Cheating spouses increase with bad economy.

By Robin Roshkind, Esquire, West Palm Beach, Florida

Bad mortgages, job loss, shrinking business, bills piling up, all these economic factors are taking its toll on marriages.  Couples everywhere are fighting over the family finances.  They are also fighting over adultery.  Technology and social web sites like Facebook and Match.com are adding fuel to the cheating heart.

The people who follow these sort of statistics, like the founders of the web site Ashley Madison, a web site for married cheaters, say affairs are on the rise.  Extra marital sex is where stressed out spouses are taking comfort.  If you find yourself in this situation, come talk to a divorce lawyer for your protection. One of the attorneys at ROBIN ROSHKIND, P.A. can be reached by calling 561-835-9091 or click on the Firm’s web site www.familylawwpb.com for additional information.

Is he/she cheating on you???

By Robin Roshkind, Esquire, West Palm Beac, Florida

If you discover that your spouse has been unfaithful, what are your legal options? 

The MERE fact of unfaithfulness is not a legal matter. in Florida.  However, your recourse can be of the legal variety.  You can either forgive and forget, OR you can divorce. 

If you choose divorce, then the legal question becomes a matter of money.  Has any SUBSTANTIAL monies been spent on this OTHER MAN or OTHER WOMAN?  If so, then you have a dissipation of marital assets issue.

Another relevant legal issue would be detriment to any children.  If that is the case, you need to file those allegations, and let the court decide what is in the best interests of the children.

If you want more information about any divorce topic, consult with one of the lawyers at ROBIN ROSHKIND, P.A. by calling 561-835-9091 or click on the Firm’s web site at www.familylawwpb.com.

Are we monagamous?

By Robin Roshkind, Esquire, West Palm Beach, Florida

I am not the first person to raise the question as to whether or not human beings are meant to be monagamous. Debate has raged through the ages.  However, in the State of Florida, there are no legal punishments for not being monagamous other than two exceptions:  if the “wrongdoer” is spending substantial amounts of money on the sex partner outside of the marriage, which raises a disspation of marital assets issue in divorce court, or if the children somehow are being harmed by the affair, which goes to a best interest of the child issue in a custody battle. 

Courts and judges do not micro manage personal lives.  So if you find yourself in a position where your spouse has not “foresaken all others” in a marriage vow, and you declare the marriage irretrievably broken, your recourse is divorce court. 

For more information about this divorce topic or others, call one of the lawyers at ROBIN ROSHKIND, P.A. at 561-835-9091 or click on the Firm’s web site at www.familylawwpb.com.

Adultery, infidelity, extra marital affairs…today there are lots of opportunities.

By Robin Roshkind, Esquire, West Palm Beach, Florida

When women started to infiltrate the workplace in great numbers back in the 60s and 70s, sex outside the marriage took a huge leap.   Today, there are emerging trends that are firing up the cause of many divorces once again.

We keep hearing the words “emotional affairs”, “girlfriend experience”, or “it’s just lunch”.  Internet relationships are booming, to the detriment of wives and husbands too.  Yes, women are having affairs now at much larger statistics than ever. 

Cheating spouses can be found on airplanes, golf courses, offices, coffee shops, banks, department stores.  Web sites are voluminous from Ashley Madison to Match.com.  So, what can a spouse do?

You have two choices:  preserve the marriage or get out.  Some spouses  “look the other way”; some apologize and never let it happen again.   Others want to “get even” by divorcing and moving on. 

Whatever choice you make, it helps to have professional guidance.  Marriage counselors, and in some extreme cases, psychiatrists, can help with the decision to stay in the marriage or to divorce.  If you are on the receiving end of a cheating spouse, and need more information, call one of the attorneys at the Firm at 561-835-9091 or click on the ROBIN ROSHKIND, P.A. web site at www.familylawwpb.com for more information.

My spouse is having an affair. How to freeze bank accounts.

By Robin Roshkind, Esquire, West Palm Beach, Florida

If you believe your spouse is having an affair, what are the legal ramifications of such adultery?  Every state has different laws concerning divorce and marriage.  In the State of Florida, the laws are “no fault”.  However, there are exceptions to the law that might apply to you.

If substantial sums of marital funds are being spent on a lover, Florida offers the innocent spouse a chance to recover.  The innocent must plead a dissipation of marital assets.  This is not concerning a $100 restaurant dinner or even a night spent at a fancy hotel.  Substantial amounts of marital funds are defined in the case law as things like buying a condo, a car, expensive jewelry, paying substantial bills of the paramour and the like. 

If the innocent spouse can prove dissipation of marital assets that are substantial, the equitable distribution of assets of the marriage will be adjusted accordingly under the law to give back a benefit to the innocent, and de facto punish the wrongdoer.

The same principle of dissipation applies to a spouse who is a habitual gambler, drug user, shopaholic and customer of prostitutes.  The innocent spouse’ attorney can file a motion to freeze marital assets including bank accounts, credit cards, atm cards, etc.  leaving the wrongdoer without funds to carry on the antics.

Freezing marital accounts due to dissipation of marital assets is an effective way to force the issue to court.  If you have questions about freezing accounts, call the attorneys at the law office of Robin Roshkind, P.A. at 561-835-9091 or click on the ROBIN ROSHKIND, P.A. website at www.familylawwpb.com.

Legal Ramifications of Being a Lover, Paramour, the Other Woman or Other Man.

By Robin Roshkind, Esquire, West Palm Beach, Florida

The laws of marriage, divorce, familial and intimate relationships are governed by state statutes and case law.  That means that each state has different laws.  For example, in some states like New York and California, there are laws governing palimony arrangements, common law marriages, and alienation of affection.  However, Florida is a “no fault” state, and an equitable distribution state, and therefore does not have such laws.

Where adultery exists in a case in the State of Florida, there are two issues of concern to the divorcing spouse; one being detriment to the children, potentially resulting in a custody battle, and the other involves expenditure of substantial marital funds on a lover outside the marriage.  It is the worngdoer spouse, not the lover, who carries any liability to the spouse who is cheated on.  This is because there is no alienation of affection in Florida between a person involved in an extramarital affair and the innocent spouse.  Bottom line:  In Florida, the lover cannot be sued by the innocent spouse for interrupting the marriage. 

If you want more information about relationships and divorce, click on the Firm’s website at www.familylawwpb.com or consult with one of the attorneys of Robin Roshkind, P.A. by calling 561-835-9091.

Sex, Adultery, Divorce, and the Law

By Robin Roshkind, Esquire, West Palm Beach, Florida

With economic strains on a marriage, a common response is to seek comfort in the arms of a lover.  And it is not always the husband who strays!  If you find your marriage failing, and you’ve tried counseling to no avail, you may decide that a divorce is imminent.  How does the extramarital affair play into the terms of your legal divorce.

In the state of Florida, it doesn’t.  Florida is a no fault state.  You only need Florida residency for 6 months and to declare in your opinion that the marriage is irretrieveably broken in order to get a divorce.  If one spouse wants the divorce, the other spouse has no say in the matter, and a divorce will be granted.

Back to the extra marital affair…there are two exceptions where adultery would have any impact on the divorce.  If children are detrimentally being harmed in some way, (i.e. sex with the paramour in front of the children, or kids being forced to call a girlfriend “Mommy”), or if the spouse is spending SUBSTANTIAL amounts of marital funds on the paramour (i.e. if a husband purchases a condo for a girlfriend with his income from his job).  

In the first case regarding the children, the recourse under the law is supervised or shortened visitation, and custody to the other spouse.  In the second case, an accounting of all the monies spent on the paramour, results in equitable distribution credits or dollars awarded back to the financially injured spouse. 

Unlike other states, for example, New York, where adultery is “grounds” for divorce, and “punishable” in divorce court, Florida does not have such laws.  For more information, click on the Robin Roshkind, P.A. website at www.familylawwpb.com or consult with one of the attorneys at the Firm by calling 561-835-9091.