Know Your Rights

family

Family Law Tips

- If you are in fear of domestic or have been a victim of domestic or sexual violence you may qualify for a protection order to keep that person away from you whether you are married or not.

- The length of time it takes to get a divorce in Florida depends on if the couple agrees to the divorce or not. Florida law requires a judge to wait 20 days from the time a divorce petition is filed to grant a divorce, unless the couple waives this requirement. The law also requires each side be given 30 days to prepare for a final hearing of divorce, unless waived by the couple. Ultimately, whether the divorce will be contested or not determines the length of time it takes to get divorced in Florida.

- When a couple is not married and there is neither an acknowledgement of paternity form or a paternity order in place, the mother is the natural guardian.

- When you involve your children in your divorce, you are putting them in the middle of a high conflict situation, and it is extremely dangerous to your relationship with your child and puts them in an anxiety provoking situation. This can also be extremely damaging to your legal case on custody.

- Even if you are not current on child support or not paying support, you may be entitled to timesharing with your children.

- All property accumulated in a marriage is likely to be deemed martial property and to be split in the divorce, therefore it cannot be sold, destroyed, or given away while the divorce is ongoing.

- Who gets the house in a divorce? A judge can award the marital home to one spouse as part of property distribution in your divorce, provided the party can pay for the costs to maintain the home. A court will look at several factors to decide who gets the house and may also order the house be sold and the proceeds divided. This assumes that the house qualifies as “marital” property and not one spouse’s sole, separate property.

If you are a victim of domestic or sexual violence, GLS can assist you with protection orders, divorce, paternity and many other family law issues.
housing

Housing & Financial Stability Tips

- Read your lease before signing.

- If your lease ends and you do not sign a renewal you are now on a month-to-month that only requires 14 days-notice to vacate.

- Know your responsibilities under the lease/know LL’s responsibilities under the lease.

- Put all requests for maintenance/repairs in writing.

- Security deposit is not at issue until after you have vacated the property.

- Low income, disability, age, lack of ability to find alternative housing arrangements, and other general difficulties will not prevent an eviction.

- Evictions stay on your record, even if they are ultimately dismissed.If you cannot pay for it with cash, you cannot afford it.

- Having an emergency fund is a must.

- Have a plan every month for every dollar you earn.

- List your debts smallest to largest and knock them out.

- Doing a budget takes about three months to perfect. Don’t worry about not being spot on every time.
taxation

Taxation Tips

- Don’t forget to file your taxes in a timely manner! Find the deadlines early. If you have a balance due and you do not file and pay your taxes on time, you will face added penalties and fees on any tax liability that you owe.

- If your employer mailed you an incorrect tax form, diligently reach out to them and or the IRS in order to rectify any incorrect information. Filing a tax return using different information than what is reported on your tax form may lead to increased processing time, penalties, and a potential audit examination. Avoid this by requesting a corrected tax form from your employer or reach out to the IRS.

- If you are due a refund, failure to file your Federal tax return within three years of the date in which it was due will result in the loss of that refund forever.

GLS can assist you in reviewing incorrect tax form or addressing tax controversies.
lgbtq rights

LGBTQ Rights

Name Change FAQs:


- You must have lived in FL for 6 months before applying for a legal name change.

- There is a filing fee waiver for the $400 filing fee (Affadavit of Determination of Civil Indigent Status). If your income is too high to get a waiver, you can ask for a payment plan.

- Your name won't automatically be changed on all your documents. Use your court ordered document to change your name everywhere else it appears.

- Surgery is NOT required to change your gender marker and a court order is NOT required to change your gender marker.

GLS can assist with lost or incorrect birth certificates.

For more information about legal name changes, visit FloridaNameChange.org.
 

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