Archive: March 2019

As attorneys who regularly represent clients who are going through a divorce here in Florida, we consider it to be of vital importance to ensure that our clients understand the most important mistakes to avoid during the divorce process. Below, we discuss some of these mistakes in greater detail:

First and foremost, be careful—and cautious—on social media. Boasting about your new life—salary, trips, etc.—can only negatively affect your proposed settlement.

You also want to make sure that you gather all of the important paperwork in place before it’s too late and if you have to ask for it from our ex, down the road. Some of the paperwork includes information covering:

These documents are not only essential to the current divorce settlement process, but they help you and your attorney figure out what makes sense in terms of negotiations. For example, alimony negotiations might be affected by spousal survivor benefits from Social Security in 25 years. The more information you have now, the better you will be able to predict current and future tax consequences, and all of that affects what you demand and give up in the now. For example, a Roth IRA is worth more than a traditional IRA because it is untaxed in retirement. In a nutshell, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is being in the dark when it comes to your finances.

An important insurance bad faith decision out of a New York appellate court clarifies important Court of Appeals precedent regarding the bad faith pleading standard, while also clarifying a number of issues that the courts have never addressed, including consequential losses and attorney’s fees.

Even though decided in New York courts, this is an important decision to all insurance companies when it comes to setting precedent for bad faith claims, as we discuss in greater detail below.

The Case

The case started with property owners filing an insurance claim for direct damage and physical loss to their property as a result of construction work done in the adjoining building. According to reports, the property owners filed a claim with their insurance company, National Union Fire Insurance Company, which did not respond or pay the claim. According to them, National Union, instead “made unreasonable and increasingly burdensome information demands” with the hopes that the owners would drop the claim entirely. As a result, the owners filed claims alleging breach of contract and of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

There is no question that Hurricane Michael has wreaked incredible devastation to many Floridians, both destroying their homes and their places of work. While a number of media outlets have focused on the estimated damage to agricultural resources and related business operations, as of late, new housing has emerged as one of the most challenging struggles for those affected by the hurricane.

The damage wreaked by Michael not only affected a number of property owners, but those who depend upon spring tourism as well. With a number of businesses now awaiting the arrival of beach tourists to make up for their losses, those displaced by the hurricane who still have not been made whole by their insurance companies are concerned that they could find themselves homeless, as they have, up until now, had to depend upon temporary housing which could now be turned over to tourists. According to reports, their monthly and weekly rates are now expected to double, while others are being turned out without the option of lease renewals.

When it comes to being a landlord preparing your property to be rented by tenants, there are a number of helpful tasks that a landlord-tenant attorney can help you with. This includes precautions that will likely provide you with more protection than simply working with a property management company that does not have any experienced attorneys on staff.

Let’s take, for example, the task of finding your tenants: Let’s say you and/or the property management company having potential tenants that appear to be good on paper, but also appear to have bad credit. An attorney can help you build in some protection for yourself in case these tenants do not work out. Start by running through their references, and remember that a credit score does not tell the whole story, especially if someone experienced a couple of difficult years. You can ask their references about what is important as a landlord—did they pay rent on time, respect the premises, etc. —and then ask the tenant for additional specifics as to why their credit score might be low.