Boynton Beach Family Lawyer
The phrase “family lawyer” covers a lot of ground, and in Palm Beach County the work is rarely just one issue. A divorce brings a parenting plan, a support calculation, a property split, and sometimes a relocation fight, all at once. Williams & Varsegi, LLC is a boutique firm that practices exclusively in divorce and family law, and we serve families in Boynton Beach and throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County, handling matters from high-net worth, high-conflict divorces to uncontested and simplified dissolutions.
If you are searching for a Boynton Beach family lawyer, the right question is usually not “do I need a lawyer” but “which of my issues will drive the outcome.” For one household it is the time-sharing schedule. For another it is a business interest that has to be valued, or an alimony claim that now operates under a very different statute than it did a few years ago. Florida family law has changed substantially in recent years, and the changes touch nearly every kind of case we see.
Boynton Beach families file their cases in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which covers Palm Beach County. Its Family Court division hears divorce, child support, custody, alimony, time-sharing, adoption, and domestic violence matters. Knowing how that court handles cases, and how its judges tend to approach them, shapes the strategy from the first filing.
Why Choose Williams & Varsegi, LLC as Your Boynton Beach Family Law Attorney
Williams & Varsegi, LLC is a boutique firm with over twenty years of experience, and every attorney here works only in divorce and family law. Emerald Williams, Lawyer, and Katie lead client matters for families across Palm Beach County and Broward County, including Boynton Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Coral Springs, and Parkland. Clients work directly with experienced attorneys who know their case, rather than being passed down a chain of staff.
That specialization matters in practice. We have extensive courtroom experience, and we are skilled negotiators as well as litigators, so we can tell you honestly when a case is better settled and when it needs to be tried. When finances are complicated, we work with forensic accountants, business valuators, and other experts. We also handle divorces involving physicians, federal employees, and police and fire personnel, where pensions, benefits, and professional licenses add layers most general practices rarely see.
Client reviews describe the same things we aim for. People call the team responsive and knowledgeable, say promises made at the first consultation were kept, and describe a process that felt smoother and less anxious than they feared. The firm carries a 5-Star Rating from its clients.
The Family Law Issues We Handle for Boynton Beach Clients
- Divorce Without Fault: Florida requires only that the marriage is irretrievably broken, and at least one spouse must have lived in the state for six months before filing. The only other ground, mental incapacity, requires an adjudication of incapacity at least three years earlier.
- Time-Sharing and Parental Responsibility: Florida’s term for custody. Under the current statute there is a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing serves a child’s best interests, so the fight often turns on whether the evidence rebuts it.
- Child Support: The guideline amount from the statute is presumed correct. It starts from each parent’s net income, combines them, and adjusts when a parent has at least 20% of overnights, about 73 nights a year.
- Alimony: Florida now recognizes bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, durational, and temporary alimony. Permanent alimony no longer exists for cases governed by the 2023 law.
- Property Division: Courts start from an equal split of marital assets and liabilities and depart from it only with justification, supported by written findings. Closely held businesses, real estate, and retirement accounts are the usual flashpoints.
- Relocation: A move of at least 50 miles that lasts 60 consecutive days or more triggers the relocation statute when a parenting plan is in place.
- Modification: Parenting plans and support orders can be changed, but only on the showing the statute requires, which differs for time-sharing, child support, and alimony.
- Simplified and Collaborative Paths: Couples without minor children who agree on everything may qualify for simplified dissolution, and others resolve their case through mediation or a collaborative process.
What to Do in the First Weeks of a Boynton Beach Family Law Case
Start by gathering paper. Tax returns, pay records, bank and brokerage statements, retirement account statements, mortgage documents, business financials, and credit card statements all become part of the mandatory financial disclosure. Collect them before the conflict hardens, because it is much easier to assemble records while you still have normal access to them. Do not move, hide, or retitle assets. Florida requires complete disclosure, and courts penalize concealment.
Next, check the residency rule. If neither spouse has lived in Florida for at least six months, the court cannot hear a dissolution petition. If you are the one filing, timing matters; if you have been served, you generally have 20 days to respond in writing, and ignoring papers invites a default.
Cases for Boynton Beach residents are filed with the Palm Beach County Clerk, which accepts family filings at the Main Courthouse in West Palm Beach, at the North County Courthouse in Palm Beach Gardens, and at the South County Courthouse in Delray Beach, the closest of the three to Boynton Beach. The South County Courthouse also accepts petitions for domestic violence injunctions. If safety is an issue, that is the first call to make, not the last. A judge sets an injunction hearing at the earliest possible time, and a temporary ex parte injunction lasts no more than 15 days before that hearing.
Be careful about what you do with the children in the meantime. Avoid criticizing the other parent in front of them or in messages, keep a record of who handles school, medical care, and daily routines, and follow any existing schedule. Judges notice which parent supports the child’s relationship with the other. Also avoid signing anything your spouse hands you, even a document labeled “agreement,” until a lawyer has read it.
How Florida’s Alimony Rules Work After the 2023 Overhaul
Alimony is where the most outdated advice still circulates. The Legislature eliminated permanent alimony, and the amount a court can award is now capped: the monthly figure cannot exceed the lesser of the recipient’s reasonable need or 35% of the difference between the spouses’ net incomes. Length of marriage is measured from the wedding date to the date the petition is filed, and it sorts marriages into short-term (under 10 years), moderate-term (10 to 20 years), and long-term (20 years or more).
Each form has its own limits. Bridge-the-gap alimony cannot exceed two years and cannot be modified. Rehabilitative alimony is capped at five years and tied to a plan for education or training. Durational alimony cannot be awarded after a marriage of less than three years, and its length cannot exceed 50% of a short-term marriage, 60% of a moderate-term marriage, or 75% of a long-term marriage. The court may also consider adultery and its economic impact when setting the amount.
Modification has changed too. Where a supportive relationship with an unrelated person is proven, a court must now reduce or end alimony; the old statute said “may.” An obligor can also seek relief on reaching retirement age, and may begin the request up to six months before an anticipated retirement. Those amended modification rules apply only to cases filed after the 2023 effective date, and older permanent awards remain in place, still subject to modification.
Dividing Property, Businesses, and Premarital Agreements
Florida courts first separate nonmarital assets from marital ones, then begin from the premise that marital assets and debts should be divided equally. Any unequal division needs a stated justification, and the judgment must contain written findings identifying and valuing the significant assets. The classification cut-off date is the earliest of a valid separation agreement date or the filing of the petition, so what happens before filing can matter. The Legislature also amended the statute in 2024 on how certain assets are defined, including the marital interest in a closely held business and interspousal gifts of real property, which makes careful classification more important for business owners.
Many Boynton Beach households hold real estate, practices, or family companies. Those assets usually require a business valuator, and sometimes a forensic accountant to trace income and spending. If you signed a premarital agreement, it is enforceable if written and signed by both parties, and it needs no consideration beyond the marriage itself. It can be set aside if you prove it was not voluntary, resulted from fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching, or was unconscionable when signed and you lacked fair disclosure of the other party’s finances. A premarital agreement cannot reduce a child’s right to support.
Boynton Beach Family Law Questions Answered
How long does a Florida divorce take?
No final judgment can be entered until at least 20 days after the petition is filed, though a court can act sooner if delay would cause injustice. An uncontested case can finish within weeks. Contested cases with custody disputes or complex assets commonly take a year or more.
Do I have to prove my spouse did something wrong?
No. Florida is a no-fault state, and the ground is that the marriage is irretrievably broken. Fault does not decide whether you can divorce, though adultery may be considered when the court sets alimony.
Is the marital home automatically split in half?
Not automatically. The court starts from an equal division of marital assets overall, which can mean a buyout, a sale, or trading the house against other assets. A home owned before the marriage may be partly or wholly nonmarital, depending on how it was paid for and titled.
How is child support calculated?
The court combines both parents’ net incomes and applies the statutory guidelines, with adjustments for health insurance, child care, and overnights. The guideline amount is presumed correct, and a deviation of more than five percent requires written findings. When combined income exceeds the top of the schedule, support is the schedule’s top figure plus a percentage of the excess that depends on the number of children.
Does the new equal time-sharing presumption mean 50/50 every time?
No. It is a rebuttable presumption, not a guarantee. Evidence about safety, stability, each parent’s involvement, and the child’s needs can overcome it, and judges still must decide based on the child’s best interests.
Can I still get permanent alimony if my marriage was very long?
Not under current law. Even for a marriage of 20 years or longer, the court may award durational alimony for a limited period, with the length capped as a percentage of the marriage. Orders entered before the change remain in effect.
My ex has a new partner who lives with them. Can I stop paying alimony?
You can ask. If the court finds a supportive relationship with an unrelated person, it must reduce or terminate alimony under the amended statute, provided your case falls under the rules applying to filings after the 2023 change. Proof is the hard part, and it is worth building carefully.
When can I seek to modify child support?
A substantial change is presumed when recalculating under the current guidelines produces a figure that differs from the existing order by 15 percent or a set dollar floor, whichever is greater. Below that, you generally must show a real change in circumstances.
If I want to move away with my child, what happens?
If the move is at least 50 miles and will last 60 days or more, you need either the other parent’s agreement or court approval. An objection must be filed in writing and served within 20 days of the relocation petition. A temporary relocation hearing is to be held within 30 days of the motion and a nonjury trial within 90 days of the notice, unless there is good cause for delay.
What if my spouse and I agree on everything and have no children?
You may qualify for simplified dissolution, which requires no minor children, no pregnancy, agreement on all assets and debts, and a mutual waiver of alimony, plus the six-month residency requirement. Even then, having a lawyer review the paperwork helps ensure the terms say what you think they do.
Can a divorce case be appealed, and where?
Yes. Appeals from Palm Beach County and Broward County go to the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach, which also covers several neighboring Treasure Coast counties.
Do I need a lawyer if my divorce is uncontested?
You are not required to have one, but uncontested cases still involve a binding settlement of support, property, and parenting terms. A short review before signing can prevent permanent mistakes, particularly around retirement accounts and alimony waivers.
Serving Boynton Beach Families Across Palm Beach County and South Florida
Our work begins with Boynton Beach families and extends across Palm Beach County, from neighborhoods near the Intracoastal to communities farther west. We represent clients in Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Lantana, Lake Worth Beach, Greenacres, Wellington, West Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Riviera Beach, and Atlantis, along with surrounding unincorporated areas of the county. These cases are heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit.
We also serve families in Broward County, whose family cases are handled by the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. That includes Coral Springs, Parkland, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Margate, Fort Lauderdale, and other communities across South Florida. Whether your case involves a dissolution, a modification, a relocation dispute, or support, we work with clients on both sides of the county line.
Speak With a Boynton Beach Family Law Attorney Today
Every family law case turns on a different combination of facts, finances, and children. If you are weighing a divorce, facing a modification, or already served with papers, talk with a Boynton Beach family law attorney at Williams & Varsegi, LLC. We will sit down with you, learn what matters most, and build a plan around your circumstances. Call us to schedule a consultation.
