For example, when a business or professional practice is considered part of the marital estate, our West Palm Beach high net worth divorce law firm will use a business valuation expert to analyze the cash flow and financial statements of the business or professional practice in order to determine its value.  This valuation can be crucial because quite often the business or professional practice may be the most valuable marital asset. 

A benefit of obtaining a valuation of a business early in a high-asset divorce case is that it permits us to present persuasive positions during negotiations so that we can reduce the probability of incurring additional cost and expense for our clients.  In other words, working closely with a business valuation expert can provide us with a clear and concise analysis regarding the value of a business. In turn, the added clarity to an otherwise complicated financial issue may prevent those same issues from being further contested or litigated at trial. In the event that the issue is further contested, the expert can be called as a witness to testify in court. 

In addition to the above business valuation expert, our West Palm Beach high-asset divorce law firm also utilizes other experts, including forensic accountants to address tax issues or to address questions about the accuracy of the amount on the books of a business.  In addition to tracking down marital assets that the other spouse is attempting to conceal, Forensic accountants may also assist with complex tax-related issues especially where there is some ambiguity about the exact tax ramifications of a particular distribution of assets or debts.  When high net worth marital estates and substantial earnings are involved, the tax consequences of particular property distribution arrangements can have a substantial impact on the fairness of the division of marital property.  This includes the value that one party may receive in the form of deferred tax consequences.

Another type of expert that may prove valuable in contested high net worth divorce cases involving the issue of alimony is a vocational expert.  When the earning capacity of one of the parties is in question, the vocational expert can analyze the education, training and work experience of a spouse to determine the current and future earning capacity of the spouse for purposes of determining the amount of alimony.

Above are just a few basic examples of the different experts that may be needed in a contested high-asset divorce case.  Depending on the specific facts of the case, additional experts, such as real estate appraisers who can determine the value of both residential and commercial property, pension valuation experts, and fine art consultants/appraisers, may also be required.

It is important to understand the distinction between "void" and "voidable" marriages.  A void marriage never legally exists so it confers no legal rights or obligations.  Examples of void marriages include those where a person marries without a final divorce from someone else, or the parties are too closely related to get married.  Voidable marriages involve situations where a legal deficiency may provide a basis for one party to have the marriage erased so that it is like it never existed.  If neither partner decides to take this step, the parties may ratify the marriage.  A void marriage cannot be ratified by the parties to cure the legal defect.

While the annulment process in Florida courts is similar to the divorce process, there are differences.  The court may divide property and debts acquired after the marriage ceremony.  However, permanent alimony is not typically awarded when a marriage is annulled in Florida, but a Florida family law judge does have the power to award permanent alimony and attorneys fees to an innocent spouse.  If you are thinking about dissolving your relationship through the annulment process, you should speak to knowledgeable Palm Beach divorce lawyer James S. Cunha who can analyze your situation and advise you regarding the advantages and disadvantages of annulment.

The annulment process also differs from divorce because it is only available in limited situations including the following:

• One of the parties is married to someone else
   
• The marriage is the product of fraud or duress
   
• A party lacks mental or physical capacity to enter into marriage
   
• The couple are too closely related (i.e. incest)
   
• Lack of consent or too intoxicated to consent
   
• Not of sufficient age to consent to marriage

If your spouse is seeking to annul your marriage, you may be able to challenge annulment based on ratification.  If the aggrieved party learns of the legal barrier to the marriage and continues to live together as though married, this ratification of the marriage may prevent annulment.  In such a situation, the other spouse would need to seek a divorce rather than an annulment.  Whether you are seeking an annulment, opposing an annulment or just have general questions about the differences between annulment and divorce, we invite you to contact our knowledgeable and caring Florida family law legal team.  No matter where you are located, experienced Palm Beach annulment attorney James S. Cunha and his legal team are just a phone call away.

The study tracked children from the time they were in kindergarten until they reached the fifth grade.  The parents in the study divorced when the children were either in the first or third grade.  The data revealed that children whose parents were involved in acrimonious divorces exhibit deficiencies in social skills, mathematics and a variety of other areas.  What is particularly interesting about this report is that it found that these adverse effects were not present in children whose parents were involved in a reasonably cordial divorce.

The specific areas in which children of high conflict divorces demonstrated adverse effects included:

• Challenges in keeping friends
• Deficiencies in math performance
• Diminished empathy toward others
• Inability to relate to children of different backgrounds, races and personalities
• Difficulty with expressing emotions in positive ways

While a fair number of other studies have documented the emotional and behavioral impact of divorce, this study suggests that academic performance may also be adversely impacted.  The results also are interesting because they clearly suggest that the divorce process, in of itself, does not necessarily have a negative impact on children.  The key is how parents interact and the degree of hostility and conflict involved in the divorce.  Interestingly, the researchers did not find that hostility and conflict prior to the divorce process had the same adverse effect.  The disparity may be explained by the combination of conflict and loss of support systems during the divorce as well as the changes and transition that often accompanies the process.

One somewhat odd finding from the study is that reading skills do not seem to be affected by high conflict custody cases the way that math performance is impacted.  The difference may be linked to the fact that math skills are built upon prior knowledge so that once material is missed and knowledge gaps exist it is difficult to make up for these gaps in the child’s knowledge.  Credibility for this theory is found in the fact that children did not make up for this deficiency as time elapsed after the divorce.  Those children whose parents were involved in high conflict custody disputes remained about twelve percent behind kids who parents were not involved in contentious divorce and custody cases.

Because our South Florida child custody law firm understands the importance of striving for workable parenting plans that shield children from avoidable conflict, we are committed to finding innovative solutions to help parents move past personal animosity. No matter where you are located, experienced Palm Beach child custody lawyer James S. Cunha and his legal are just a phone call away.

Palm Beach divorce attorney James S. Cunha has the extensive experience and knowledge required to analyze the value of stock options as part of the property division aspect in a divorce.  Our law firm has worked closely with forensic accountants and financial analysts in such cases to ensure that we obtain a proper valuation of stock options.  The valuation and division of stock options is an increasingly important issue in divorce as many companies including tech companies, publicly traded companies and even closely held companies are increasingly granting stock options as a key form of compensation for employees.  Stock options are a particularly common form of compensation for those in the management structure because it permits performance to be linked to compensation.

The difficulty in valuing and dividing stock options in a Palm Beach divorce is rooted in the nature of the asset.  A stock option is essentially the right to purchase a fixed number of shares of stock at a designated price at specific times.  The price at which the shares can be purchased (called the “grant” price) is usually the market price at the time the stock option is granted.

While there are multiple methods for valuing stock options, two are most common.  The “intrinsic value” method calculates the value of the option based on the difference between the price at which the stock option can be exercised and the fair market value of the stock option when exercised.  If the stock option grant price was $3 per share but the fair market value at the time the stock options are exercised is $50 per share, the intrinsic value of the options would be $47. 

However, there are a number of limitations to the intrinsic value method so that it may not be the appropriate valuation method of stock options in your divorce.

The other method of determining the value of stock options which may more appropriate in your case is the Black-Scholes Method.   However, this valuation method also has limitations though it is formally recognized as the appropriate approach to valuing stock options by the accounting profession.  There are two parts to this method of calculating the value of stock options: (1) calculation of the anticipated benefit of purchasing the stock outright, and (2) calculation of the present value benefit of paying the exercise price in the future.  The difference in these amounts is the value of the stock options.

When stock options are part of the marital estate, it is essential to seek the advice and legal representation of a divorce attorney who has the expertise and experience to properly value these important assets.  No matter where you are located, experienced Palm Beach divorce attorney James S. Cunha and his legal team are just a phone call away.

Despite the ease of diverting marital assets and income with these electronic tools, it is now easier than ever to track down such improper transactions.  At the Law Offices of James S. Cunha, P.A., we routinely engage in electronic discovery to identify hidden assets or income streams that our client may not have known existed.   State of the art electronic discovery tools allow us to search thousands of pages of bank records or other financial documents in minutes to identify transactions that do not look kosher.   Depending on the size of the marital estate, our law firm will utilize forensic accountants to make every attempt possible to track down any suspicious transaction. 

While some spouses believe that deleting files and their web browsing history will prevent detection when they waste marital assets, the reality is that most actions on a computer leave an “electronic/digital footprint” that we can use an expert to recover.  Some spouses detect such inappropriate use of marital assets on their own by checking their spouses internet search history or using keystroke loggers that allow a spouse to see everything that their spouse has done while on the Internet.

With so much of our everyday communication and financial transactions conducted online, electronic discovery is a growing part of Palm Beach divorce cases—particularly in cases involving large marital estates.  When a spouse attempts to hide marital assets or divert them away from a spouse, electronic discovery becomes an important tool to assure that our clients are not deprived of their equitable share of marital assets.  Sometimes a spouse will conduct a prolonged affair and spend tens of thousands of dollars—(depending on the case, sometimes even millions of dollars)—on expensive gifts, such as jewelry, vehicles or homes, travel, hotels, and dining out with a lover.  Palm Beach divorce attorney James S. Cunha and his legal team are committed to conducting a thorough and meticulous investigation to identify such misappropriation of marital property and will make every possible attempt to recover their client's share of any diverted funds.

The scope of such illicit transactions in divorce cases may include but are not limited to the following:

• Setting up an investment account linked to a hidden social network site
   
• Using a PayPal account or credit cards to finance an affair
   
• Setting up and monitoring bank accounts electronically that are not disclosed to a spouse
   
• Purchasing online gifts via Amazon and ebay for a girlfriend or boyfriend
   
• Funneling marital assets through the use of either “shell” or “dummy” corporations/companies

Our experienced Palm Beach divorce team carefully reviews all documents and conducts electronic discovery to identify available assets and income that may not have been disclosed.  Both parties to a Florida divorce have a duty of full disclosure of all assets and liabilities.  This disclosure requirement involves listing all properties with a designation of the property as marital or separate property.  Each party must also indicate the value of the listed properties.

When a spouse fails to comply with this mandatory disclosure requirement, a family law judge has the power to punish the offending party for frustrating the court’s ability to equitably distribute marital property. 

If you are involved in a divorce, Palm Beach divorce attorney James S. Cunha and his legal team will work diligently to make sure that all property is disclosed so that his clients obtain the financial foundation they need to rebuild following a marital dissolution.  No matter where you are located, experienced Palm Beach divorce property lawyer James S. Cunha is just a phone call away.

Desirable or not, the reality is that parents must also consider their work schedules and what is practical for them. Otherwise, parents may find themselves constantly struggling with having to make repeated changes to their timesharing schedule.  Palm Beach child custody lawyer James S. Cunha knows that working closely with the other parent following the acrimonious deterioration of a marriage or cohabitation arrangement can be extremely difficult.  Our goal of this three-part series of articles is to offer tools for making the process easier for both you and your children.

Use a Business-Like Approach:  Effective co-parenting does not require that you have a warm fuzzy relationship with the other parent.  Many parents are able to work constructively with the other parent in a Palm Beach custody case by treating the co-parenting relationship like a business arrangement.  Both parents have similar objectives in promoting the best interest of their children.  Just like in a business partnership, you can work toward that goal by focusing on your children’s needs and best interests without necessarily having the highest opinion of the other parent.  If you discuss issues involving your children with the detached business demeanor that you might a business transaction, you can remove personal animosity and issues with the other parent from the analysis of how to handle specific situations. 

Keep Conversations Focused on the Children:  Whenever you are discussing issues related to your children with the other parent, it is easy to have those discussions drift into other matters, including alimony, current significant others, child support or other issues.  This can interfere with potential agreements and sound decision-making regarding your children.  If you can keep conversations about parenting issues focused on your children, it can help prevent emotions on other issues from derailing a constructive agreement.

Parent as a Team:  A very productive way to co-parent can be to ask the advice or input of the other parent on an issue that you do not feel strongly about.  This type of team approach to co-parenting can be a very productive strategy to developing a cooperative parenting relationship.  When you are proactive about involving the other parent in decisions, you are indicating that you respect the other parent by validating that parent’s opinion.  Children are capable of sensing this type of collaboration and typically may feel more secure and confident in an environment that may otherwise be dominated by uncertainty.

Do Not Sweat the Small Stuff:  If you and the other parent disagree about major issues like whether your children should have a medical procedure or the best school for your child, you should certainly engage in continued discussion to reach an agreement.  When you have minor disagreements about less critical issues, you should not make a major issue out of them.  If the child’s bedtime is 8:00 p.m. at your house and 8:15 p.m. at the other parent’s home, this may not be an issue worth arguing over.

Work Together to Overcome Visitation Refusals:  When a child refuses to follow the parenting time plan, this can be one of the most challenging situations for parents involved in South Florida child custody cases.  If the child indicates that he or she does not want to go to the home of the other parent, you should carefully discuss this issue with the child to determine why the child does not want to spend time with the other parent.  This issue must be discussed honestly with the other parent, and cooperative efforts should be employed to help the child feel comfortable spending time with the other parent.  If you are open and honest with the other parent, it will help avoid misunderstandings and distrust.  This can be one of the most difficult communication scenarios because it is easy for the other parent to get the impression that you are behind your child’s decision not to visit the other parent.

We invite you to read the first two installments of this three-part series of articles on positive co-parenting in South Florida child custody cases.  While we have tried to provide a number of productive strategies for positive communication and co-parenting, the best way to obtain more specific information about your child custody dispute is to speak to a member of our Palm Beach child custody team at the Law Offices of James S. Cunha, P.A.  No matter where you are located, experienced Palm Beach parenting plan lawyer James S. Cunha and his legal team are just a phone call away.

Make Reasonable Accommodations: While the terms of parenting plans, such as time-share arrangements are supposed to be followed, these arrangements are carried out in the real world where situations arise requiring people to adapt and change their plans.  When the other parent requests a switch in scheduling, your decision to grant such a request should be based on being reasonable and the best interest of your child.  Some parents police the terms of a parenting plan to such an excessive degree that reasonable adjustments are rejected as a matter of principle.  This rigid inflexible approach can be detrimental to your children and will likely generate the same treatment if you need a minor adjustment in the future.  There certainly are situations where you may have plans or the other parent is simply trying to be difficult by asking for a last minute change.  If the request seems legitimate and will not affect you or your children adversely, however, your agreement to make modifications when unanticipated situations arise can go a long way to creating a positive relationship with the other parent.

Provide Consistent Rules and Consequences: One of the most difficult situations for children in a Palm Beach child custody dispute is to have conflicting rules when moving between the homes of parents.  If you can coordinate rules and consequences that apply in both households, this can ease the stress for children.  It typically is not advisable to openly undermine the rules imposed by the other parent or to encourage a child to disregard those rules.  When parents engage in openly undermining the discipline imposed by the other parent, this often comes back to haunt them as the child may begin to disregard the authority of both parents and pit them against one another.

Do Not Discuss the Case with Your Children: It can be tempting to discuss aspects of the case with your children because you feel that you are “in the right” and want your children to understand why you are taking the position you are on certain issues.  This generally is a bad idea and should be avoided.  Children are usually conflicted when they are in the middle of a child custody dispute in South Florida.  Most of the time shielding your children from the issues in your divorce or paternity case is the best way to reduce the anxiety and fear about the future that children predictably feel in these situations.

Choose Communication Methods and Stick to Them: No matter how parents feel about each other when they are in the middle of a divorce, communication is necessary for effective co-parenting.  Many times the level of animosity makes face to face communication a less than desirable alternative.  Fortunately, the explosion in electronic communication tools means that there are now more ways for parents to communicate with each other than ever before.  Our experienced South Florida child custody law firm carefully explores communication options with our clients while the case is pending.  We try to discover ways that encourages parents to communicate with each other about their children and incorporate the most effective method of communication into the parenting plan.  The options for communication with the other parent may include:

• Email
   
• Text messaging
   
• Telephone calls (landline or cell phone)
   
• Written notes or computer generated letters
   
• Social media sites
   
• In-person communication

The key is to determine what works best in your co-parenting arrangement for particular issues and stick to it. Parenting in a cooperative way with the other parent after a West Palm Beach divorce or paternity action is never easy.  The effort that both parents put forth will directly benefit your children and generally should make the situation less stressful and frustrating for you.  No matter where you are located, experienced West Palm Beach parenting plan lawyer James S. Cunha and his legal team are just a phone call away.

• Cost: Parents that work constructively to agree on a stable lasting parenting plan can avoid expensive litigation.
   
• Emotional Benefits: The stress and anxiety for you and your children will be considerably less.
   
• Stability and Predictability: Positive co-parenting relationships reduce the need for post-judgment modification and enforcement proceedings.
   
• Positive Outcomes for Children: A recent study confirms earlier studies that children whose parents resolve child custody issues amicably avoid a decline in math scores and social functioning common to children involved in high conflict custody disputes.

Experienced West Palm Beach child custody attorney James S. Cunha understands that it is easier to recognize the value of a constructive co-parenting relationship than to actively participate in this type of constructive interaction in the midst of hostile feelings toward the other parent.  Our West Palm Beach family law firm works diligently to structure parenting plans that set our clients up for successful co-parenting relationships.  Because it can be difficult to avoid animosity and cooperate in a positive way with the other parent, we have developed this three-part series of articles that provide advice on constructive co-parenting strategies.

Never Use the Children as a Communication Tool: Because a parent may feel negatively toward the other parent, which makes communication a challenge, it can be tempting to simply relay messages through your children.  Virtually all child therapists agree that this is a practice that should be avoided.  When a parent uses a child as the mechanism for conveying messages to the other parent, the child is placed squarely in the middle of parental disagreements.  The child may feel personally responsible for negative attitudes expressed in the message or hostility toward the message from the recipient.  Adult disputes should be handled between adults not children.  Mr. Cunha and his legal team often tries to pre-empt such issues by specifying appropriate communication methods that will work for a particular set of parents.  There are more options for communication than ever before with email, text messaging, video chat and cell phones.  Careful consideration of how information will be communicated between parents during a divorce or paternity case can prevent serious problems later.

Avoid Derogatory Comments About the Other Parent: We understand that the other parent may be extremely aggravating and negative, but the other party remains your child’s parent.  It is very difficult for a child when a parent makes derogatory comments about the other parent in the child’s presence.  Researchers who study the impact on children of a parent consistently denigrating the other parent have found that this can lead directly to low self-esteem for a child.  This practice also may force a child to feel the need to take sides in a child custody dispute and can have the impact of alienating the child toward the other parent.  Florida family law judges take an extremely dim view of parents who make derogatory comments about the other parent, which may result in an unfavorable parenting plan.

Volunteer Important School, Medical and Dental Information: If the children live with you during the school week, you should be proactive about sharing school information with the other parent.  Report cards, progress reports, disciplinary notices, awards and achievements should be shared with the other parent without a formal request from the parent.  Important medical and dental information should also be provided to the other parent.  The more the other parent is provided with such information and included in decision-making about academic and medical decisions the more you will promote a positive co-parenting relationship.  If you find that you are back in court on a custody modification hearing later, this type of voluntary information sharing generally will be reviewed positively by a Florida family law judge.

These are just a few examples of ways to promote a constructive co-parenting relationship with the other parent of your child.  Constructive co-parenting with a parent with whom you have had a failed romantic or sexual relationship is never easy. However, we invite you to read Part II and Part III of this series of articles for strategies to make a difficult situation more manageable.

A parent is not allowed to relocate the minor child(ren) more than fifty miles from the child’s residence without notice to the other parent and approval by the court.  The court will consider a number of factors in determining whether to allow the parent to relocate with the minor child. 

Florida’s virtual visitation laws provide a way for the non-moving parent to communicate with his or her child(ren) when the court approves such a move.

With advancements in technology, parents have recently possessed the tools to help ease the burden of facilitating communication between the child and the parent who resides long distance. “Virtual visitation” is one tool that appears to be widely used when a child does not reside in reasonable proximity to the non-moving parent.  Virtual visitation involves the use of communication technology, such as Skype, Facebook, instant messaging, video chat and similar communication tools to facilitate continuing communication and contact.  Although the laws in Florida acknowledge that virtual visitation or electronic communication is not intended to completely substitute in-person contact, it provides a mechanism to ease the burden on children and non-moving parents in Florida parental relocation cases.  However, the courts in Florida “may not consider the availability of electronic communication as the sole determinative factor when considering relocation.” § 61.13003(6), Florida Statutes.    

Florida is on the cutting-edge of this new trend in using electronic communication to facilitate contact between a parent and a minor child.  Florida is one of only six states that currently have a statute that specifically provides for this form of electronic visitation.  However, this is an emerging trend in addressing the issue of frequent and continuing contact for both parents in the face of parental relocation cases. 

While video telephone calls on Skype and ongoing texting messaging dialogs are not a perfect solution, they do offer a more extensive form of communication than traditional phone calls and letters.  If you are a parent that needs to relocate with your child or a parent objecting to the relocation of your child’s home,  experienced South Florida parental relocation attorney James S. Cunha and his legal team understand the complexity and challenges faced in parental relocation cases.  We work diligently to preserve the parent-child relationship our clients share with their children.

Our South Florida child custody law firm is available to represent clients in West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Palm Beach Gardens, Boynton Beach, Jupiter, Delray Beach and Boca Raton in Palm Beach County.  We also offer effective legal representation to clients who reside in Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Hendry, Broward, and Miami-Dade in child custody and parental relocation matters.  No matter where you are located, we are just a phone call away.