HD Law Partners Blog

During stressful times as going through divorce proceedings, it is common to let important issues and accounts, such as insurance coverage, fall by the wayside. However, during this time, it is extremely important to take a close look at any and all insurance policies in order to foresee whether your insurance policies may be impacted once your divorce is finalized – in order for you to strategically prepare.

Below, we discuss the two main types of insurance that are typically relevant during divorce: health and life insurance.

When a couple is married, frequently, one spouse is covered in terms of their own health insurance on the other’s health plan. In order to help the spouse that does not earn an income after divorce, the purpose of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) is to allow them to continue the coverage under their ex’s plan for three years afterward.

However, while COBRA is convenient in terms of continuation of existing coverage, it is not necessarily the most affordable option. In addition, the time limit makes it somewhat impractical after a certain amount of time has passed.

Seven months after Hurricane Michael hit Florida, the estimated losses from the Category 5 storm are currently over $50 billion. Property damage alone reportedly accounts for more than $5 billion, and many property owners’ claims have gone unpaid by insurance companies that are supposed to make them whole again in times like these. In addition, federal disaster relief funding has been stuck in gridlock and affected by other devastated areas, such as California and Iowa, as well as other hurricane effected neighbors of Florida.

Hurricane Michael hit Florida with significantly more force than even Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. The storm was especially felt in coastal cities such as Apalachicola, Panama City, and a number of others; shredding boats, businesses, and homes, and causing a number of people to go missing. People not only lost property, but a number of individuals died as well as a result of the disaster. To date, some residents are still without power. Even a number of Florida parks are still closed today. For example, the hurricane destroyed 80 to 90 percent of Florida Caverns State Park and its buildings. Thousands of trees are still uprooted throughout the state and its national forests, with agricultural and forestry losses representing more than $3 billion. There is no question that, in order to rebuild, people are going to need a lot of help.

As attorneys who regularly practice in business formation here in Florida, one recent question we have received is whether an S corporation should switch to a C corporation after the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and whether there is a corresponding ability for C corporations to exclude any gain from the sale of stock held for more than five years.

Below, we discuss this possibility under section 1202 and the potential to gain a huge tax break by switching to a C corporation. In a nutshell, there is some inconsistency within the statutory language which makes how you convert from an S to a C corporation very important in this process.

What Section 1202 Does & Qualified Small Business Stock

Section 1202 allows for shareholders who acquire qualified small business stock after September 2010 and hold onto it for five years to sell that stock and exclude it as declared income the greater of $10 million or 10 times the shareholder’s basis in the stock. However, there are a number of requirements that must be met in order for stock to qualify as qualified small business stock; requirements that sometimes confuse even the best tax advisers, attorneys, and shareholders alike.

Proposed changes to the law in Florida could ultimately affect the ability for policyholders to hold their insurance companies accountable in terms of delaying or failing to settle claims, including those related to hurricane relief. A bill recently submitted to the legislature would make a number of changes that would cripple the ability for the consumer to go after their insurance company in the face of bad faith behavior, including taking the claim away from a jury and placing it into the hands of an administrative judge and denying the consumer the right to discovery, which would effectively leave them without any evidence, and without a case.

Current State of “Bad Faith Insurance Law” in Florida

Florida imposes what’s known as a “duty of good faith” when it comes to settling a claim with the insured or a third party, which means acting “fairly and honestly” towards its insured with regard to their interest. This means that the insurer cannot expose the insured to increased liability by failing to settle any claims against the insured, nor can they harm a third party to the insurance contract by failing to settle a claim.

A number of older individuals who have divorced or are contemplating divorce are concerned about the impacts of divorce on their Social Security benefits. This is especially the case for older individuals, who may have, since their divorce, remarried again, and now have questions as to whether they can obtain their divorced spouse’s benefits.

Fortunately, remarriage typically does not disqualify someone from being eligible for a previous spouse’s benefits, as we discuss below.

The Rules After Divorce

If you divorced, but your marriage lasted 10 years or longer, you can receive benefits based on your ex if:

However, it is also important to remember that there are some exceptions to the marriage duration requirements when it comes to widows collecting benefits. For example, if a spouse’s death was accidental, you may be able to draw reduced benefits from the deceased spouse, and then switch to receiving benefits on the first spouse’s record at a later time (provided that the first spouse provides more beneficial benefits). This is beneficial if the first spouse has a higher benefit rate than the second spouse.

HD Law Partners is proud to support The First Tee of Tampa Bay’s inaugural event, SpringSwing, on May 23, 2019. SpringSwing is a fundraising event at TopGolf Tampa to help support the children of The First Tee of Tampa Bay. SpringSwing is a team competition, wherein your 6 players compete against others in the field. The main contest is a target point-scoring game in which experienced players and novices alike can participate, compete and win. For more information on the event and The First Tee of Tampa Bay, click the following link: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/1759284.

The First Tee of Tampa Bay’s mission is to impact the lives of young people in the greater Tampa area by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf.

Posted in General |

A devastating fire broke out in the Florida Panhandle on March 30, and would have been reportedly easy to contain, but, instead, spread and caused a significant amount of devastation to homes and other properties due to debris that was leftover from hurricane Michael. According to the reports, the fire burned close to 700 acres just over the weekend, and forced more than 20 homeowners to evacuate; homeowners that will undoubtedly need to file insurance claims in order to try and address the devastation. It all started from a debris burn that got out of control, and as of April 1, was still not completely contained.

In fact, the effects of the Hurricane are so severe as to continue to threaten the health and safety of Florida residents that, on April 2, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order extending the state’s “State of Emergency” status for another 60 days. The counties affected by the extension include Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Okaloosa, Walton, Washington, and Wakulla counties.

When it comes to transactions involving business purchases, it is crucial that the purchasing company conducts due diligence concerning the businesses’ operations and potential liabilities; especially when it comes to human resources and labor and employment law matters. Specifically, it is important to ascertain whether there are risks that could affect the value of the transaction and therefore whether the company needs to engage in activities to mitigate those risks.

While labor and employment issues have not historically presented a significant amount of risk and potential liability, this is changing, and there are now a number of emerging legal issues in this field which have the potential to affect the proposed transaction. Below, we identify some of these risks and discuss how to address them via mitigation strategies.

General Areas of Concern

There are several general areas when it comes to basic labor and employment issues; including but not limited to the following:

On April 13, HD Law Partners participated in the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s 16th Annual 5k Pro Bono River Run and Judicial Pig Roast/Food Festival. Participants ran down Tampa’s River Walk, from Water Works Park to the Tampa Convention Center, then returned to Water Works Park. After the run, participants and non-participants enjoy themed tents and good food at Stetson University’s Tampa Law Center.

The funds raised by the Hillsborough County Bar Association from this event go toward providing pro bono legal services to people in need in Hillsborough County, Florida. The Hillsborough County Bar Association, through its run participants registered for the event, pledged 5,000 pro bono hours.

The firm enjoys supporting the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s goal of supporting individuals in need of legal assistance in Hillsborough County. To learn more about free and low-cost legal aid in Tampa Bay, visit the HCBA’s website for more resources. To see the complete race results, click here

According to new research, although many parents decide to stay together and delay divorcing until their children are older because they think that is better for them, in fact, divorce is actually less harmful if it occurs earlier in childhood.

Of course, when it comes to how a family will react to divorce, experts have long held that that depends upon the family. Exactly how a child will react depends upon what is going on with the family, the child’s temperament, age, and the relationship between the parents. If there is exposure to chronic violence in the home, the consensus has been that parents should get divorced as soon as possible. The same also goes for repeated high conflict in the marriage. Still, for children who come from violent divorces, many experts will recommend that additional steps be taken, such as taking the child to therapy.

As the first major assessment done on the emotional impact of divorce on children, this latest study results specifically indicate that the greatest repercussions from divorce (i.e. behavioral and emotional problems in children) come in early adolescence; i.e., between the ages of seven and 14, especially in boys. Older children are not only more sensitive to relationship dynamics, but they are also more likely to be affected by other consequences of divorce, such as disruption to friendships and schooling. Conversely, for children between the ages of three and seven, the study found no differences whatsoever between children whose parents divorced and those who did not.