 Charlotte I. Hunter's law practice, established in Marion County in 1983, can best be described as an "extended family practice." Her areas of concentration include:
- General family law, including divorce, child support, child custody, visitation, paternity, guardianship, adoption, and domestic partnership arrangements
- Consultation for estate planning purposes, including preparation of documents such as revocable trusts, wills, health care directives ("living wills"), and powers of attorney
- Probate of Florida and ancillary estates.
She frequently coordinates ancillary probate matters for out-of-state counsel. As a certified family law mediator, she can assist in the resolution of family law problems, both before or after either party has filed suit. She participates in continuing legal education activities, professional associations and civic affairs, and has made presentations on relevant issues in family law, probate and estates.
Are you stressing about getting a divorce and tired of being in an unhappy marriage? In most states divorce is noted as the termination of a marriage and stands as a decree by the court that a legitimate marriage is no longer in existence. When a divorce is established, it leaves both parties at liberty to remarry if and when the opportunity may arise. A divorce also determines the separation of property as well as child custody and child support arrangements.
Although a divorce can be an emotional process, the majority of cases do not end up in a dispute trial. To ensure that a dispute trial does not occur, lawyers often assist during mediations between the two parties. They do this to ensure that a fair solution is agreed upon by both sides. In order to receive approval of this agreed upon solution, the mediation process must be presented to a judge by the lawyer and/or lawyers as well as the two parties involved. The court can make a decision for the parties, if they are unable to settle upon an agreement based on support, custody, and/or property.
With the help of an experienced divorce lawyer the two divorcing parties usually negotiate and settle upon areas including:
- Division of Property
- Child Custody
- Spousal Support
- Child Support
In the case where neither the wife nor the husband blames the other for the collapse of their marriage, a no-fault divorce can be sought. All states now offer no-fault divorces, while 13 states consider no-fault as sufficient grounds for divorce. Approximately, thirty-nine states offer fault-based grounds for divorce which includes physical cruelty, desertion, adultery, and chronic drug use.
Within most states, a threshold requirement of domicile or residency for at least one of the parties is required to attain a divorce. Domicile, is considered to be the state which an individual calls home. Residency refers to state in which an individual lives. Although not all states, most do consider these terms parallel. In most states with residency requirements, a specified duration of time must be held in order for one too claim residency, which varies from state to state. For those states that have no requirement concerning residency, a person can seek divorce upon arrival in the state. |
