My primary office is located at 6100 Glades Rd., Suite 311, Boca Raton, FL 33434. I am right on the corner of Glades Road and St. Andrews Boulevard, just west of the Town Center Mall. My office is situated in the white BB & T Bank Building, and easily recognizable from Glades Road.

Although my office is in Boca Raton, Florida, I primarily represent individuals throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County, Florida. Prior to relocating my office to Boca Raton, Florida, my office was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for over 25 years. I am frequently in court in both Broward and Palm Beach counties, and I am as equally well known in each of these counties.

My family Law practice has not been limited to just these two counties over the course of my career. I have litigated cases throughout the State of Florida as well as having filed numerous appeals. I have had the pleasure and distinct honor of appearing on numerous occasions before the 4th District Court of Appeal, as well as the Supreme Court of the State of Florida.

Family Law encompasses a wide range of areas, all of which I am extremely competent to handle on your behalf. A brief description of some of the areas that most people will experience in their lifetimes are set forth below:

Florida is a “No Fault” divorce state. You no longer need to allege and prove specific grounds for a divorce, such as physical or mental cruelty, or even adultery. All of those various grounds for divorce are no longer applicable. The only recognizable grounds for a divorce in Florida is that the marriage must be “Irretrievably Broken”. What exactly did that term mean? It simply means that at least one party to the marriage believes that there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to save the marriage, and that it is time for the marriage to be dissolved.

The most common issues that a Court usually deals with in a divorce case involves the division of marital property, time sharing issues with minor children, and spousal support, more commonly known as alimony.

Paternity cases are limited to situations that involve minor children. Paternity cases are different from divorce because the parents in a paternity case have never been married. Since the parents in a paternity case are not married, the court is limited to issues solely related to the child, such as time sharing, extracurricular activities, child support, and health insurance for the minor child. Paternity should be taken seriously, especially by fathers. The father has no rights to his child, even if he is listed on a birth certificate, until he files a court case and establishes his paternity through a legal proceeding. Once paternity is established, the rights of either parent or equal, and no different than the parents in a divorce proceeding.

A paternity case should be filed as soon as the child is born.

Family Law is a term that is generally used to encompass all of the various proceedings that fall within the category of Family Law. This includes divorce, paternity, time sharing, adoptions, child support, equitable distribution, domestic violence proceedings, or any other matter that involves the family.

How much child support can I expect to receive for my children, or how much child support will I be expected to pay? Those are very legitimate questions, and are probably asked of me more than any other question.

The calculation for child support involves several factors, and you need to know each and every factor in order to calculate an accurate amount of child support.

The primary factor of course is the monthly gross income for each parent. That is a good starting point. You also need to know the time-sharing schedule that the parents will have with their minor child or children. This is important because child support is not only based on income, but is also based on the number of overnights that a parent spends with his children.

These are the main factors utilized in the calculations, but to get a more accurate calculation, you need to know how much each parent pays for their own health insurance, which is a figure that is deducted from the gross income just like taxes and mandatory union dues. You also need to know the cost of the health insurance for the minor children, and which parent is paying for that expense. Finally, you need to take into consideration the child care expense for the children.

Once you have all of these figures you should be able to calculate the amount of child support involved in your case.

The term custody has been abolished in the State of Florida. Time sharing is the terminology that has replaced the term custody. This is not simply the use of new terms, but has important and significant aspects to the term time-sharing. By its very own definition, time sharing is the sharing of time between the mother and father and their minor child or children. The term time-sharing recognizes that neither the mother or the father is more important than the other in the life of the children. This is a very reason why the term custody has been abolished in the State of Florida. The term custody carried with it somewhat of a negative implication that the parent who had custody was more important than the other parent who did not have custody. Time-sharing is a new standard in Florida which equalizes the playing field for the parents. In other words, one parent is no more important than the other in the lives of their children.

Time-sharing is equally applicable in divorce cases as well as paternity cases. If the parents are unable to agree on their own time sharing schedule, the court will impose such a schedule on the parents. There are multiple factors that the court will look at, but the bottom line is that the parents, who know the children better than anyone, are in a much better position to do what is in the best interest of their children.

Alimony is a support obligation, which is sometimes owed by one spouse to the other, at the conclusion of the marriage. There are various types of alimony which can be awarded in the State of Florida. Alimony is based on several factors, including the length of the marriage, whether there are minor children, a disparity in income of the parties, and the ability of one party to meet the financial need of the other party, if a need exists.

I would encourage you to contact me for a free consultation. You can call me directly on my cell phone at (954) 295-9222, or you can email me at alan@alanburtonlaw.com. I would be more than happy to speak with you on the phone, have you come into my office for a consultation and meet with me personally, or I can schedule you a consultation on Facetime, Skype or Zoom.