You have been asked to write a report for a local community organization. The subject of your report will be “Divorce in Flordia from A to Z.” Your report will walk the readers through a typical divorce case. Do not simply list all of the applicable laws in the abstract. Instead, describe the law and give concrete examples of every law that you explain. The best way to do this is to present the law in the context of a hypothetical fact situation. Tell your readers that you will present the law by using an example. Here are the facts that you can use for the example:
Rita and Paul Smith were married in this state 10 years ago. They have two children, Paul
Jr. (age 6) and Helen (age 3). They are in the process of a divorce. Rita wants sole custody
of both children. So does Paul. As of the date of the divorce, the parties have a home
(bought during the marriage), two cars, five bank accounts, as well as stocks and bonds.
The house is in Paul’s name only. Both cars are in Rita’s name only. Everything else is in
their joint names. Paul is a doctor with a high income. He has his own patients. He also is
an employee of a hospital where he has an excellent pension. Rita is an accountant. For
health reasons, however, she will not be able to return to any kind of work for about six
years. Soon, she will have major surgery from which she will need several years to
recuperate. In addition to the disagreement over child custody, Rita and Paul also
disagree over dividing marital property, and about alimony and child support.
Copy this fact situation at the beginning of your report and then tell your readers that you will explain the law by using the facts in this illustration.
You will need additional facts about Rita and Paul Smith as you write the report (e.g., what kind of pension does Paul have, whether they have medical insurance). You can make them up so long as they are reasonably consistent with the facts given above.
There are seven topics you need to cover in your report on how such a divorce case would be handled in this state:
1. the grounds for divorce in Florida
2. the great variety of documents that are sometimes involved in divorce cases and the function of each document
3. how property is divided between the parties
4. spousal support/maintenance
5. child support
6. child custody
7. the enforcement of the divorce decree when one of the parties fails to comply with any part of the decree.
Use the Rita and Paul Smith case as the point of departure in your report. You do not have to limit yourself to the law that would apply to the Smith case. You can go beyond the facts of the Smith case in order to cover facts that may not be in the case. Cover the law that would apply to the Smith case, but it is permissible for you to deviate occasionally from the facts of the Smith case in order to cover the law of important facts that may not be in this particular case.
Be specific and be detailed. Assume that the community group members who will be reading your report are hungry for information but know nothing about the law. Therefore you must define all legal terms.
