Florida Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

You won't. Your non-payment of rent is likely in violation of Fla. Stat. 83.60 and Fla. Stat. 56(3). None of what you described would support witholding rent. That said, if you are looking for a lawyer to "do lawyer work" like set out a "good written argument" to try to overcome those issues, you will have to plan to PAY and HIRE a lawyer for that. Thats what lawyers do for a living. That said, if you qualify, you can try local legal aid to see if they can help you, but be prepared to be told that you wrongfully withheld rent and are subject to eviction if the LL did his part properly. That aside, if the LL "changed the locks" to lock you out of the property without a writ of possession being issued, you might have a remedy under Fla. Stat. 83.67. It won't stop an eviction nbut you might be entitled to seek damages. ... Read More

You did not provide sufficient information for answering this inquiry in any detail.  Even with more information, it would not be possible, in my opinion, for an attorney to answer what you primarily are wanting to know.  Here is what I can tell you:  even if you never previously violated your probation, you may still face more jail or prison time.  It would depend a lot on the points on your Criminal Punishment Code (i.e., scoresheet); what kind, if any defenses you may have; whethter the prosecutor assigned to your case is willing to do any meaningful plea bargaining with your defense attorney; and, to some degree, where in Florida your case is set for court.  Based on my experience, although the prosecutor may be willing to make a VOP offer, the prosecutor is unlikely to engage in direct negotations with you.  In other words, I suggest you have an attorney.  If you cannot afford one, I recommend you ask the court to appoint the Public Defender.      ... Read More

Dear Anonymous:   Generally, all assets accrued and liabilities incurred during the marriage, whether by one party, or jointly (regardless of how an account or asset may be titled) are divided equally.  However, if one party can prove marital waste (i.e. he spent money on another woman) then those liabilities or wasted assets are put back in the marital "pot" for the purposes of what we call equitable distribution.   As to alimony, the basic premise is whether you have a need for alimony and whether your husband has the ability to pay it.  A 9 year marriage  is considered a short term marriage under Florida law, and if a party otherwise qualifies to receive alimony, the recipient can get alimony for a maximum of half the length of the marriage, which, in your case, is 4.5 years.  As to the amount, it really depends on both party's net incomes and a laundry list of other factors that are set forth in  FLorida Statute 61.08.  Here is the link http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.08.html   These are a little too complicated to get into in this answer, particularly when you have not provided any other facts about your specific situation but reviewing the statute may give you more insight. As to child support, Florida has a formula based on the number of children, the net incomes of the parties (and if you receive alimony, that will be added to your net income and deducted from your husband's income) the number of overnights each parent has,  health insurance costs for the children and child care expenses , if any.    In addition, where there are children involved in the divorce the parties must first come up with a parenting plan that encompasses parental responsibilities including, but not limited to timesharing, including holidays, travel and decision-making authority.  One would have to establish the parenting plan and the number of overnights each parent has with the children before  child support can be calculated.  Understand this is an overview of the basic issues that must be resolved in a divorce, and  you could probably get a better understanding of your situation if you  sought a consultation with  counsel and provided the missing facts to that person. I wish you the best of luck.   Cindy S. Vova  Family Law Offices of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. Broward-Miami-Dade: 954-316-3496 Boca Raton-Palm Beach: 561-962-2785... Read More

You should seekrepresentation immediately. It would be wise to preserve photos of the scene, your body and store away your footwear. Seek appropriate medical care. You should contact a Personal Injury Attorney as soon as possible to review all facts and circumstances-especially details regarding the dangerous condition which caused your injury- and hopefully obtain representation. If there is a dangerous condition that caused your fall, resulting in a significant injury, a Personal Injury attorney can investigate this matter and determine all possible responsible parties rather than you pursue this on your own. A Personal Injury attorney experienced in handling Slip/Trip and Fall cases can guide and advise you and evaluate your claim. However, if you are interested in consulting with one of us, you will have to reach out, as attorneys are unable to directly solicit on this forum. Do not delay so a notification to preserve any video evidence may be sent timely and not to potentially prejudice your rights. Loren L. Gold, Esq.... Read More

Yes, you can keep them out of bankruptcy because they have no equity. If SSDI is your only income you don't have to go bankrupt because creditors cannot take social security benefits. Your credit would remain ruined and creditors may continue to bug you but that's it. If you want to know about protections from debt collectors, i.e. bugging you, google federal trade commission, consumerfinance.gov and myfloridalegal.com Look for information about debt collectors or debt collection.... Read More

Good afternoon, please contact the FL child abuse hotline. You can google it. You are required by law to report child abandonment to the child abuse hotline. The department of children and families will become involved and will take the necessary action including a court case if warranted. The children should be placed with you because you are the relatives and they are in good hands. I cannot guarantee the latter. If you want legal representaiton, contact the Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service and ask for a Juvenile lawyer in your area.... Read More

This service does not allow me to edit my reply to your response so I am just going to deal with it as if I was answering your question for the first time. What kind of name change forms are you talking about? Are you talking about the ones that are done through the court or are you talking about the ones to change your child's name through the Fl Department of Vital Statistics? If the former is the case, I have to look into this further and get back with you. Please respond to lawofficelbasagoitia@gmail.com Otherwise, I may not see your reply because as I said this service does not let me know when there is a reply. Thank you.... Read More

Please go to floridalawhelp.org This is a website which will direct you to the Legal Aid agency in your community. Public housing is a very specialized field that private lawyers normally don't do  but Legal Aid agencies do and have the expertise necessary to practice in the field. In the future,  if you have legal questions and your income is limited, check out Free Legal Answers, a program by the FL Bar to answer legal questions from persons with limited income. Make sure that the program is run by the American Bar Association (A.B.A.) There a lot of pretenders out there. It does not necessarily mean that you will get an answer. It is simply another resource that you may want to try.... Read More

Good morning, you can do the paternity test whenever you want. I don't know how accurate are the tests before the child is born. It is my opinion that you will not be able to force mother to do the test before the birth if she does not want to. After all, there is no child yet and there may never be a child.... Read More

The legal standard is that the seller knew or should have known of the defects and he/she didn't tell you about it. The defects must be latent; in other words, not visible to the common eye. I am afraid what the inspector said is correct. They normally have a very tight contract with limited liability. It got through underwriting 'cause it passed the inspection. File a complaint against the realtor at myfloridalicense.com The real estate commission is who regulates realtors. Obvioulsy, the realtor must have done something wrong. So far you have not said so. Proving it was a latent defect and that the seller knew or should have known can be more than $20K if the other side fights it. Even if he does not fight it, you have no guarantee you'll ever see the money. With due respect, you will have to eat this expense. Get a loan from the equity on the home. Still go ahead and complain against the realtor anyhow if he/she did something wrong. You would probably get attorney's fees from the other side if you win the case but you will have to pay your lawyer in advance. Once he wins the case, then he can go after the attorney's fees. By the way, you may not be able to get attorney's fees for litigating the issue of attorney's fees. Even if you win the attorney's fees on top of the damage caused to you by the defective house there is no guarantee that you will ever see any money. Now, do you see all the minefields you are facing? ... Read More

Good morning, the affidavit is not going to cut it. Please pay the lawyer or delay the marriage. If you don't care about your or your future husband's assets, income, or liabilities go ahead and get married w/o a pre nup but if you do it is incumbent that you have a legally correct pre nup before the marriage. Otherwise, you are asking for trouble. ... Read More

Good morning, you can report the cars stolen to the police but they will probably tell you that it is a civil matter. The reason is because is they don't know what rights the non-beneficiary has to the cars, if any. Report the attorney to the Florida Bar since he or she should have dealt with this matter long ago. Please talk to the attorney first before reporting him/her to the Bar and tell him/her if she don't talk to you and resolve this matter to your satisfaction you will report him/her to the Bar. ... Read More

I am not aware of any grounds for suing where you can remain anonymous. Because I am not 100% certain about that, please call the Dade County Bar Association to be referred to an attorney for a consultation for a reasonable or no fee. Why don't you consult with an I.T. (information technology) person about the harassment you are experiencing online? He or she may be able to block or erase the harassment or tell you how to do so w/o need of legal action.... Read More

Good morning, have you checked the FAQ section for lawyer subscribers to this site? Otherwise, have you tried contacting "lawyers.com" directly and asking them? As to what to say in the response to the review, please check Ethics Opinion 21-1 in the Bar website. Please be very careful in what you say. ... Read More