For many people a divorce is one of the most stressful events they will ever have to endure. As such, they need a Tampa family lawyers who are not only skilled in the family law, but who are also willing to listen to their specific concerns and fears. At the law office of Ivan T. Lenoir II PA. we help people through the family law and divorce process, so that they can make rational and reasonable decisions regarding child support, alimony, property division, and child custody.

Many factors are considered in a court's decision to award alimony, or spousal support, as it is otherwise known. However, as there are only guidelines that the court must consider in awarding alimony, each divorce is ultimately decided on its own unique set of circumstances. Factors the court may consider when awarding alimony include the length of the marriage, the parties' standard of living, a spouse's age, education, and health, among others.

Before a court will award alimony, it will first divide the marital property. Equitable distribution is the term courts use to describe how marital property is divided. First, marital and non-marital assets and liabilities are set aside, and then the court will consider several statutory factors in equitably distributing marital assets and liabilities, including the contribution to the marriage by each spouse, the economic circumstances of each spouse, the contribution by one spouse to the personal career or educational opportunity of the other spouse and the intentional dissipation or waste of marital assets by one spouse up to two years before the filing of the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.

Following a divorce or judgment of paternity, most parents are simply unable to provide for their child on their own, no matter how hard they try. However, children need financial assistance in order to live healthy and happy lives. Child support is a legal mechanism designed to provide custodial parents with the supplemental income they need to raise their child.

Under Florida family law, courts must award child support according to the State's child support guidelines. At the law offices of Ivan T. Lenoir II PA, their Tampa family lawyers represent parents in their efforts to secure child support and in any subsequent child support disputes. Much of the work we perform for clients is determining the proper amount of child support using the formula established by the State in its guidelines. Contact us to learn more about child support, alimony, and custody issues.