Rechel & Associates
Plain explanations of how Florida family law actually works, written for the people living through it.
May 30, 2026
Florida sets child support based on income, timesharing, and other factors. Learn what drives the number and how temporary orders work during a Tampa divorce.
April 5, 2026
Don't let summer vacation lead to a courtroom battle. Discover why Florida co-parents should review their custody orders now.
March 10, 2026
Nervous about a Tampa divorce trial? Learn what really happens in court and how preparation can protect your rights and your children’s future.
February 1, 2026
Just engaged in Florida? The modern prenuptial agreement is an ultimate act of love and clarity. Learn more here!
January 21, 2026
Thinking about filing for divorce in Tampa? Learn key steps to protect your finances, parenting time, and future before you file.
December 6, 2025
Discover how Tampa courts handle spousal support, what factors matter most, and how to protect your financial future during divorce.
December 1, 2025
Help your children thrive through holiday separation. Here are tips on co-parenting and creating new traditions.
November 4, 2025
Learn how Florida divorce law changes impact your Tampa case. Get clarity on alimony, custody, and asset division, start your divorce journey confidently today.
September 25, 2025
Discover how collaborative divorce in Tampa helps you protect privacy, reduce stress, and create lasting family solutions out of court. Start planning today.
September 2, 2025
Learn the essential divorce steps, from filing and mediation to finalizing the process for Florida residents.
November 28, 2019
How Florida law sorts marital from nonmarital property in a divorce: the cutoff dates, commingling, tracing, and when a separate asset carries a marital share.
November 19, 2019
The roughly twenty best interest factors a Florida judge weighs in a time-sharing case, what moral fitness really means, and how each factor gets proven.
November 7, 2019
How Florida holiday time-sharing provisions work, what to do when a co-parent will not follow the schedule, travel rules, and whether to file now or in January.
November 5, 2019
What to do if you are being stalked in Florida: document incidents, preserve evidence, report to police, secure your accounts, and consider an injunction.
October 24, 2019
Florida child support changes only by court order. Learn the substantial change standard, the 15 percent or $50 test, and why the filing date matters.
October 14, 2019
Week on week off, 2-2-3, 2-2-5-5, alternating weekends and long distance plans, plus how a Tampa parenting plan usually handles holidays and summer break.
October 14, 2019
What Florida parents notice, why those signs are not proof, how to report to the DCF abuse hotline, and why withholding a child without a court order backfires.
October 8, 2019
A quitclaim deed does not remove you from the mortgage. How the marital home is handled in a Florida divorce: refinancing, buyouts, equity, and exclusive use.
August 28, 2019
The patterns of domestic abuse that people recognize later, including coercive control, financial control and digital control, and where Tampa help begins.
July 23, 2019
Florida property division starts at an equal split of the marital estate, then adjusts. How assets are classified, valued and divided under Florida law.
July 15, 2019
Florida lets grandparents petition for visitation only in narrow circumstances. What section 752.011 requires, why it is narrow, and what else exists.
January 16, 2017
Florida defines cyberstalking in F.S. 784.048. See how the stalking injunction under 784.0485 differs from a domestic violence injunction, and when each fits.
September 14, 2016
In Florida, most divorce cases are referred to mediation, so it is a step inside the court process. What each path offers, and when mediation fits poorly.
August 17, 2016
How to file for an injunction for protection in Hillsborough County: where to go, what to bring, the temporary order, and what happens at the full hearing.
July 25, 2016
What a case management conference is in a Hillsborough County family case, what the order requires you to do first, and what the hearing itself looks like.
July 18, 2016
In Florida, contested or uncontested turns on one thing: whether you agree on every issue. What each route requires, and who qualifies for simplified divorce.
July 12, 2016
Florida Rule 12.285 makes both spouses exchange a financial affidavit and records within 45 days. What is due, what can be waived, and what cannot.
February 15, 2016
Florida family cases are routinely ordered to mediation. What to bring, what to settle in advance, what the day looks like, and what a signed agreement means.
June 18, 2015
The size of a Florida divorce turns on how many issues stay open and for how long. Disclosure, mediation, narrowing the dispute, and when a case must be tried.
September 14, 2014
A Florida family judgment can be appealed, but an appeal is not a second trial. The standards of review, the thirty day deadline, and what rendition means.
October 8, 2013
How texts, cloud accounts, location data and social posts are used in a Florida divorce, why deleting backfires, and the risk of accessing a spouse's accounts.
September 23, 2013
Child support stopped? Florida gives you two routes: the Department of Revenue's collection tools, or a contempt motion in court. How each one actually works.
July 14, 2013
How Florida treats dissipation of marital assets under F.S. 61.075, the Hillsborough standing order, temporary injunctions, and what evidence a claim needs.
June 19, 2013
Florida sends most family cases to mediation. What the session can settle, why parents build better parenting plans there, and what a signed agreement does.
June 16, 2013
How Florida divides 401(k)s, pensions and IRAs in a divorce, which part of an account is marital, and why a QDRO is separate from your final judgment.
May 23, 2013
Florida enforces prenuptial agreements under section 61.079. The narrow grounds for setting one aside, and why postnuptial agreements are judged differently.
May 16, 2013
If court ordered alimony has stopped, Florida law gives you ways to enforce it. How contempt, income deduction, and judgments for arrears actually work.
April 18, 2013
Florida eliminated permanent alimony effective July 1, 2023. Here is what replaced it, how the durational limits work, and what happens to older awards.
December 10, 2012
How Florida divides a closely held business in divorce: the marital share, fair market value, personal versus enterprise goodwill, and buyout or offset.
November 25, 2012
Florida courts order alimony only after finding a real need and a real ability to pay. How that decision is made, and what marriage length does not settle.
November 5, 2012
Florida has no annulment statute, so the grounds are narrow and must be proved. Here is how void and voidable marriages differ, and why most cases are divorces.
October 29, 2012
How divorce papers are served in Florida: personal service by a sheriff or certified process server, acceptance or waiver, and the real limits of publication.
October 21, 2012
A Florida court can end your marriage after six months of residency, but dividing property, ordering support, and deciding time-sharing turn on jurisdiction.
March 11, 2012
Financial records, clear priorities, protecting your children, and what you put in writing. What preparation looks like in a Florida divorce, stage by stage.
January 10, 2012
Florida is a no fault state, so an affair is not grounds for divorce. Where it can still matter is marital money spent on it, alimony, and the children.
December 10, 2011
How property ownership works during a Florida marriage, why the name on the title often does not decide a divorce, and how homestead and debts are treated.
November 23, 2011
How a Florida divorce uncovers assets a spouse has not disclosed: mandatory disclosure, written discovery, subpoenas, depositions and forensic accounting.
October 13, 2011
Florida courts can award temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, or durational alimony. Here is how need, length of marriage, and amount are decided.
August 5, 2011
In Florida, shared parental responsibility means neither parent picks a new school alone. How school disputes get decided, and what a 50 mile move changes.
September 21, 2010
Filing first in a Florida divorce fixes the marital asset cut-off date and the length of the marriage for alimony. What it does, and what it does not do.
September 9, 2010
What a Florida parenting plan must contain, how time-sharing schedules work, and what the 2023 equal time-sharing presumption does and does not mean.
