Swanson Law Center, P.A.

03/06/2022

For women's history month, some suggestions to watch:

https://www.redbull.com/us-en/films/a-land-shaped-by-womenfollows A Land Shaped by Women: pro snowboarders Anne-Flore Marxer and Aline Bock as they spend their winter in Iceland, the UN’s number one-ranked nation for gender equality.

https://www.netflix.com/title/81122487 Becoming peers into the life of former First Lady Michelle Obama as she steps into the public eye. The documentary goes up-close-and-personal into her life as she embarks on a 34-city tour that highlights the power of community and connection.

https://girlrising.org/documentaries/girl-rising Girl Rising is an eye-opening documentary about the lives of impoverished girls living in countries where education for girls isn't a priority. It’s a film that discusses important themes like empowerment, education, and equality. Watch it on-demand here.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846340/ Hidden Figures is loosely based on the 2016 non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly about African American female mathematicians who worked at NASA during the Space Race. An excellent option for family movie night!

Hidden Figures: Directed by Theodore Melfi. With Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner. The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.

07/11/2021

If you recently turned 18 years old, remember the law treats you like an adult now. For example, if you have a forged ID, you risk a third degree felony. Punishment can be a fine up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison and/or probation. That's no joke!

More info can be found here:

Legal Survival Guide: Florida Laws You Should Know Once you turn 18 years old, you are legally considered an adult in this country. But what does that actually mean? From the right to cast your vote in the next election to entering into a lease for your first apartment to serving on a jury, you are....

03/28/2020

Short video to help co-parents figure out whether they should continue to follow their timesharing schedules while we are under a "shelter in place" order.

03/25/2020

Working from home? Turn off Alexa, et.al.

As law firms urge attorneys to work from home during the global pandemic, their employees’ confidential phone calls with clients run the risk of being heard by Amazon.com Inc. and Google.

03/24/2020

Lots of clients have time-sharing questions with school closures and the new Alachua County "shelter in place" order. We don't have any clear direction on this from courts yet, and probably won't. But here's what I think ---

My opinion is that neither of these have any effect on currently ordered, local time-sharing plans. That is, your present schedule should still be followed. So, for example this week is spring break for Alachua County schools, as shown on the regular school calendar. Many schedules break the week in half - with the parent having the first weekend keeping the children until sometime on Wednesday. Then, the children go the other parent, who would keep them from Wednesday until school starts Monday morning. People who have this plan should still do this, even though the children aren't going to school on Monday morning. Then, start the week with whoever has the kids on Monday per the usual schedule.

Your schedule may not be exactly like this. For example, perhaps your schedule is similar to this, but the children go back to the first parent on Sunday evening, and that parent would be taking them to school Monday morning. Stick with that plan.

Both parents must find out about distance learning requirements, set up their own study areas, line up their own technology, and so on.

If yours is a distance time-sharing plan which involves airline travel, then, the airline schedules may have an impact. But if the airlines are flying, your schedule should be followed.

And, AS ALWAYS, if parents need or want to make a different plan during this "social distancing" and "shelter in place" time, then go for it!! Just be sure both parents understand what the agreement is - write it down. Even if just in an email or a text.

If one parent is better set up to do distance learning at his or her home, maybe the kids stay there most of the time, and some makeup time-sharing is provided to the other parent when schools are back to normal, or in the summer.

Things are a little fraught now, and this is a great time for parents to be respectful of each other, and cooperate for the children's best interests.

03/18/2020

During the end of March and beginning of April, we will be having reduced and irregular office hours. However, we are still working remotely on all our clients' matters, and are available for consultations for potential new clients via phone or video conference. The best way to contact us right now is via email - [email protected], or call us and leave a phone message and we'll get back to you as soon we can.

03/18/2020

03/18/2020

Suggestions for parents who are sharing time with children. There may be some time-sharing challenges during the next month or two. These suggestions are more detailed, but the advice basically boils down to "Don't be a jerk." :-)

Stay healthy!

08/22/2019

Nice illustrated discussion of collaborative divorce. If you have to get divorced, do it collaboratively.

Collaborative Law : managing and resolving disputes differently. Animated vidéo

07/25/2019

New law passed by Florida Legislature and signed by Governor DeSantis - when a victim of domestic violence has to make the hard choice to quit a job in order to relocate to avoid the perpetrator, the victim will likely be eligible to receive unemployment benefits.

Domestic violence victims in Florida who’ve been forced to quit their job and/or relocate to avoid an abusive situation can qualify for unemployment benefits, as of July 1. Florida is the 42nd state to offer the benefits.

07/12/2019

My first Wedding Expo appearance is this Sunday!! Noon - 4:00 pm at the Wyndham Garden Hotel on SW 13th Street in Gainesville. I’ll be the only lawyer among florists, photographers, DJ’s and so on. I’ll have lots of chocolate to lure people to my booth to learn about prenuptial agreements and planning their legacy. It’s never too early to start.

07/07/2019

Florida's back-to-school sales tax holiday is Aug. 2 - Aug. 6, 2019.