Divorce and Family Lawyer in Florida

Brodie & Friedman, P.A.

The Milan at Town Center
1675 North Military Trail, Suite 550
Boca Raton, Florida 33486
USA

(561) 392-5100

(561) 392-5199

www.brodiefriedman.com

Contact the Firm

Law Firm Overview

Brodie & Friedman, P.A. represents divorce and family law clients throughout South Florida on matters ranging from child support, alimony and relocation to complex property division. An important element of our success as a family law firm is our continuing awareness that every family is unique — and every client's needs, goals and concerns reflect the special characteristics of their family. At our firm, we work closely with our clients to address your concerns, relieve your anxiety, advise you about your rights, and develop practical solutions to difficult problems.

Our clients benefit from our practical advice in difficult situations, our flexible approach to solving problems, and our readiness to protect your interests in court whenever necessary. With nearly 20 years of combined experience, Jason Brodie Esq. and Joshua Friedman Esq. will guide you toward realistic goals and then provide committed advocacy toward achieving them. They are known throughout South Florida for dedicated client service, tenacity and success in complex divorce litigation involving property division, child custody and spousal support.

Practice Areas

Practice Areas Description

Our practice includes:

- Divorce

Most people experience divorce as a complex of challenges — legal, practical, parental, financial and emotional. At Brodie & Friedman, P.A., our lawyers are fully committed to helping you adjust to all of the changes you and your family will undergo, and our goal is to protect your interests across the range of challenges you will need to meet and overcome. Our experience and skill with divorce litigation adds an extra dimension to our client service. Even though we might never need to take your case to court, our ability to do so from a position of strength can definitely influence the course of negotiations on any disputed issue. Our practical advice and formidable trial skills can benefit anyone who anticipates problems with property division, parenting plans, alimony or child support.

- Alimony

Alimony can be a tough issue in divorce. First, it's sometimes hard to tell whether either spouse will need (or have the ability to pay) the other any alimony at all. Next, there are different kinds of alimony to consider, discuss and possibly litigate. Finally, there are different factors that a court must consider when ruling on alimony disputes, together with "any other factor necessary to do justice and equity between the parties." Whether you hope to receive or expect to pay alimony in your divorce, you should get a solid understanding of your rights and the legal considerations that will shed light on the spousal support issues that your divorce will present.

- Property Division/Equitable Distribution

Marital property in Florida is divided according to the law of equitable distribution. This means that a couple's property and assets are not necessarily divided 50-50 throughout the course of a divorce. The assets and property accumulated during the course of the marriage are divided equitably at the discretion of court. Our lawyers use our years of experience and the cases we've handled when helping individuals with marital property division. We structure our advice and guidance in order to help clients understand the economic ramifications of the choices they have with divorce asset protection and property division.

- Temporary Relief

Our divorce attorneys routinely advise clients about the availability of temporary relief orders, especially in cases where a judge's intervention early in the case appears necessary to stabilize a volatile child custody situation, protect the marital estate from waste or concealed assets, or even protect your physical security from violence or abuse. If you would want to learn how you can benefit from an order for temporary relief on any of several issues of particular concern, we can help.

- Complex Divorce Litigation

A distinctive feature of the family law practice at Brodie & Friedman, P.A. is our willingness and ability to take complex divorce issues to court whenever necessary to protect your interests. Our lawyers have the legal knowledge and practical courtroom skills necessary to develop and present your case on sharply disputed or highly complicated facts. You don't have to worry about your attorney's ability to protect your interests in court. There's nothing like a credible litigation option to keep an opponent honest in divorce litigation. Our reputation as formidable courtroom advocates by itself can make your spouse think twice about staking out an unreasonable position.

- Business Valuation

Our comprehensive approach to business valuation questions in divorce can benefit you in a variety of situations: Family retail or restaurant businesses; Home-based professional, consulting, contracting or service businesses; Professional practices in accounting, medicine, insurance or law; Real estate investment or property management companies; Businesses started by one spouse prior to marriage that continued and grew during the marriage; Corporate or partnership interests affected by the terms of a shareholder agreement, partnership agreement or prenuptial agreement; and Business debt division issues.

- Professional Practices

At Brodie & Friedman, P.A., our divorce lawyers work with licensed professionals from many fields — medicine, accounting, real estate, insurance and law. When our professional clients work in partnerships or sole practices, the value of their interest in the practice can be considered to be part of the marital estate. Accurate valuation of professional practices for property division purposes can be difficult, and standard business valuation methods might not fit your circumstances particularly well. First of all, the physical assets owned by your practice probably represent only a small fraction of the value of your business. Even if you're a physician or dentist with expensive equipment, there's a good chance that your capital assets serve as collateral on an operating loan.

- Asset Characterization

Divorce lawyers use the term asset characterization to cover questions as to whether particular property is part of the marital estate and therefore subject to division, or instead is the separate property of one spouse or the other. Assets characterized as separate property are not included in the marital estate and are not subject to division. At Brodie & Friedman, P.A. our lawyers have extensive experience with asset characterization problems concerning real estate, professional practices, property acquired before marriage, investment accounts and premarital agreements.

- Retirement and Investment Assets

Our lawyers can apply our general principles of marital property division to such investments and retirement assets as the following: Securities accounts; Investments in closely held corporations, family businesses or other illiquid assets; Real estate investments; Defined pension benefits; Retirement accounts such as 401(k); Public employee pensions; and Military pensions.

- Marital Debts

If you are in need of advice from divorce lawyers who know how to protect your interests on debt division issues. Taking into account such factors as the income of each spouse, any projected alimony obligations, child support issues and your broader asset division objectives, we can advise you about the best ways to apportion such marital debts as: Tax obligations; Home mortgage debt; Medical or hospital bills; Credit card debt; Car payments; Student loans, unless they're separate obligations; Bank loans; and Personal guaranties of business debt. We keep these realities in mind as we work with our divorce clients, and we therefore counsel a practical and realistic approach to the apportionment of marital debts.

- Prenuptial Agreements

Our lawyers can explain the function of prenuptial agreements, help you develop specific terms, and draft the contract so as to express your intentions in clear and precise language. We can also review an agreement that you've been given to sign, and explain the meaning of each term and its legal consequences. In divorce cases, we examine prenuptial agreements and either seek to enforce their provisions or challenge them, depending on our client's objectives and the soundness of the agreement before us.

- Parenting Plan

To learn about the best ways to work with the new parenting plan approach to parent-child relationships and conflict resolution. We can advise you about both the new legal structure and the continuing principles focused on the best interests of your children. Our advice and representation will cover such matters as: Your obligation to work with the other parent toward an agreed parenting plan; What a parenting plan must contain; Your options if an agreed parenting plan cannot be worked out; The role of a parenting coordinator to help you reach agreement; The details of time-sharing arrangements; and The best ways to deal with problems such as substance abuse, domestic violence or other circumstances that could affect time-sharing rights and interests under a parenting plan. The main focus of the new parenting plan law is to help parents work constructively toward shared responsibility for their children's daily lives and long-term development.

- Time Sharing

Time sharing is an essential component of the parenting plan that divorcing parents are encouraged to develop together when their marriage dissolves. The parenting plan can address matters of basic parental responsibility, such as decisions about school, religion, travel, medical care and other matters formerly covered under the term legal custody. The family law attorneys at Brodie & Friedman, P.A. can help you understand the details of time sharing in terms of your children's best interests while helping you overcome barriers to agreement with the other parent. If necessary, we can also protect your interests in mediation or in court.

- Parent Relocation

The parenting plan presented to the family court will specify detailed rights, responsibilities and logistical considerations concerning each divorced parent's access to the children, subject to minor adjustments as needs and circumstances change over time. If a parent proposes moving away with a child, however, so that the other parent loses regular access to the child, Florida law requires the parent desiring to move to follow a procedure set forth in the applicable statute. Whether your rights as a parent are covered under child custody and visitation agreement or a recent parenting plan, the lawyers of Brodie & Friedman, P.A. can advise you about your options and protect your interests in court

- Child Support

After a divorce, both parents are responsible for supporting the child, either through physical custody or financial support. In Florida, child support is based on a formula that incorporates the income of both parents, among other factors. Of course, a formula is only as good as the information that is entered into it. At our firm, our goal is to ensure the proper amount of child support is awarded by getting all of the facts on the table. Our family law lawyers represent people throughout South Florida, including Boca Raton, Coral Springs, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Naples, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and Pompano Beach.

- Paternity

When a paternity action is brought, we work to ensure that both of the parents understand their separate responsibilities to the child or children involved. The parents both have a right to be an active part of their children's lives along with a corresponding duty to support the children. Our attorneys explain the importance of establishing paternity. We have over 18 years of combined experience handling a range of family law matters, including paternity actions. Establishing paternity is essential for unwed couples if they separate and a parent seeks custody or needs to obtain child support. Fathers' rights and mothers' rights, while being equal, need to be determined by a court.

- Modification and Enforcement

Getting a family court judge to grant your motion to modify a child support order or parenting plan will depend on your ability to prove a significant change of circumstances that relates directly to the problem at hand. You might also have to prove that the change you propose is in the best interests of the child involved. Our lawyers' experience with Florida family law and procedure can give you a good idea of the likelihood that any proposed modification will be approved. If the change you have in mind won't likely be granted, we'll recommend that you save the money and trouble you would otherwise spend on a longshot court hearing. Similarly, if you're inclined to oppose a motion for modification, we can help you pick your battles wisely.

- Mediation

Our familiarity with the mediation process and negotiation tactics can give you an advantage on the full range of divorce and family law issues: Parenting plans and time sharing; Child support; Alimony; and Property division. Our role as your attorneys is to help you develop initial and fallback negotiation positions from a legally and factually sound platform. You'll develop your own priorities and objectives for the mediation session based on what can reasonably be achieved.

- Domestic Violence

In some family law cases, domestic violence is alleged as a tactic for one side to get what they want. However, in many situations, the allegation of abuse is accurate and must be factored in to any child custody and visitation orders. Our team of highly skilled attorneys and staff is sensitive to the needs of individuals on either side of the violence accusations. We are committed to aggressively standing up for your rights while using our experience to get to the heart of the matter as efficiently and effectively as possible.