Our Winter Garden divorce attorneys work to settle your case first and are ready to try it when the other side is not reasonable.
Key Takeaways:
- Florida presumes equal time-sharing is in a child’s best interests.
- Florida parenting plans must designate the address used for school boundaries.
- Conti Moore Law Divorce Lawyers, PLLC represents parents in mediation and collaborative divorce.
Winter Garden calls itself “a charming little city with a juicy past,” and families keep moving here for the schools, Plant Street, and the new neighborhoods in Horizon West.
If your marriage is ending, the early decisions carry the most weight: who stays in the house, how the money and debts are divided, and how the kids split their time. The positions you take in those first weeks can strengthen your case or cost you credibility with the judge later.
Our Winter Garden divorce attorneys at Conti Moore Law Divorce Lawyers, PLLC represent parents in divorce cases from our downtown Orlando office, about 14 miles east. Conti Moore Smith founded the firm in 2012 to help families settle, move on, and co-parent, and to try the case when settlement is not possible. You will hear your realistic odds before you spend money arguing.
Schedule your free case evaluation before you agree to a schedule or a move-out date.
Couples and Parents: What You Should Know
Here’s what Florida law says about the issues Winter Garden parents ask us about most.
Time-sharing and parental responsibility are separate questions. Time-sharing is the schedule. Parental responsibility is decision-making, and courts order it shared unless sharing would harm the child.
The parenting plan sets the schedule, who handles health care and school matters, how the children communicate with each parent, and which address is used for school boundaries.
Property and debts are divided under Florida’s equitable distribution rules. Fair division of assets, including retirement accounts and credit card debt, is decided based on factors like each spouse’s contributions and the length of the marriage.
Child support and alimony are based on each spouse’s finances. Child support is calculated under Florida’s income-shares guidelines, and both parents must complete a parenting course before the divorce is final. Alimony depends on one spouse’s need and the other’s ability to pay. Florida courts can award temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, or durational alimony, but not permanent alimony in new cases.
Reaching a Settlement, at the Table or in Court
Our goal is a parenting plan you both sign, and a settlement you can both reasonably live with. We want to get you back to school pickups, weekend games, and new family norms.
A negotiated agreement is the path when both parents can agree on a schedule and the finances. The court reviews and approves the parenting plan, and you set the terms.
Mediation is the path when you agree on most things but not the holidays, the school address, or the house. Most contested Florida family cases go to mediation before trial, and we represent you there.
Collaborative divorce is the path when both spouses commit in writing to settle outside court. If the process breaks down, the collaborative attorneys withdraw, and the case starts over in court.
Trial is the plan when the other parent will not be reasonable. When the other side will not move, we try the case, and we fight hard for it in front of the judge.
Our Winter Garden divorce attorneys will tell you honestly which path fits your family before you spend money on the wrong one.
What Our Team Believes About Family and Divorce
A few convictions shape every case we take.
We represent the reasonable parent, the one who wants what is best for the kids and expects the other parent to stay a meaningful part of their lives. We will not take a position that costs you credibility with the judge.
Our dedicated Winter Garden divorce attorneys aim for a plan you can live with for the next decade, because you will be co-parenting long after the case closes.
For our team, the people we serve and the city we share are part of the same family. We are Orlando natives, and every Thanksgiving week families drive through our downtown lot for a holiday meal. As Conti Moore Smith puts it, “it’s a blessing to be a blessing.”
Our Winter Garden Divorce Attorneys, at Your Service.
The decisions you make early in a divorce, about the house, the money, and the kids, are the hardest to undo later. We handle contested and uncontested divorce, property division, alimony, child support, custody, relocation, and modifications for Winter Garden families.
Schedule your free case evaluation and get an honest read on where you stand. Stress Less. Choose Moore.