A guardian-ad-litem (GAL) is a specially trained and certified professional whom the court may appoint in a divorce or custody proceeding to act as a child’s “next friend … investigator or evaluator.” The judge has discretion to appoint the GAL if it would be in the...
Summer goes quickly and before you know it, it will be fall and the start of a new school year. If you are a Florida parent facing divorce, where will your school-aged children go to school? It depends on which of several scenarios you face. Parenting plans and school...
In this part three of our series on parental responsibility, traditionally called legal custody, we will discuss sole parental responsibility, a status the court grants in some divorces, separations or parenting disputes between unmarried parents. When one parent has...
In part one, we explained that Florida has three kinds of parental responsibility, sometimes called legal custody: Shared, shared with assigned ultimate decision-making authority and sole. Parental responsibility is the right and responsibility to make major life...
Private Montessori or public kindergarten? Basketball or piano lessons? Church, temple, mosque or none of these? Vaccinate or not? Parents often have understandably strong feelings about these kinds of important life decisions for their children – and they have...
Do you and your ex disagree about whether your child should get vaccinated against COVID-19? Divorced and unmarried parents across the country are finding themselves at odds over this crucially important decision. Today we will discuss the debate and how parents at...
In this last post of our three-part series on nonparent family members and child custody, we discuss shelter care. Shelter care is the protective placement of a child to live outside of their parental home because the child is in danger there. Florida judges consider...
There are times in life when for a parent to best care for their child, they must ask for help. Often this assistance comes in the form of asking a family member to take care of the child for a while. Florida law recognizes that extended families providing for...
While people think of child custody disputes as being between the two parents of a child, in some situations Florida law provides for other immediate or extended family members to step in to take responsibility for a child’s care. This is the first of a three-post...
What to do in Florida if you’re being ignored as a co-parent If you are the divorced or unmarried parent of a minor child, there is a high chance that you share with the other parent the responsibility to make important life decisions for your child together. Despite...
The LAW OFFICES OF FORREST & Forrest, PLLC represents individuals in Fort Lauderdale in high-asset divorce matters. Daniel Forrest is board-certified family lawyer and mediator serving the South Florida area.
