Underwater Treasure: Equitable Distribution of the Save Our Homes Limitation, Florida Bar Journal, February 2011. The year 2008 may be the birth date for a new marital asset in Florida, which can be easily overlooked by clients and family law attorneys alike. The ‘Save Our Homes” Amendment caps increases in your home’s assessment. In 2008, the Florida Constitution was amended to allow homeowners to keep a portion of their tax assessment differential after their home is sold. Many homes in Florida are in negative equity, and clients often overlook the hidden tax advantages their homestead can provide during and after a dissolution of marriage.  This article examines the equitable distribution of the tax assessment differential in divorce, and also how the Constitutional Amendment impacts non-married couples selling their homestead after a breakup.

A Wife's Loss is Not a Husband's Gain, Florida Bar Family Law Section Commentator, Winter 2011.  We are living through an economy in which the stock market is taking a beating. House values are sliding, and commercial property prices are down nearly half. This turmoil can mean capital loss deductions, tax savings which can be carried over years after they are incurred, and long after people have divorced. Many clients and attorneys overlook capital loss deductions, and many other hidden valuable assets which may be distributable during their divorce.  This article discusses the equitable distribution of capital loss carryovers in divorce, examines the one Florida case which reviewed them, and suggests solutions to the conflict between Florida and Federal law.

Keeping it All In The Family, Florida Bar Family Law Section Commentator, Spring 2011.  People remarry after divorce.  Increasingly, new spouses are getting dragged into post-judgment divorce proceedings, even though their income and assets are not relevant for purposes of child support and alimony.  For anyone concerned with how their new spouse's financial privacy will be handled in a post-judgment proceeding, this article is a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ look at the balance between your right to privacy, and the court's need for a full and fair financial disclosure. The article is an analysis of the two standards developed in Florida for authorizing financial discovery of a new spouse in post-judgment support cases.