Do women have any rights in Florida during divorce?

Gosh. I hate to say this because it doesn’t sound like you have much cash, but you really need to talk to a lawyer. And good luck.

I forgot to include our divorce is not final, he has recently filed divorce though we do have a court date.

If you can’t afford an attorney, maybe you could appeal to the judge when you have your court date.

Thank you for your help! I’m just really curious we were married such a short time September would of been a year. Should I even bother? I really need the help I have a 4 year old and a baby due at the end of the year but I just really don’t know if legally he has any obligation to continue helping ):

Have you turned anywhere for help? Any state or other groups that can help and advise?

No I haven’t, I did go to the court house because his initial reaction to filing was kicking me and my daughter out of our home, he wanted us to go stay with my parents 2 hours away who don’t even have a room or space for us and they advised me I didn’t have to leave but when I told him that he decided he was leaving.

Go to legal aid, in your area. He has to support you as you are pregnant. You will get interim support until it’s final and the amount he has to pay is decided. If you can borrow 3–5k from your parents, legal aid will help point you to a really good attorney, but you’ve got to have a retainer. Good luck to you.

Thank you another thing I will mention because I don’t know if this affects anything but in the divorce filing he put that he did not want timesharing or any sort of joint custody of our unborn child, he basically just wants to pay child support, wants nothing to do with the baby.

It will affect the outcome if it is heard by a judge. Otherwise, you will be raising your children entirely alone but you will have child support and go for a lump sum settlement too if you can. I don’t know the laws in Florida but I got a large settlement with no children. And we weren’t married that long. Good luck, again.

I appreciate it, thank you.

Judges really don’t like: Abusive partners, and bad parents. By abandoning his child he sounds like both. Judges like to nail people like this.

I don’t want to force him to be in the babies life, I know that sounds horrible but if he even went as far as to put that on the divorce papers he must feel pretty strongly about it, and I don’t want our baby to feel unwanted by him, it’s better that he keeps no contact.

Will a judge force him to have timesharing?

It’s fine and if you both agree, there will be no timeshare. But, if it goes before a judge, it’ll make him look like a jerk, and a bad person, which is good for you because they like to nail men like this. You’ll get more money.

Check with your public defenders office. If you need the help and aren’t able to afford a private attorney they’ll help you out. I work next to them in my building and one does all family law.

Aren’t you entitled to alimony? I’m not quite sure how it works, but I think he still has a financial obligation to support you even if you’re divorcing. You’ll get child support anyway, though.
Here’s what Florida says: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.08.html

I think alimony is a thing of the past.

I think alimony is for people married several years, like 10 and up, not sure of the exact number

I am assuming your first child is not your husband’s.

Florida is very protective of children born in the marriage, I don’t know how the state deals with step children or babies not born yet. Florida you can get a quick divorce, but not when there are young children born to the marriage involved.

Alimony still gets awarded in Florida, but it is usually for a limited time. I don’t know if you have a chance at alimony having been married for such a short time.

As far as him legally having to help you now, that is an interesting question. Follow the advice above and seek legal advice from a lawyer. My guess is you have a legal right to stay where you are living and if his name is on the lease you can threaten him that his credit will be ruined if he doesn’t help pay. But, if you don’t pay your credit will be ruined too. It’s possible the judge will order him to pay you if you had to pay the rent I. Your own, but you might not get the money for months when a judge finally rules. In fact you might never see any money at all. You have to plan for that.

In marriage a spouse can be crap and suck at handling money and the state doesn’t do much. Once married you are intertwined with each other financially to some extent. If one spouse doesn’t pay bills it affects both people in the marriage. I’ve never heard of a judgement ordering a spouse to pay a bill or give money to their spouse, but maybe that does exist?

^ in the us I divorced an abusive man (no children of that marriage) and was awarded alimony for 3 years plus a cash settlement. It can happen.

@trailsillustrated Each state is different of course, but if she never worked during the marriage she might get it for a few months. Alimony doesn’t have anything to do with children usually, but they do look at how much time it should reasonably take her to secure a job, and the pregnancy might count if they acknowledge it might be more difficult to secure work while showing. She also could get a cash settlement as you point out, if there is any money, but keep in mind FL is not a 50/50 state like some states.

I get the feeling the OP doesn’t have much money and neither does the husband, but I could be mistaken. I say that because she doesn’t mention him cleaning out their bank account, so to me that means they basically live check to check, but my assumption could be wrong.

I asked the public defender that handles family law. He said they wouldn’t normally get involved in a divorce, under normal situations. But he did give me the number for Legal Aid in NY. He said they can help with low or no costs in these situations. See if you have one in FL? Or PM me, I’ll give you this one and they can refer you maybe.