tips to help you in making sure you do not put something in a text that can be used against you later in court. These tips also apply after you are divorced. The main goal of these tips is to keep you from impulsively saying something to your ex or soon to be ex that can come back and hurt you later.

4 Tips to Text your Soon to be Ex-Spouse

1. Always take the time to think about what you are texting, never send a text while you are feeling angry, hurt or frustrated. If this means stepping away from your phone for an hour or two to get your emotions under control, then do so.
2. If your ex is texting you rude, hateful, or nasty comments, be sure to keep the texts saved in your phone, and do not respond in a rude, hateful or nasty way. Do not engage in a back and forth argument via text message!
3. It is best to limit your texts with your ex to information about children, dates that need to be remembered and the like. There are some couples who text freely, but in these cases, the divorce is most often amicable and there are no emotional issues.
4. It is not only your texts to your ex that can be used against you in court, but any text that you send to anyone. Thus, avoid texting anything about your soon to be ex to anyone and basically keep the subject off limits.

Controlling your Emotions

Many lawyers recommend that clients simply stop texting the other party entirely and even that they stop posting to social media in general. If you are going to text, or put things out there on social media, make sure you are not saying anything that you would not want the Judge to see in court. Keeping your emotions under control is a must. While one of the above tips was to walk away and stop texting if you feel that your anger and emotions are getting out of hand, we have a few more in-depth tips that can help.

1. Try breathing exercises. Slowly count to 10 and be sure that you are taking deep breaths to help calm yourself while you are counting.
2. Take a moment to listen to a song that soothes you. You will be amazed at how well soothing music can calm emotions.
3. Take a walk and leave your phone at home. Physical exercise has been shown to be great when it comes to helping to release anger in a normal and healthy manner.
4. Go to your ‘happy place’ when you start to feel angry. This may mean sitting in your living room and imagining yourself sitting on the beach or even floating in the pool. Either way, allow this happy place to make you feel less angry.

For those who are going through a divorce, we want you to realize that your texts could become one of the main ways your soon to be ex gains the upper hand. Here at Norman Law, we advise our clients against texting their exes, unless they are positive that they can keep their calm. Divorce is not something to take lightly, but if it is unavoidable, then be sure you are taking actions to ensure you are getting a fair divorce.