Naples Florida Family Law Lawyer

Posted by Russell Knight on October 26th, 2019

Family law in Naples, Florida involves the body of law, statutes, codes, court orders and common law that govern the relationships of people who are getting divorced, used to be married or have minor children between them.  The best way to truly understand family law in Naples, Florida is to consult and hire a Naples Florida family law attorney.

Before contacting an attorney it does help to do your own independent research into the current state of Family law.  

Federal Law

There's not much federal law that governs family law but the few laws there are from the federal government and courts trump any and all local laws which are contrary.  Specifically, the United States Supreme Court has declared marriage and parenting rights to be fundamental rights which cannot be interfered with by local laws.  This means people can marry other people of the same sex and living parents can deny parenting time for grandparents or other non-parents. 

Florida State Statutes

The bulk of family law in Naples, Florida is in the Florida state statutes.  In the Florida state statutes all the rules for division of property and debts, parenting time, child support and alimony are laid out specifically.  

Florida Family Law Rules Of Civil Procedure

Invoking all the rules laid out in the Florida state statutes requires the use of the Florida Family Law Rules of Civil Procedure.  These rules explain how to file a petition for dissolution of marriage, how to respond to one and how to deal with all the small petitions and motions that happen in the meantime. 

Florida Evidence Code

If you want a judge to consider a fact or an opinion as the judge applies the Florida state statutes, you are going to have to present that judge with evidence.  Not all evidence is presentable to a judge, however.  All evidence must be admitted and in compliance with the Florida Evidence Code.  This is where things start to get really complicated.  An experienced Florida family law attorney will know how to get his or her evidence in and how to say "objection" and keep the other side's evidence out.  

Florida Case Law

The Florida state statutes are very readable and somewhat broad.  Real life situations between spouses, ex-spouses and parents often do not fit into the statutes perfectly.  This requires the judge to make written findings as to why they made the decision the way they did in the absence of clear law or in contravention of the statutes.  These cases are usually taken up on appeal and the appeals court then issues a written opinion on whether the trial judge got the issue correct or not.  These written opinions become the case law that other lawyers can refer to and bring to a judge's attention to pursuade that judge based on the opinions of appellate court judges. Sometimes trial judges must follow the case law, sometimes the case law is just a suggestion.  

20th Judicial Circuit Rules

Naples, Florida is in Florida's 20th judicial circuit. The 20th Judicial Circuit has adopted certain rules as a whole for administering the court system.  The judges in Naples, Florida follow these rules. 

Collier County Judge’s Standing Orders

Collier County family law judges all have a standing order. A standing order is a general order instructing all the people who will appear before that Collier County judge as to how they should conduct themselves during their case.

These are all the sets of rules you need to be aware of when dealing with a family law case in Naples, Florida.  Again, it is advisable to hire an experienced family law lawyer who will be familiar with all of these rules to handle your case.