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Overview
Parenting Plans, Custody Evaluations, Relocation, Parental Alienation, and More
You know what the law says - but what factors really matter to the courts' determination of parenting time and custody? How do you strategically proceed if you receive an unfavorable custody evaluation? Our seasoned faculty will walk you through the messier aspects of parenting to provide you with operative knowledge, tips and tools you can utilize in your practice. Get your most burning questions answered by a judge, find out how to negotiate and draft creative parenting plans for dynamic situations, and much more. Take your practice to the next level and smoothly traverse some of the stickiest child-related issues in family law - register today!
- Find out what factors judges are really looking at in parenting cases.
- Navigate the ins and outs of negotiating and drafting workable parenting plans.
- Understand child evaluators' testing tools and find out how to successfully challenge unfavorable reports.
- Avoid seemingly innocuous parenting plan provisions that lead to conflicts down the road.
- Explore how recent developments regarding the rights of same sex and unmarried couples impact your practice.
- Gain strategies for proving alienation when you realize it's occurring.
- Walk through complex UCCJEA hypotheticals so you can navigate these issues on your own.
- Develop an effective case strategy for fighting against false abuse allegations.
Abbreviated Agenda
- A Judge's View: Parenting Factors, Modification, Enforcement, and More
- Negotiating and Drafting Parenting Plans (With Samples)
- Custody Evaluations: Understanding the Tools and Challenging the Report
- UCCJEA and Relocation Issues in Family Law
- Alienation and Abuse Allegations in Custody Proceedings
- Recent Developments on the Rights of Same Sex and Unmarried Couples: Practical Implications
- Legal Ethics
Credit Details
Credits Available
There is no credit available on this course.
Select Jurisdiction
Agenda
-
A Judge's View: Parenting Factors, Modification, Enforcement, and More
- Custody/Visitation: Factors That Truly Matter to Courts
- When is Modification or Enforcement of Child-Related Decree Provisions Justified?
- Parenting Disputes That Judges do Not Want to See
- Q&A Session
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Negotiating and Drafting Parenting Plans (With Samples)
- Sample Plan: Legal Custody Provisions, Parenting Schedules, and Miscellaneous Clauses
- Alternative Dispute Resolution and Other Useful Provisions
- Negotiation Tactics and Creative Solutions for High-Conflict Issues
- Top Mistakes: Provisions That Lead to Disputes
- Use of Parenting Coordinators and Litigating Disputes About Their Recommendations
- Modification of Parenting Plans: Standards and Practice Tips
- Sample Plans for Disabled/Special Needs Children, Military Families, and Other Dynamic Situations
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Custody Evaluations: Understanding the Tools and Challenging the Report
- Hiring an Evaluator: Cost/Benefit Analysis
- What Goes into a Comprehensive Order
- Key Elements and Timeline of an Evaluation
- Understanding the Diagnostic Tools/Commonly Used Tests
- Assessing if the Report Meets Professional/Statutory Standards (With Checklist)
- Challenging the Expert's Report and Asking the Right Questions
- Fighting a Contested Custody Case When Your Client Can't Afford an Evaluation
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UCCJEA and Relocation Issues in Family Law
- UCCJEA - Examination of Complex Hypotheticals
- Important Factors, Procedures, and Options in the Relocation Case
- Overcoming Key Challenges in an International Relocation
- What to do if a Parent Flees the State With the Children
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Alienation and Abuse Allegations in Custody Proceedings
- Alienation: What it is vs. What it isn't and How to Detect it
- Proving Parental Alienation - Case Strategy
- Fighting Against False Abuse Allegations
- Social Services Investigations - When They Happen and What the Reports Mean
- Examining Experts and Lay Witnesses in Alienation and Abuse Cases
-
Recent Developments on the Rights of Same Sex and Unmarried Couples: Practical Implications
-
Legal Ethics
- Attorney Contact With Children
- Special Considerations for Mental Health Professionals and GALs
- Best Interests of the Child vs. Parents' Best Interests
- Child Testimony: Need for Evidence vs. Damage to Child
Who Should Attend
This advanced level online seminar is designed for:
- Attorneys
- Guardians ad Litem
- Custody Evaluators
- Psychologists
- Counselors
- Parenting Plan Coordinators
- Paralegals
Speakers
Speaker bio
Robin S. Buckner
is a founding member and managing partner of Buckner, Shifrin, Etter, Dugan & Bradfute, P.A., a firm formed in 1991 as Buckner & Shifrin, P.A. She has more than 40 years of litigation experience, in family and civil courts, and has tried hundreds of cases to both judges and juries. She has also appeared before Florida appellate courts. Ms. Buckner handles all types of family and divorce matters, including every aspect of dissolution of marriage, paternity, maternity, parentage and domestic partnership actions. She also handles post-judgment and continuing litigation matters. Her cases include "custody" and timesharing issues, assessment of monetary support, intricate business valuations, identification and tracing of marital assets and income, relocation requests, jurisdictional issues, partition of property issues, and domestic violence issues. She also drafts pre and postnuptial agreements, timesharing agreements, parenting plans, property agreements and all other marital and family settlement agreements. Additionally, Ms. Buckner is a member of the Collaborative Family Law Institute, after undergoing specialized training to represent parties in a collaborative process. The collaborative process is an alternative to litigation, involving non-adversarial collaboration between the parties and specific professionals (financial and psychological consultants) in order to arrive at a negotiated resolution without the emotional and financial toll of protracted litigation. Ms. Buckner has served as a guardian ad litem on behalf of children in divorce, domestic violence, and paternity cases, and as a family law mediator. She received her B.A. degree from Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University and her J.D. degree from University of Miami.
Speaker bio
Millicent B. Athanason
is the owner of The Law Office of Millicent B. Athanason, P.A., whose main office is in Holiday, Florida and also has a satellite office in Lake Mary, Florida. Ms. Athanason practices in the areas of family law and plaintiff's personal injury, and has been practicing for more than 25 years. She is admitted to practice law not only in Florida state courts but also is admitted to practice in Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida, U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court. Ms. Athanason is also a certified county, civil circuit, and family mediator. Prior to working in private practice, Ms. Athanason worked in Tampa handling insurance defense cases for major insurance carriers and thereafter worked for the state of Florida in handling juvenile dependency and termination of parental rights cases in Pasco County, Florida. She has been appointed to serve both as a guardian ad litem, as well as a parenting coordinator in family law cases. Ms. Athanason earned her B.B.A degree from Stetson University and J.D. degree from Stetson University.
Speaker bio
Cindy S. Vova
is the founder of The Law Offices of Cindy S. Vova, P.A., in Broward County, Florida, where she concentrates her practice on divorce and family law issues. She has lectured to both attorneys and CPAs as well as law students on various aspects of family law. In addition she has authored several articles for the Florida Bar’s Family Law Commentator. She has served on the Support, Equitable Distribution and Rules and Forms Committee of the Family Law Section for many years, and previously chaired the Family Law Section’s Litigation Support Committee. Ms. Vova is also a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator since 1998 and Circuit Civil Mediator for over 10 years. She has been named a “Legal Elite” in Florida Trend Magazine, based on nominations and votes by her peers. Ms. Vova is an active member of the Women’s Executive Counsel of the Jewish Federation of Broward County and a Godparent with JAFCO. She previously served on the Advisory Board of the Broward College Institute for Economic Development. Ms. Vova received her B.A., magna cum laude, at the University of Miami; her M.B.A. at the University of Miami; and her Doctor of Law at Emory University. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia; The Florida Bar; American Bar Association; Broward County Bar Association; Family Law Section of The Florida Bar; and is admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit and U.S. District Court of Appeals, Southern districts of Florida.
Speaker bio
Dr. Jerome H. Poliacoff
maintains a private practice in Coral Gables and Boca Raton, Florida, where his time is spent providing both clinical and forensic services. Dr. Poliacoff is a child, adolescent and adult psychologist licensed in the state of Florida since 1984. His training included pre- and post-doctoral internships and training at the Children's Psychiatric Centers in Miami, Florida. Dr. Poliacoff has been a staff consultant to the Northwest Dade Community Mental Health Center, where he conducted the pre-doctoral internship training in child assessment; and on the staff of Charter Hospital of Miami, where he served as co-director of an adult inpatient unit. He is a frequent consulting and testifying expert in both family and dependency courts in Florida's Eleventh, Fifteenth, and Seventeenth Judicial circuits; an expert in cases involving discrimination and harassment claims in federal employment law cases; an expert in the assessment and defense of tort claims for emotional damages in cases involving children, adolescents and adults; and he serves as a Level III third party review expert of pediatric patient insurance appeals for National Medical Review of Pennsylvania. Dr. Poliacoff earned his undergraduate degree from the City University of New York, and his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Miami, Coral Gables.
Speaker bio
Hon. Mary C. Evans
is a Circuit Court Judge in the 20th Judicial Circuit in Charlotte County, Florida.
Speaker bio
Jaclyn Zackowitz
has practiced matrimonial and family law exclusively since graduating law school in 2017, and has successfully represented clients in a wide range of family law matters. She has practiced in both New York and South Florida, earning a reputation for providing compassionate and effective legal counsel, prioritizing the well-being and interest of clients. Ms. Zackowitz is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator. She received her law degree from St. Thomas University School of Law and her Bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida. Ms. Zackowitz is a member of the Florida Bar, New York Bar Association and U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida.
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