A common fear of many individuals going through a divorce is what happens during the pendency of the divorce proceedings. A divorce can take months or even years and the finances, assets, debts, and child custody arrangements can be confusing during this time without a final order on the matter. Your Florida Divorce Attorney can aid you in requesting temporary relief from the court during the pendency of the proceeding in order to have a set plan regarding these important aspects to your life.
Whether you need financial support, physical protection, or a plan regarding your child custody arrangement with your partner, you may petition the court for Temporary Relief. Temporary relief, as the name suggests, is temporary in nature, and is only enforceable until the divorce proceedings conclude and a final order of divorce is entered that determines these issues permanently.
The most common form of temporary requests involve child custody and timesharing plans. The court will be charged with setting a visitation schedule as well as child support for the common children of the parties. This plan will consider the best interest of the child just as in a final child custody determination. The court may order a plan where the child lives primarily with one parent and visitation occurs on a weekend basis, or the exchange of the child may occur every week or the court may formulate a plan that works best for the child outside of a normal schedule. Of course, this determination depends on the weight of many different factors, including the abilities of the parents, the ages of the children, encouragement of the relationship between the child and parent and many other relevant factors. It is important to remember this is a temporary arrangement, and the temporary order will cease upon the final determination of the divorce. This relief, will also consider the award of child support as determined by the child support guidelines in respect to the incomes of the parties. Therefore, for these temporary requests it is important to still maintain a good deal of evidence to present to the court in order to make a proper determination.
Further, a party may request temporary property division. This mostly includes the use of the marital home by one spouse; or the division of cars to be used on a temporary basis by a spouse for transportation during the pendency of the proceedings. These are terms that would need to be decided quickly rather than waiting months for a trial and therefore, the court will set the matter for a temporary relief hearing. Living arrangements and transportation are necessities to the court to determine however, if you are requesting temporary relief for the award of a 401k account, the court will likely not hear this request as it is not time sensitive and can wait till a final hearing to be distributed.
Finally, financial support is also a commonly sought temporary award. When a single spouse is the sole income for a family, it is not uncommon for the other spouse to request temporary alimony. This alimony award can assist in lawyer fees during the pendency, the occurrence of regular household needs, allow the spouse to begin the transition to find financial independence, and alleviate the stress of financial instability.
Your Florida Divorce Attorney will be able to discuss your specific temporary needs and formulate the petition for temporary relief. We will also be able to assist you in gathering the necessary evidence to present to the court to ensure you are properly awarded such relief. Your Florida Divorce Attorney will ensure that you are not only protected after you’re divorced, but during its pendency as well.
Speaking to an attorney at our Florida office is free of charge, and we accept calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Contact us at 850-307-5221 or complete an online contact form to get in touch with a member of our team today.