The bankruptcy system was designed to provide debtors with the possibility of a fresh start, free from their debts. Most individuals file under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. Chapter 7 may be appropriate for people who can meet what is called “the means test.” In this type of bankruptcy, you can keep some necessities, but other property may be sold to pay back your creditors to the extent possible. The process takes several months, and you will receive a discharge at the end of the process. A few types of debts, such as alimony and student loans, are generally not dischargeable.

Estate planning offers a broad range of methods to ensure that your wishes will be followed if you become incapacitated or pass away. In many cases, these documents may allow you to spare your family the expense and time associated with the probate process. Common instruments used in estate planning include wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, and designations of health care surrogates.

Wills provide for the distribution of a decedent’s assets and name an executor. Without a will, any property not transferred by another means, such as a living trust, passes to the decedent’s heirs under Florida’s intestacy laws. A testator finalizing a will must sign the will in front of two witnesses, and the witnesses will also need to sign the will.

Meanwhile, living trusts are generally used to avoid probate and reduce taxes. The trust instrument specifies who inherits property in the trust and names a trustee. It should be signed in front of two witnesses and a notary public. Property placed in a trust will need to be transferred into the name of the trustee of the trust.

It is unfortunately true that many marriages do not last as long as a couple initially expects. If you choose to pursue a divorce, you will need to show that either you or your spouse has lived in Florida for six months before filing for divorce and that the marriage is irretrievably broken. There are two types of divorce in this state: simplified dissolution of marriage and regular dissolution of marriage. Simplified divorce is only permitted if there are no minor children from the marriage and the wife is not pregnant. The spouses will need to sign a financial affidavit and a property settlement agreement.

By contrast, a regular dissolution of marriage can be either contested or uncontested. In some cases, couples are able to agree on certain matters but cannot agree on other issues, such as child custody. When this happens, a court may need to resolve those matters. The key standard for determining child custody arrangements is the best interests of the child, which includes many factors. Generally, courts will grant joint custody of a child, which means that each parent will continue to spend a substantial amount of time with the child and have an impact on key decisions related to the child’s upbringing.

Personal injury lawsuits may arise out of many different types of accidents, including motor vehicle collisions, slip and falls, and construction mishaps. They are usually based on a theory of negligence. If you are seeking to establish negligence as an accident victim in the Cape Coral area, our personal injury lawyers would need to show four elements: the defendant’s duty of care, a breach of duty, causation, and damages. Each of these elements needs to be proved only by the preponderance of the evidence. This is a relatively mild standard that means that the victim’s version of events is more likely than not to be true.

Damages that may be available for injured individuals often include medical bills, the costs of future treatment, lost income and earning capacity, property damage, and pain and suffering. Even if a victim contributed to causing an accident, he or she still may be able to recover some damages with the assistance of a Cape Coral personal injury lawyer from any defendant that was also partly responsible, based on Florida’s generous pure comparative fault rule.