Orlando Divorce Attorneys - An Interview with Andrew G. Storie
Q. Tell us about yourself and your practice
A. My name is Andrew G. Storie and I have been a proud member of the Florida bar, since graduating law school in 2002. In 1991, I graduated from the University of Alabama and came back home to Orlando FL, where I became a professional actor doing theatre film and television. Durring this time, I attended the Unversity of Central Florida and obtained my teaching certification. In 1995, I taught Middle School Social Studies in Orlando for about 4 years before heading back to the University of Alabama for law school. After graduation I became an Asistant State Attorney based in Brevard and Seminole counties, here in Florida where I prosecuted thousands of cases. In 2005, I was a founding partner of the LawOffice of Cohen and Storie in Orlando. In 2009, I started my own practice, the Law Office of Andrew G. Storie.
Q. What are your main areas of practice?
A. Since 2005, I have focused my practice mainly to family law and issues affecting the families of Central Florida. This includes areas such as divorce, adoption, child support, visitation modification and enforcement of prior orders and injunction/restraining orders.
Q. Does your office offer paralegal services to help with simple document filings?
A. I do have a paralegal that works for me. However, we do not offer services with her only. This is because paralegals are only allowed to fill in the blanks on legal documents. They are not allowed to write pleadings (documents for the court) or to give any legal advice.
Q. What are your payment plans?
A. We do offer flexible payment plans that fits our clients needs.
Q. What are the situations in which an annulment can be used?
A. While there is no statute in Florida regarding annulments, the Florida Courts have recognized granting annulments under specific circumstances. Annulments are allowed in two situations, Void Marriages and Voidable Marriages.
Avoid marriage is a marriage between two people who are not allowed under the law to be married. An example would be a marriage between relatives (cousins, brother, sister, mother, father, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece), between same sex individuals and when one or both parties are married to someone else (bigamy) or where one individual lacked the capacity to consent to the marriage. In this situation a formal annulment by the Court is not required, as the State of Florida does not recognize the marriage to begin with. However, in many of these cases it is often wise to get a formal declaration of annulment from the Court.
Avoidable marriage is a marriage where one party’ s consent was wrongfully obtained by force, duress or fraud. In these cases Florida allows the granting of an annulment only if the marriage has not been consummated (sexual intercourse after the wedding ceremony).
Q. What is a post judgment modification?
A. A post judgment modification is simply changing parts of the divorce decree, after the divorce. When a party gets divorced in Florida, the divorce papers given to them is called a Final Judgment of Dissloution of Marriage. This document is signed by the judge and outlines the duties and responsibilities of each of the divorced parties. It is supposed to resolve all issues between the parties. But we all know that sometimes, things change that requires a trip back to the judge, whether it is changing the visitation/time sharing schedule of the minor children, modifiying child support or increasing/decreasing alimony. In order to do one of these things the former spouse needs to modify the Final Judgement. This is normally done by taking the former spouse back to court and filing a Supplemental Petition.
Q. Who receives custody of the children in a divorce?
A. The State of Florida does not recognize the term custody. Unless one parent is a danger to the minor children, Florida gives both parents " shared parental responsibility" and then develops a Parenting Plan that outlines each parents rights and duties pertaining to the minor children, including setting up a time sharing (visitation) schedule with the parents. This is solely based on the best interest of the minor children and not on the gender of the parents.
Q. How are the child s best interests determined when settling visitations?
A. Florida Statute 61.03 establishes how the children's best interests are determined. Specifically it states
" For purposes of establishing or modifying parental responsibility and creating, developing, approving or modifying a parenting plan, including a time-
sharing schedule, which governs each parent's relationship with his or her minor child and the relationship between each parent, with regard to his or her
minor child, the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration. Determination of the best interests of the child shall be made by evaluating
all of the factors affecting the welfare and interests of the minor child including, but not limited to;
(a) The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship, to honor the time-sharing schedule and to be reasonable when changes are required.
(b) The anticipated division of parental responsibilities after the litigation, including the extent to which parental responsibilities will be delegated to third parties.
(c) The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to determine, consider and act upon the needs of the child as opposed to the needs or desires of the parent.
(d) The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity.
(e) The geographic viability of the parenting plan, with special attention paid to the needs of school-age children and the amount of time to be spent traveling to effectuate the parenting plan. This factor does not create a presumption for or against relocation of either parent with a child.
(f) The moral fitness of the parents.
(g) The mental and physical health of the parents.
(h) The home, school and community record of the child.
(i) The reasonable preference of the child, if the court deems the child to be of sufficient intelligence, understanding and experience to express a preference.
(j) The demonstrated knowledge, capacity and disposition of each parent to be informed of the circumstances of the minor child, including but not limited to the child's friends, teachers, medical care providers, daily activities and favorite things.
(k) The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to provide a consistent routine for the child, such as discipline and daily schedules for homework, meals and bedtime.
(l) The demonstrated capacity of each parent to communicate with and keep the other parent informed of issues and activities regarding the minor child and the willingness of each parent to adopt a unified front on all major issues, when dealing with the child.
(m) Evidence of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment or child neglect regardless of whether a prior or pending action relating to those issues has been brought.
(n) Evidence that either parent has knowingly provided false information to the court regarding any prior or pending action regarding domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment or child neglect.
(o) The particular parenting tasks customarily performed by each parent and the division of parental responsibilities, before the institution of litigation and during the pending litigation including the extent to which parenting responsibilities were undertaken by third parties.
(p) The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to participate and be involved in the child's school and extra curricular activities.
(q) The demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to maintain an environment for the child, which is free from substance abuse.
(r) The capacity and disposition of each parent to protect the child from the ongoing litigation, as demonstrated by not discussing the litigation with the child, not sharing documents or electronic media related to the litigation with the child and refraining from disparaging comments about the other parent to the child.
(s) The developmental stages and needs of the child and the demonstrated capacity and disposition of each parent to meet the child's developmental needs.
(t) Any other factor that is relevant to the determination of a specific parenting plan, including the time-sharing schedule.
Q. What are the main types of alimony options available?
A. There are a few different types of alimony options in Florida. They include;
· Temporary alimony is typically in cases of short marriage duration, where a spouse has a demonstrated need and the other an ability and it is designed to assist the lower income earning spouse, pending the resolution of the divorce lawsuit.
· Lump sum is a one time payment of a set amount. It is applicable in a marriage, which is not too short but not too long in duration.
· Rehabilitative alimony is typically alimony designed to assist the lower income earning spouse, as he or she travels through their rehabilitative plan, the plan being a formulation of strategies and goals to increase one's earning ability.
· Permanent alimony is in marriages of long duration, typically over 15 years and typically does not end, until the payee spouse dies re marries or is in a supportive relationship by law.
· Bridge-the-gap is a type of alimony, which is of a short duration typically to assist the lower income earning spouse into his or her post divorce earnings.
