never thought it would happen to me..

[bat-mite]

state of florida


after over 8 years of marriage my wife wants out she has two children from a previous relationship, with one residing with us, i have 2 children from a previous realtionship that i have custody of and they to reside with us and we have 1 child between us.


i suggested couseling but, she keeps changing her mind, sometimes shes sociable and other times i get the feeling she wished i was dead, there hasnt been any cheating, verbal or physical abuse on part, however she has done the latter two to me.


when i ask why she wants a divorce,  she doesnt know except she needs to find herself. (she acts like she's lost it) so i want to hurry and give her the divorce she wants before things get ugly. she wants to have the divorce done by a parelegal and leave the attorneys out.



she wants me to buy her out, she says she wants us to both share custody of the child we have between us having the child rotate weekly
living with me one week and her the next.



question 1. we have a home with about 80,000 owed and about 50,000
                 in equity is she intitled to half the equity?



             2. people change after divorce(well even before divorce) how
                 do i protect my realtionship with my child if she later try's to
                 another city oe state?

              3. based on these facts how might you write our divorce
                  settlement?

[socrateaser]

>question 1. we have a home with about 80,000 owed and about
>50,000
>                 in equity is she intitled to half the
>equity?

Fl is an "equitable division" state, meaning that the court has authority to divide the marital assets in any manner it deems fair. There is usually a presumption that property acquired during marriage should be divided equally, however you may overcome that presumption by proving that the assets used to acquire the asset were your separate property acquired prior to marriage.

There are other methods of overcoming the presumption, however I am not an expert on FL law, and I don't have time to research the case law and statutes. You should consult a local attorney.

>             2. people change after divorce(well even before
>divorce) how do i protect my realtionship with my child if
>she later try's to another city oe state?

Try to get an agreement not to relocate in a settlement agreement.

>
>              3. based on these facts how might you write our
>divorce settlement?

Well, first I would get a $7,500 retainer from you. All kidding aside, my rules are (1) to never agree to anything that the court couldn't force upon you if you litigated your case, and (2) try to get the other party to waive any future spousal support, even if you have to pay for the concession.

Note, that in some jurisdictions, the court does not permit a spousal support waiver -- I don't know about FL, specifically.