Archive: October 2018

According to a new study, Florida’s third-party bad-faith legal environment increases claim costs for every insured vehicle by an average of $106 per claim, or a total of more than $7 billion in additional claim costs over more than a decade. According to some experts, most of these costs can reportedly be attributed to the rapid growth of bodily injury liability claims, as well as Florida’s legal rules and standards when it comes to resolving bad-faith allegations.

Under Florida law, anyone can bring a civil action against an insurance company if they have been damaged by the company’s failure to attempt, “in good faith,” to settle claims when, under all circumstances, they could and should have done so, while acting fairly and honestly towards the insured, with due regard for the insured’s interests.

The report compared key bodily injury liability claims in Florida to similar trends in three other states that are all no-fault (like Florida); specifically, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. According to the results, these three states experienced relatively stable injury claims over the study period after taking primarily administrative approaches to investigating and resolving bad-faith allegations on behalf of car insurance companies. Conversely, Florida’s trends did not reflect this kind of stability.

While many think of the housing crisis as a thing of the past, in fact, a decade later, it still haunts a number of homeowners, especially in Florida, where many have to deal with foreclosure defense on a daily basis. Just between 2007 and 2016, there were close to eight million foreclosures in the U.S.

For those affected, losing their home isn’t just a matter of losing their most valuable asset, but of losing the source of countless memories of holidays, birthdays, graduations, and other important moments in their lives. It also means that their credit is destroyed, and any future mortgage that they pay will include a very high interest rate.

The Disparities Are Often Racial and Income-Based In Nature

Although the homeownership rate has rebounded in recent years, it remains well below the high it reached immediately prior to the foreclosure crisis. As of the summer of 2018, only approximately 64 percent of all households own their home.

For anyone who has gone through it or had friends or family go through it, you know that divorce is rarely an “easy” process, especially if it is contentious and children are involved. Some children can go through a variety of worries as a result; worries that include potential guilt, fear of abandonment, fear of change, worries that they might hurt one parent if they spend more time with the other one, etc. Some also act out and develop behavioral issues as a result.

Given that divorce is inevitable in some circumstances – and sometimes, it is also simply healthier to go your separate ways rather than expose your children to a toxic relationship – note that there are steps you can take to ameliorate the effects of divorce on your children, keeping in mind what they need most from you, as we discuss below.

The phrase “be the adult” is arguably both obvious and confusing at the same time. Obviously, you are the adult, so what exactly does this mean? It means that, while your children acting out can be expected during this time, it is also important that your children know that certain types of behaviors are still unacceptable, and if the “heat of the moment” isn’t the best time to address these behaviors, you will circle back to it the next day, noting that, you understand that your child is going through a lot, but it is still not OK to do x, y, and z. In other words, according to the experts, what your child needs is a decisive leader who is also supportive and understanding, and who will provide them with a stable environment, even when things get stressful.

When it comes to businesses started during your marriage, you may not realize that, if you do not properly protect that business, it could be split with your ex in the event of divorce. Some individuals even find themselves having to give up their own shares of a company they started – allowing their ex to buy them out as part of their settlement agreement – which can bring on feelings of tremendous despair and loss. Not only could you lose your business, but you would also have to split any growth in the value of that business that occurred during the marriage.

However, it is also important to realize that this does not have to happen, as there are ways to “divorce-proof” your business – as long as you plan ahead. First and foremost, keep in mind that the best time to do this is before you get married, and if you are already married, before you can even contemplate getting a divorce.

While many people realize that getting a divorce while sharing minor children can be complicated, divorcing while sharing children with special needs can be even more complex because parents often have to provide for these children and arrange for their care long after the children are no longer minors.

With the rate of divorce being around 85 percent amongst families of children with special needs, this is an important topic that deserves guidance and consideration, especially amongst family and divorce attorneys who are helping these families plan for the future.

Under every state law—including that of Florida’s—what is in the “best interests of the child” is what matters in terms of figuring out time sharing between parents and households. But what exactly does this mean in terms of a child with complex or severe disabilities, who may require lifetime services and support? What about a child with autism or sensory processing issues who may have a more difficult time with change and taking turns staying at one home, then another? In some circumstances, it is entirely possible that one home or parent may be better equipped to manage a child’s disability and special needs, and, frequently, additional financial support is needed in order to provide for special needs children.