You may know someone who is a commercial litigation attorney, but have you ever found yourself wondering “what is commercial litigation?” As experienced commercial litigation lawyers ourselves, we at Reinfeld & Cabrera, P.A. are here to answer your questions on commercial litigation.
What is commercial litigation?
Let’s start with commercial law: commercial law, also known as a part of business law, applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and businesses engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales. Therefore, commercial litigation is any dispute which may arise in any business activities and which most often results in court proceedings to settle the issue. Usually these disputes are focussed on property or finances with some examples being corporate governance, banking transactions, mergers and acquisitions.
Why is commercial litigation necessary?
During the day-to-day events of any business, many legal matters may arise and need to be dealt with. Because commercial industries fall under both private and public law, these legal matters are of utmost importance to the smooth running and wellbeing of your business. As any business owner, large or small, will know, you cannot run a business without finances and paperwork. Things like taxes, employee contracts and property rental agreements are all legal matters and any number of issues may arise in these areas when running a business. So it is important for any issue either to be avoided through well drawn-up contracts and negotiations or to be dealt with quickly and efficiently in court to avoid growing expenses and wasting business hours on the problem.
What does a commercial litigation lawyer do?
The aim of a commercial litigation attorney is primarily to represent you and your business in a court of law during a commercial litigation case. However, a commercial litigation attorney can be tremendously useful when consulted beforehand to try to avoid ever having to go to court (as this may turn into a costly experience). They are extremely knowledgeable and skilful in all aspects of commercial law. A good commercial litigation attorney will be able to guide you through any and all aspects of your business which may fall under the wing of commercial law.
Do I need a commercial litigation attorney?
The short answer is: if you have a business or partake in any business dealings, yes. The long answer: a commercial litigation attorney can help you in all legal business matters in or out of court. These may include a breach of contract, sales disputes, contract negotiation and preparation. And whether your business is a brand new small start-up business or a massive multi-national corporation, chances are you will eventually need a good commercial litigation attorney.
So now that you know a bit more about commercial litigation, you can see the importance of knowing a good commercial litigation attorney. If you don’t already know one, let Reinfeld & Cabrera give you a free consultation and never worry about commercial litigation again.
Yes, a landlord or tenant can handle some Florida eviction cases without an attorney. Florida law does not require a lawyer in every eviction proceeding. But an eviction still involves specific notice requirements, court filings, service of process, deadlines, and rules governing defenses and possession. A mistake at any of those stages can affect the outcome of the case.
For landlords, the process generally begins with the legally required notice and can proceed to a county court action if the tenant does not leave. For tenants, receiving an eviction lawsuit creates deadlines for responding and, in some cases, requirements for paying disputed rent into the court registry.
The issue matters in Broward County, where there were 16,666 eviction filings in 2025 and 7,955 more during the first six months of 2026.
So when is an eviction simple enough to handle on your own, and when does the situation call for legal assistance? The answer usually depends on the reason for the eviction, the lease, the notice, and whether the other side contests the case.
Can You Handle an Eviction Without an Attorney?
Yes.
Florida does not require every landlord or tenant to hire an attorney for an eviction. Broward County provides self service information and forms for people handling certain eviction matters themselves. The Clerk also explains that its deputy clerks can provide procedural information, but cannot prepare legal forms or give legal advice.
The complexity of the case matters.
A straightforward dispute involving unpaid rent may be different from a case involving:
A disputed lease violation.
Questions about whether the required notice was valid.
A commercial lease.
A disagreement about the amount of rent actually owed.
A claim that the landlord failed to maintain the property.
A retaliation defense.
A security deposit dispute.
A lease renewal or termination dispute.
A claim for damages in addition to possession.
An eviction can also become more complicated when the parties disagree about basic facts.
That is where legal advice may become useful.
Why Does the Eviction Process Matter?
Florida provides a summary procedure for eviction cases. The purpose is to provide a more direct procedure for resolving possession disputes.
“Summary” does not mean informal.
Florida law still requires the landlord to establish the legal basis for possession and follow the applicable requirements. The Broward County Clerk describes the basic local process as:
Issue the required notice.
Complete and file the required forms.
Properly serve the tenant.
Obtain a judgment and, when appropriate, a writ of possession.
Each stage can raise separate issues.
A defective notice can create a problem before the case even reaches a judge.
A service problem can affect whether the case can proceed.
A tenant who fails to respond properly can lose important defenses.
A landlord who tries to bypass the court process can create a different legal problem altogether.
Eviction law has very little patience for the idea that everyone can simply improvise.
What Notice Does a Landlord Have to Give?
The required notice depends on the reason for ending the tenancy.
For example, Florida law provides specific procedures for nonpayment of rent and for certain lease violations. The notice requirements are contained in section 83.56 of the Florida Statutes and are not simply optional language that the parties can rewrite in a lease.
For nonpayment cases, the applicable notice period and calculation depend on the tenancy and the circumstances. Florida’s statutory framework also specifies how certain periods are calculated.
For other violations, the landlord may need to give the tenant an opportunity to correct the problem when the law provides a cure period.
This distinction matters because an eviction notice is not interchangeable with every other type of demand letter.
The reason for the termination affects what the landlord may need to do next.
A notice can become a legal issue in itself
Consider a tenant who receives a notice claiming that rent was not paid.
The tenant might disagree about:
Whether the rent was actually due.
How much was owed.
Whether payment was made.
Whether the notice was properly served.
Whether the notice contained the required information.
Whether the landlord complied with the applicable statutory requirements.
Those questions can affect what happens after the notice.
The notice is therefore more than a warning. It can become part of the legal record.
What Happens After the Notice?
If the tenant does not leave and the landlord has the legal basis to seek possession, the landlord can file an action for possession.
Florida Statute §83.59 governs actions to recover possession. The landlord must proceed through the court rather than simply taking possession personally.
Broward County’s Clerk describes the next stages as filing the required documents and serving the tenant. The tenant then has to follow the instructions in the summons and respond within the applicable time.
This is one reason an eviction should not be treated like an ordinary argument between a landlord and tenant.
Once a lawsuit has been filed, deadlines and procedural rules become part of the dispute.
What Can a Tenant Do After Receiving an Eviction Lawsuit?
A tenant is not automatically removed simply because a landlord files an eviction case.
Florida law permits tenants to raise certain legal and equitable defenses. Depending on the circumstances, those defenses can involve alleged landlord noncompliance, defective notices, retaliation, payment disputes, or other issues recognized by law.
But there is an important procedural requirement that tenants should understand.
When a tenant raises a defense other than payment in a nonpayment case, section 83.60 generally requires the tenant to pay the accrued rent into the court registry or timely file a motion asking the court to determine the amount that must be deposited.
Failure to comply can result in waiver of defenses other than payment and can allow the landlord to obtain an immediate default judgment for possession.
That is not a minor technicality.
It can change the course of the case.
A Broward County case shows why this matters
In Muscella v. Johnson, a 2024 Fourth District Court of Appeal decision arising from Broward County, the tenants did not pay the rent into the court registry or timely move to determine the amount as required by section 83.60(2).
The Fourth DCA reversed the county court and explained that, under the circumstances, the landlord was entitled to the writ of possession.
The court stated that when the statutory requirement is not met, the landlord can be entitled to possession without another hearing.
That case illustrates the practical importance of understanding procedural requirements.
But the Same Rules Can Protect a Tenant Who Responds Properly
A different Broward County case demonstrates the other side.
In Kaufman v. High Seas, LLC, the landlord sought possession for alleged nonpayment of rent. The tenant disputed the landlord’s allegations, raised defenses, and timely filed a motion asking the court to determine the amount of rent that should be deposited into the court registry.
The trial court entered an eviction judgment without resolving that motion.
The Fourth DCA reversed and remanded, holding that the trial court needed to address the pending motion before entering the eviction judgment.
The case is useful because it shows why neither side should assume that an eviction case is automatic.
The landlord had procedural requirements.
The tenant had procedural requirements.
And the court had to apply the statute to what actually happened in the case.
Landlord vs. Tenant: What Is at Stake?
The obligations are different depending on which side of the dispute you are on.
Issue
Landlord
Tenant
Before filing
Must establish the basis for termination and provide the required notice
Should understand what the notice alleges and what deadline applies
Lease
Must establish the contractual or statutory basis for possession
May dispute the interpretation or enforcement of the lease
Court filing
Must file the appropriate action and supporting documents
Must respond according to the summons and applicable rules
Rent dispute
May seek possession and, where legally available, damages
May have court registry requirements when raising certain defenses
Defenses
Must respond to defenses raised by the tenant
May raise legal or equitable defenses recognized by Florida law
Possession
Cannot simply bypass the court process
Has statutory protections against certain forms of self help
After judgment
May obtain a writ of possession through the court
Must comply with a valid writ while retaining whatever legal remedies remain available
The table is not a substitute for the statute or legal advice. It simply illustrates why an eviction case involves obligations on both sides.
Can a Landlord Change the Locks Instead?
No.
For residential properties covered by Florida’s landlord tenant law, section 83.67 prohibits a landlord from preventing a tenant from obtaining reasonable access to the dwelling, including by changing the locks or using a bootlock.
The statute also prohibits a landlord from interrupting utility services as a way of dealing with the tenancy.
That means a landlord generally cannot avoid the eviction process by deciding to remove the tenant personally.
The lawful process is different.
After a judgment in the landlord’s favor, Florida law provides for a writ of possession issued to the sheriff. The sheriff then executes the writ after the statutory notice period. Section 83.62 currently provides for 24 hours’ notice posted on the premises before the sheriff puts the landlord in possession.
In other words:
A court judgment and writ of possession are not the same thing as a landlord changing the locks on their own.
That distinction matters.
What If the Dispute Is About More Than Rent?
Not every landlord tenant dispute is really a simple nonpayment eviction.
The underlying disagreement might involve:
A commercial lease.
An assignment or sublease.
A disputed renewal option.
Property damage.
A security deposit.
Alleged nuisance.
A claim of constructive eviction.
Abandonment of personal property.
Lease provisions concerning rent increases.
Claims for damages in addition to possession.
Some of these matters may arise alongside an eviction. Others may require separate legal analysis.
A recent Fourth DCA case illustrates the point.
In Destiny Fulfilled Outreach Ministries v. Investments SWK, the dispute involved a commercial tenancy and disagreement over the nature and duration of the parties’ lease arrangement. The Fourth DCA affirmed the eviction judgment after the lower court determined that the parties had not established the claimed lease term.
The lesson is not that every commercial eviction looks like that case.
It is that the right to possession can depend on questions about the lease itself.
What About Attorney’s Fees?
Attorney’s fees can also become part of an eviction dispute when a statute, lease, or other applicable legal authority permits an award.
A 2025 Fourth DCA case arising from Broward County illustrates that even a fee award following an eviction judgment can create a separate appellate issue.
In Gordon v. Pinoargotty, the Fourth DCA reversed an attorney’s fee award because the trial court had not made the required findings concerning reasonable hours and the reasonable hourly rate. The underlying eviction judgment was not what the appeal addressed.
This is another reason to avoid thinking of an eviction as simply:
notice → tenant leaves → finished.
Depending on the case, possession, rent, damages, attorney’s fees, and other issues can all require separate attention.
When Does an Eviction Become More Complicated?
There is no single point at which every eviction suddenly requires an attorney.
Some situations, however, deserve closer attention.
Legal advice may be particularly useful when:
The tenant disputes the facts.
The landlord is unsure which notice applies.
The tenant claims the notice was defective.
There are questions about rent payments or the amount owed.
The lease contains complicated provisions.
The property is commercial.
There are counterclaims or substantial damages.
A tenant alleges retaliation.
The case involves habitability or property condition issues.
The landlord and tenant disagree about whether the lease has ended.
A prior eviction case or judgment is involved.
A party has received court papers and is unsure how to respond.
The more issues that exist beyond straightforward possession, the less useful a generic eviction form becomes.
What About Coral Springs and Broward County?
For someone in Coral Springs, an eviction case does not take place in a legal vacuum.
Coral Springs is part of Broward County and the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, so local filing and court procedures matter in addition to the statewide landlord tenant statutes.
The Broward County Clerk’s current eviction information identifies the required sequence of notice, filing, service, judgment, and writ of possession. It also directs filers to the applicable Seventeenth Judicial Circuit administrative order for the location where county civil actions are filed.
Broward’s numbers show why this is not an obscure area of law.
The county recorded:
15,588 eviction filings in 2019
17,657 in 2022
18,670 in 2023
18,335 in 2024
16,666 in 2025
The 2023 figure was the highest in that series. The 2025 total represented a decline from the prior year, but still amounted to more than 16,000 filings.
During the first six months of 2026, Broward recorded 7,955 filings, including 1,562 in January and 1,426 in June.
There is no reliable public source in the data reviewed here that isolates eviction filings specifically for Coral Springs. It is therefore more accurate to use Broward County as the local statistical measure rather than assigning a countywide number to Coral Springs.
What If You Cannot Afford an Attorney?
A private attorney is not the only possible source of help.
The Legal Aid Service of Broward County provides civil legal assistance to eligible low income Broward residents and specifically identifies landlord tenant matters and eviction assistance among its housing services. Eligibility requirements apply.
Broward County also provides self service information for people handling certain eviction matters without counsel.
That does not mean every case is appropriate for self representation.
It does mean that someone facing an eviction should not assume the only choices are hiring a private lawyer immediately or doing nothing.
What Should You Do If You Receive an Eviction Notice?
Start by determining exactly what you received.
An eviction notice is different from an eviction lawsuit.
If you have received only a notice from the landlord, review the reason stated and the deadline carefully.
If you have received a court summons or complaint, the situation is more urgent because the court’s procedural deadlines now matter.
Keep copies of:
The lease.
The eviction notice.
Proof of rent payments.
Communications with the landlord.
Repair requests.
Photographs or videos of relevant property conditions.
Court documents.
Receipts and other supporting records.
Do not assume that an unanswered court document will simply disappear.
It will not.
What Should a Landlord Do Before Filing?
A landlord should similarly organize the underlying record before beginning an eviction case.
That can include:
The signed lease.
Payment records.
The applicable notice.
Proof of delivery or service.
Communications with the tenant.
Records concerning alleged lease violations.
Property inspection records.
Photographs where relevant.
Documentation supporting any claimed damages.
The landlord should also make sure that the legal basis for possession matches the notice and the facts.
An eviction is not improved by filing quickly with the wrong theory.
The Bigger Point: Eviction Is a Process, Not a Threat
The old idea that an eviction is simply a landlord versus tenant argument misses what actually happens in court.
Florida law creates a process.
The landlord has to establish a basis for possession.
The tenant may have defenses.
Both sides have procedural obligations.
The court applies the governing law.
And if the landlord ultimately obtains judgment, possession is transferred through the statutory process rather than by private force.
The recent Broward cases make that clear from opposite directions.
In Muscella, the tenants’ failure to comply with the rent registry requirement had immediate consequences.
In Kaufman, the tenant’s timely motion to determine rent meant that the trial court could not simply enter the eviction judgment without addressing the pending issue.
Neither case establishes that every landlord needs an attorney or that every tenant will successfully defend an eviction.
They demonstrate something more practical:
The details matter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I evict a tenant without an attorney in Florida?
Mostly. Florida does not require every landlord to hire an attorney for an eviction. However, the landlord must still comply with the applicable statutes, court rules, notice requirements, filing requirements, and service requirements.
Could a tenant fight an eviction without an attorney?
Yes. Tenants can represent themselves and may raise defenses permitted by Florida law. But some defenses trigger specific procedural requirements, including requirements concerning rent paid into the court registry.
Can my landlord change the locks instead of evicting me?
For residential tenancies governed by Florida’s landlord tenant law, a landlord generally may not prevent a tenant from accessing the dwelling by changing the locks or using similar devices. Florida law also prohibits certain utility shutoffs used to interfere with a tenancy.
How long does an eviction take in Florida?
There is no single answer. Timing depends on the type of case, the notice, whether the tenant responds, whether defenses are raised, court scheduling, service, and other circumstances. Florida uses a summary procedure for eviction cases, but summary does not mean automatic.
What happens after a landlord wins an eviction?
After a judgment for the landlord, the clerk issues a writ of possession to the sheriff. Florida law provides for 24 hours’ notice to be posted before the sheriff puts the landlord in possession.
Can a tenant raise defenses to an eviction?
Yes. Florida law permits certain legal and equitable defenses. In nonpayment cases, however, a tenant raising defenses other than payment generally must comply with the rent registry requirements in section 83.60.
Does an eviction case always involve unpaid rent?
No. Eviction disputes can involve alleged lease violations, expiration or termination of a tenancy, possession disputes, and other issues. Commercial cases can also involve questions about lease terms and renewal rights.
Where are eviction cases handled in Broward County?
Eviction matters are handled through the county civil system within the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. The Broward County Clerk provides current filing information and directs filers to the applicable administrative order concerning filing locations.
Is there legal help for tenants in Broward County who cannot afford a lawyer?
Legal Aid Service of Broward County provides civil legal services to eligible low income residents and offers housing and eviction assistance subject to its eligibility requirements.
Eviction and Landlord Tenant Disputes in Coral Springs
An eviction can look simple from the outside.
A landlord wants the property back. A tenant wants to remain there. A notice is delivered. A lawsuit may follow.
The actual legal process can be more complicated.
For landlords and tenants in Coral Springs, Broward County, and throughout South Florida, understanding the applicable Florida law is the first step. The next question is whether the particular dispute is straightforward enough to handle without legal assistance or whether the consequences of a procedural mistake make professional advice worthwhile.
Reinfeld & Cabrera represents landlords and tenants in eviction and landlord tenant disputes, including residential and commercial matters, lease disputes, security deposit claims, wrongful or constructive eviction claims, and other related issues.
Are you facing bankruptcy? Do you have a professional bankruptcy attorney who you can rely on? Do you understand what it means to face bankruptcy? As an experienced bankruptcy attorney, Reinfeld & Cabrera, P.A. will answer all your bankruptcy questions as and when you need. Here are a few questions that you can ponder in order to give you a head start on bankruptcy and bankruptcy attorneys.
What is bankruptcy?
Very basically bankruptcy is a legal status of a person or entity that cannot repay its debts owed to creditors. Bankruptcy is often imposed by a court order initiated by the debtor. Here in Florida the Bankruptcy Code located at Title 11 of the United States Code governs us. There are six types of bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Code. The most commonly used types of bankruptcy are Chapter 7: basic liquidation for individuals and businesses and Chapter 13: rehabilitation with a payment plan for individuals with a regular source of income. Chapter 7 (also known as straight bankruptcy) is the simplest and quickest type of bankruptcy in existence, while chapter 13 (also known as Wage Earner Bankruptcy) permits individuals with regular income to develop a means of paying off their debt through a repayment plan.
What is a bankruptcy attorney?
A bankruptcy attorney is in charge of helping you through the intricate bankruptcy process. An experienced bankruptcy attorney such as Reinfeld & Cabrera, P.A. will ensure that you make no mistakes in preparing your petition. Experienced bankruptcy attorneys are better prepared to deal with any questions, concerns, or requests from the court than ordinary attorneys. A bankruptcy attorney will also appear with you at your Meeting of Creditors and help you to prepare and submit any additional documentation required until your case is discharged.
What should you do when facing bankruptcy?
As we have mentioned bankruptcy is a complicated and intricate process. With many forms to fill in and file, and potentially problematic procedures to navigate, facing bankruptcy on your own is not advisable. Arguably the wisest move you could make the moment you realise you may be facing bankruptcy is to contact an experienced bankruptcy attorney. Having a bankruptcy attorney such as Reinfeld & Cabrera, P.A. assist you through bankruptcy will ensure that you are in the best of hands when it comes to the complex bankruptcy process. If you are facing bankruptcy please contact at your soonest opportunity to ensure that you have the support you need during the bankruptcy process.
Most people think of an estate plan as a set of documents: a will, perhaps a trust, powers of attorney, and other papers kept somewhere safe.
But there is another part of estate planning that matters just as much: how each asset is actually owned and what happens to it when you die.
A bank account can pass directly to a named beneficiary. A retirement account can do the same. Property owned with rights of survivorship may pass to the surviving owner. Assets properly transferred to a revocable trust can pass through the trust rather than through probate.
Other property may still become part of the probate estate.
So avoiding probate is not usually about finding one document or legal trick that makes the entire estate disappear from court supervision. It is about deciding, asset by asset, how ownership should change when you die.
Probate Is Not One Destination for Everything You Own
Imagine someone dies owning a house, a checking account, a retirement account, an investment account, and a life insurance policy.
It would be easy to think of all of these as “the estate” and assume they follow the same process.
They do not.
The legal mechanism attached to each asset can determine what happens next.
Asset or arrangement
Possible transfer mechanism
May avoid probate?
Main consideration
Life insurance with beneficiary
Beneficiary designation
Yes
Keep the designation current
Retirement account
Beneficiary designation
Yes
The account designation matters
Bank account with POD designation
Pay on death designation
Yes
Florida law governs the transfer
Securities registered in beneficiary form
Transfer on death registration
Yes
Registration must comply with applicable requirements
Joint property with survivorship
Survivorship rights
Yes
The form of ownership matters
Properly funded revocable trust
Trust administration
Yes
Assets must actually be transferred to the trust
Solely owned property without another mechanism
Probate administration
Generally no
Probate may be required
Florida homestead
Special rules
Depends
Family and ownership circumstances matter
Florida law specifically provides for pay on death accounts and allows qualifying securities registered in beneficiary form to pass to surviving beneficiaries rather than becoming part of the deceased owner’s estate.
That is why estate planning is better understood as a system of ownership and transfer than simply a collection of documents.
Start With the Asset, Not the Will
A will is important, but it does not necessarily control every asset you own.
If a retirement account names a beneficiary, that designation can determine who receives it. A valid pay on death designation can cause funds in a qualifying account to pass directly to the surviving beneficiary. Securities registered in beneficiary form can likewise pass according to that registration.
The more useful question is therefore:
Does the way this asset is titled or designated actually match the estate plan?
A will can say one thing while an outdated beneficiary designation says another.
Marriage, divorce, the birth of children, the death of a beneficiary, remarriage, or a major change in financial circumstances can all be reasons to review these arrangements.
Beneficiary Designations: Simple, but Worth Reviewing
Beneficiary designations are among the most straightforward ways to arrange for certain assets to pass outside probate.
Florida’s pay on death statute covers deposit accounts including checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and similar accounts. When the relevant account owner dies, the funds generally pass according to the valid designation.
Florida also has a separate statutory system for securities registered in beneficiary form. Under §711.507, ownership passes to beneficiaries who survive the owner or owners, subject to the statutory requirements.
Similar arrangements are common with:
Life insurance
Retirement accounts
Annuities
Certain investment accounts
Pay on death bank accounts
The important word is designation.
An estate plan may have been carefully prepared years ago, but the financial institution generally follows the designation governing the account or policy.
That makes beneficiary review an important part of estate planning.
A Revocable Trust Can Avoid Probate, but It Has to Be Funded
A revocable living trust is one of the best-known probate avoidance tools.
During the owner’s lifetime, assets are transferred to the trust and managed by the trustee. After death, the successor trustee can administer trust property without requiring a probate appointment for those particular assets.
But signing the trust is only part of the process.
The Florida Bar puts it plainly: “The ‘funding’ of a revocable trust is critical to successfully avoid probate.”
A trust document does not automatically place every asset you own into the trust.
If assets remain titled solely in the deceased person’s name, those assets may still require probate. The Florida Bar notes that an incompletely funded trust can result in both probate administration for assets outside the trust and trust administration for assets held by the trust.
The documents and the ownership records therefore need to agree.
Joint Ownership Can Avoid Probate. It Can Also Change Your Rights Now.
Joint ownership with survivorship rights can allow property to pass automatically to the surviving owner.
That can be useful. It is also more consequential than simply naming someone as a beneficiary.
Adding another person as a joint owner can give that person legal rights during your lifetime. Depending on the asset and ownership arrangement, joint ownership can also create complications involving creditors, taxes, estate expenses, simultaneous deaths, or unequal treatment among heirs.
The Florida Bar warns that joint ownership can sometimes “cause more problems than it solves.”
The point is not that joint ownership is inherently problematic. It is that avoiding probate should not be the only consideration when deciding who should own an asset.
“People often think avoiding probate requires something complicated. In many cases, it starts with a few simple decisions about how your property is owned and who should receive it. A little planning can make things much easier for the people you leave behind.”
Florida Homestead Is Different
A Florida home deserves special attention because homestead does not always follow the same rules as an ordinary investment account.
Florida law establishes specific rules governing the descent of homestead. When a decedent is survived by a spouse and descendants, for example, §732.401 provides for a life estate in the surviving spouse with a vested remainder in the descendants, while also giving the spouse an option to elect an undivided one-half interest instead. That election generally must be made within six months and is irrevocable.
The statute also expressly excludes certain property owned as tenancy by the entireties or joint tenancy with rights of survivorship from its operation.
Florida also has separate rules governing lifetime transfers of homestead, including transfers involving trusts.
In other words, the family home should not simply be treated as another asset on a generic probate avoidance checklist.
Giving Property Away Is Not the Same as Avoiding Probate
The simplest version of this strategy is also the most misleading: give property away before you die and it cannot enter your probate estate.
Technically, transferring ownership during life can accomplish that.
But it also means giving up ownership during life.
That can affect control over the property, creditors, taxes, family relationships, eligibility for certain benefits, and what happens if the recipient later dies, divorces, becomes incapacitated, or experiences financial problems.
Sometimes a lifetime gift makes sense. Sometimes another estate planning mechanism accomplishes the intended result without transferring ownership immediately.
“Avoids probate” is therefore not enough reason, by itself, to give something away.
The Real Problem: When the Plan and the Assets Disagree
Consider an estate with:
A house titled individually
A retirement account naming a former spouse
A bank account with a current beneficiary
An investment account owned jointly with one child
A revocable trust that was signed but never funded
A will dividing the estate equally among three children
The documents may all look reasonable in isolation.
Together, they could produce a very different result.
The former spouse may still receive the retirement account. The joint account may pass to one child. The bank account may pass to another beneficiary. The unfunded trust may not control the assets its creator expected it to control. The house may require a separate analysis because of Florida’s homestead rules.
The will may ultimately govern only the property that remains subject to probate.
This is why estate planning is not simply a question of:
“Do I have a will?”
It is also:
“Do my assets actually pass the way I think they will?”
A Practical Probate Avoidance Review
A useful review begins with the assets themselves.
For each significant asset, ask:
Who owns it now?
How is it titled?
Does it have a beneficiary designation?
Does it have survivorship rights?
Is it owned by a trust?
What happens if the named beneficiary dies first?
Does the arrangement conflict with the will or trust?
Are there special Florida rules governing the asset?
That review can reveal that an estate plan needs only a few updates.
It can also reveal several different transfer mechanisms working against one another.
Avoiding Probate Does Not Mean Avoiding Every Legal Process
Probate is not inherently a failure of estate planning. It is a legal mechanism for administering property that falls within the probate estate.
Avoiding probate can reduce court involvement for particular assets, and trust planning can sometimes prevent additional probate proceedings in another state when someone owns property outside Florida.
But a trust does not make administration disappear.
A successor trustee still has responsibilities involving assets, debts, beneficiaries, and distribution. The Florida Bar notes that many of the practical tasks performed by a personal representative must also be performed by a trustee administering a revocable trust.
The goal, then, is not simply less paperwork.
It is a transfer plan that matches the person’s wishes, family circumstances, assets, and Florida law.
Probate Avoidance in Coral Springs and Broward County
For families in Coral Springs and Broward County, probate planning ultimately comes down to the relationship between Florida law and the way the family’s assets are actually owned.
A homeowner may have very different planning considerations from someone whose estate consists primarily of retirement and investment accounts. A married couple may face different issues from an unmarried person. Someone with children from a previous relationship may need to coordinate beneficiary designations and ownership structures particularly carefully.
There is no single “avoid probate” document that produces the same result for every Florida estate.
The better question is which legal mechanism should govern each significant asset and whether those mechanisms work together.
When an Estate Planning Attorney Can Help
If you are planning your estate in Coral Springs, Broward County, or elsewhere in South Florida, an estate planning attorney can review more than whether you have a will.
The review can include how assets are titled, whether beneficiary designations match your wishes, whether a revocable trust is appropriate and properly funded, and whether Florida’s homestead rules affect the plan.
The objective is not to avoid probate at all costs.
It is to understand which assets will pass through probate, which can pass outside it, and whether the overall plan produces the result you actually intend.
Reinfeld & Cabrera P.A. assists clients with estate planning, trusts, probate, and related matters in Coral Springs, Broward County, and throughout South Florida.
If you are reviewing an existing estate plan or creating one for the first time, contact Reinfeld & Cabrera P.A. to discuss how your assets are owned and how Florida law may affect their transfer after death.
Questions People Often Ask
Can I avoid probate completely in Florida?
Some estates can be structured so that significant assets pass outside probate. Whether that is appropriate depends on the assets, ownership structures, beneficiary designations, family circumstances, and Florida law.
Does having a will avoid probate?
No. A will generally directs the distribution of property that remains subject to probate. It does not, by itself, remove those assets from the probate process.
Does a revocable trust avoid probate in Florida?
It can, but the relevant assets must be properly transferred to the trust or otherwise coordinated with it. An unfunded trust may leave assets subject to probate.
Can a beneficiary designation avoid probate?
A valid beneficiary designation can allow certain assets to pass outside probate. Florida law specifically recognizes pay on death accounts and beneficiary registrations for qualifying securities.
Can I put my Florida home in a trust to avoid probate?
Florida homestead is subject to special constitutional and statutory rules. A trust may be appropriate in some circumstances, but homestead should not be treated like an ordinary investment asset.
Is avoiding probate always the best option?
Not necessarily. Probate serves legitimate purposes, including administration of assets that fall within the probate estate. The appropriate estate plan depends on the circumstances rather than on avoiding court involvement as an end in itself.
It makes sense to use a real estate attorney when buying a house
Congratulations on the finding the property of your dreams! But before you go any further, let the experienced attorneys at Reinfeld & Cabrera, P.A. tell you why it makes sense to use a real estate attorney when buying a house.
Firstly, there is always a lot of official paperwork that surrounds the selling and purchasing of any property. In order for a sale to be legitimate, there needs to be a well-documented and legally binding contract. From sales contracts and financing agreements to title deeds you will have paperwork coming out of your ears! Often these contracts will be filled with legalese (fancy lawyer speak) and complicated processes and clauses. A real estate attorney will be there to relieve you of this headache and to explain the things you may not understand.
Real estate attorneys such as Reinfeld & Cabrera are experienced in dealing with these contracts and because they are familiar with the procedures they will be able to process everything much faster and more efficiently than an estate agent or you will be able to. They will also make sure that there are no possible glitches or issues for the buyer of the property and that all parts of the transaction follow state law. This includes your real estate attorney doing a title search to ensure that there are no liens or judgements against the perfect little place you plan to make your home. A title search ensures that the property owners have a legal right to sell the house. A real estate attorney will always have your best interests in mind.
Aside from all the paperwork flying around, there are other parts of your transaction that will need to be dealt with. Inspections and negotiations on the sales, repairs or maintenance will undoubtedly come about. You will want to have an experienced real estate attorney on your side to make sure that your property is received in top condition and that you are getting what you pay for and no less. During the negotiations and inspections it often happens that certain issues will occur. For instance you may find some structural damage to the property that makes it unsafe or the electrical system needs to be repaired. You won’t want to have to deal with these extra expenses once you have already purchased the property. A real estate attorney will guarantee that all issues are either compensated for in the price or that the seller is contractually obligated to repair any problems.
Hopefully with a knowledgeable real estate attorney on your side, you will never have to go into the process of litigation. However, if a dispute does arise and the issue is taken to court, you will be eternally thankful that you have a skilled real estate attorney to represent your interests. So don’t let your new home be tainted by any possible problems that may occur during the process, make sure that you start off on a stress-free and happy foot when buying your house – call a real estate attorney from Reinfeld & Cabrera today!
There is something different about dealing with a family business. The people answering the phone may know the people making the decisions. The person whose name is on the door may still be around when you have a question six months later. And when something goes wrong, there usually isn’t an impressive chain of departments available to explain why nobody knows who is responsible.
A family owned law firm can have some of those same characteristics.
That does not make family ownership a substitute for legal experience. If you need an attorney in Coral Springs, you still want someone who knows the relevant area of Florida law. You need someone who understands your particular problem, and can explain what your options actually are. The fact that a law firm is owned by a family does not magically accomplish any of those things.
What it can change is the relationship you have with the firm.
What Does Family Owned and Operated Actually Mean?
In a family owned and operated business, the people behind the company have a personal connection to what happens there. Their reputation is attached to the business. Their relationships with clients can continue for years. And the people who own the firm may also be involved in the day to day work.
For a law firm, that can be valuable. Legal matters are rarely as simple as handing someone a document, collecting a fee, and saying goodbye. A client may have questions later, another legal issue may come up. Perhaps a matter that seemed straightforward at the beginning may take an unexpected turn. Knowing who to call can make a real difference.
This is one reason some people prefer working with family owned businesses. They want to know who they are dealing with. People want to have a sense that the relationship matters to the people on the other side of the desk.
A Relationship That Can Continue Over Time
For clients in Coral Springs and throughout Broward County, that kind of relationship can be useful. Especially when legal needs extend over ongoing estate planning and business succession strategies with a local family in Broward County.me. Estate planning, probate, real estate transactions, business matters, and other legal issues can bring people back to the same law firm at different stages of their lives. Having attorneys who already understand the background can save everyone from starting the story from page one.
There is also a practical advantage to knowing how a firm is structured. Before hiring any attorney in Coral Springs, it is reasonable to ask who will actually handle your matter. You want to see how directly you can communicate with the attorney. There needs to be consistency – and whether the same people will remain involved as the case or transaction develops.
Those questions matter regardless of whether a firm is family owned. But they can be especially relevant when a firm’s owners are also actively involved in its work.
Managing Local Legal Matters Across Broward County
For families and business owners living in Coral Springs, Parkland, Fort Lauderdale, and surrounding South Florida communities, legal challenges rarely exist in a vacuum. An estate planning decision can directly impact a commercial real estate holding, and a family business succession plan can intersect directly with probate or guardianship administration.
Working with an established local firm means your legal team understands the specific procedural tendencies of the 17th Judicial Circuit Court and regional municipal codes. Rather than treating your matter as a routine transaction processed by an anonymous case manager in a distant corporate hub, a boutique local practice evaluates how your legal choices affect your daily life, your business balance sheet, and your long term family security in Broward County.
Family Businesses Understand Some Familiar Problems
Family ownership can also matter to people who run their own businesses. A family owned business often understands that legal decisions can affect relationships as well as balance sheets. Ownership, contracts, real estate, succession planning, and disputes can sometimes overlap with personal concerns.
For business owners in Coral Springs and the surrounding Broward County community, having a law firm that understands that overlap can be useful.
Family Owned Does Not Mean Every Firm Works the Same Way
None of this means that every family owned law firm operates in exactly the same way. Some are small. Many have several attorneys and staff. Some owners are heavily involved in client matters, while others have a more traditional management role. The label itself tells you only part of the story.
The better question is what the firm’s family ownership actually means for you as a client.
You can look at the firm’s practice areas and experience, but you can also ask how the attorneys work, who you will deal with, how communication is handled, and whether the firm is built around relationships that continue after one legal matter is finished.
You Know Who You Are Calling
One of the less glamorous advantages of a family owned law firm is also one of the easiest to appreciate: knowing who you are dealing with.
When a legal issue comes up, clients generally do not want to spend half their morning explaining the same situation to a new person. They want to reach someone who knows the matter, understands the history, and can tell them what happens next.
A family owned and operated firm can be well suited to that kind of continuity. The attorneys who own the business may remain closely involved with clients and their legal matters over time. For someone dealing with an estate, a property transaction, a business concern, or another ongoing legal issue, having a familiar point of contact can make the process considerably easier to navigate.
It also gives clients an opportunity to develop a relationship with the attorneys they rely on. You may initially contact a lawyer about one issue and return years later with another. By then, you are no longer starting with a blank page. The attorney may already understand your circumstances, your priorities, and the history behind the new question.
Direct Attorney Accountability Versus Corporate Law Factories
The modern legal landscape is increasingly dominated by large institutional law firms featuring multi tiered phone trees, layers of paralegals, and shifting case managers. When clients call with urgent questions about a probate timeline or a real estate closing, they are often forced to re-explain their entire situation to a stranger.
A family owned law firm operates on a completely different model of accountability:
Direct Communication Lines: You speak directly with the attorneys whose names are on the door and who actively manage your legal filings.
Institutional Memory: Because the firm builds multi generational relationships with local families, your historical legal context is preserved for future needs.
Aligned Interests: The firm’s local reputation in Northwest Broward County depends entirely on transparent communication, reliable case preparation, and dedicated client advocacy.
Talk With Our Attorneys
If you are considering a family owned law firm in Coral Springs, the easiest way to see whether the relationship feels right is to have a conversation.
If you are trying to find out exactly what does a trust cover, you have come to the right trust attorney here at Reinfeld & Cabrera, P.A. to find the answer to what you are looking for. Trusts are flexible, varied and complex and can be useful estate-planning tools for you and your family. With the guidance of a trust attorney you will realize that a trust is able to cover a myriad of things.
A considerable amount of your assets in real estate, a business or an art collection are just a few things covered by a trust. One of the biggest advantages of a trust is that it is able to provide you with the ability to put conditions on how and when your assets are distributed after you die. You may decide to have your estate distributed to your heirs in a non-direct or delayed method and not in a way that is immediately payable. Working with an experienced trust attorney you can ensure that your trust will be able to accommodate such things. Perhaps you want to ensure the continual support of your surviving spouse, but also want you to make certain that the principal or remainder of your estate goes to your chosen heirs after your spouse dies. Trusts can assist in reducing estate and gift taxes and distribute assets to heirs efficiently while avoiding probate court. Together with the advice of your trust attorney you and your spouse will be able to maximize your estate-tax exemptions through the use of a trust. Another area covered by a trust is in providing for a disabled relative without disqualifying him or her from Medicaid or other government assistance. Furthermore a trust will better protect your assets from creditors and lawsuits.
There are five standard forms of trusts. The credit-shelter trust allows you to write a will bestowing an amount to the trust up to but not exceeding the estate-tax exemption. The generation-skipping trust permits you to pass on a sizeable amount of cash tax-free to beneficiaries who are at least two generations your junior. A qualified personal residence trust allows you bestow your home as a gift while you keep control of it for a stipulated period of time. The irrevocable life insurance trust could work to remove your life insurance from your taxable estate, help pay estate costs, and provide your heirs with cash for a variety of purposes. Lastly, a qualified terminable interest property trust allows you to direct your assets to particular relatives especially if your family contains divorces, remarriages and stepchildren.
Each type of trust has advantages and disadvantages. It is important that you discuss these advantages and disadvantages thoroughly with your trust attorney before setting up your trust. Do not hesitate to contact a probate attorney from Reinfeld & Cabrera, P.A. to discuss setting up the best trust that suits you and covers your needs.
Elder law can sound like a narrow area of practice. It is anything but.
A family may encounter elder law because a parent is beginning to lose the ability to manage finances. It may arise when someone needs long term care and the family is trying to understand how that care will be paid for. It may involve a power of attorney, a guardianship, Medicaid planning, financial exploitation, or a disagreement over who should be making important decisions.
Sometimes the legal issue is obvious. Sometimes it is not.
That is part of what makes elder law different from simply hiring an attorney to handle a single document or transaction. The lawyer may need to look at capacity, health care, finances, public benefits, property, family relationships, and the legal authority that one person has to act for another.
The Florida Bar’s own definition of elder law reflects that breadth. The specialty includes planning for aging, illness and incapacity, along with estate planning, probate, guardianship, nursing home claims, public benefits, elder abuse and related litigation.
When Is an Elder Law Attorney the Right Lawyer to Call?
The easiest way to understand elder law is to forget the label for a moment and look at the problem in front of you.
Consider a few situations.
Your mother is still living independently, but you are becoming concerned about what would happen if she could no longer manage her finances or make medical decisions.
Your father needs nursing home care, and the family is trying to understand what Medicaid will cover and what financial consequences may follow.
An older relative has given someone access to bank accounts, and money appears to be disappearing.
A parent never created a durable power of attorney, and now family members disagree about who should handle financial affairs.
A family is considering guardianship because an older adult can no longer manage certain aspects of daily life.
These are very different problems. They can nevertheless fall within the same legal specialty.
Choosing an elder law attorney is not about finding someone who handles one particular document. Look for someone who understands how these issues interact.
If You Are Planning Before There Is a Crisis
The best time to confront many elder law issues is before a crisis makes the decisions for you.
Florida law provides several tools for planning around incapacity, including durable powers of attorney and advance health care directives. A health care surrogate can play an important role in medical decision making, while other planning documents can establish who has authority to act when a person can no longer do so independently. The Florida Bar identifies these instruments as part of the broader field of elder law.
The important point is not simply having paperwork.
The documents need to reflect the person’s wishes and circumstances. They also need to work together with the person’s financial and estate planning.
That is where an elder law attorney can provide something more substantial than a stack of forms. The attorney can examine what authority exists. He or she can see what authority may be needed, and what could happen if the person later loses capacity.
Capacity is more than often the dividing line.
While someone can make and change important decisions for themselves, planning may be available. Once capacity becomes seriously impaired, the family may have to rely on existing documents or turn to a court.
When a Parent or Spouse Is Losing Capacity
This is where elder law becomes particularly important.
Families sometimes assume that a spouse or adult child automatically has the legal authority to take over when an older person can no longer manage affairs. That is not necessarily how the law works.
If there is no adequate planning in place, guardianship may become an issue.
Florida guardianship proceedings are handled through the circuit courts under Chapter 744. A court may determine that a person is incapacitated and appoint a guardian to exercise particular legal rights. Importantly, Florida law recognizes that guardianship should be the least restrictive appropriate alternative. Most the time it sustains that an incapacitated person retains rights consistent with his or her abilities.
That difference matters.
Guardianship is not simply a legal mechanism for giving one family member control over another. It is a court supervised process involving the removal and delegation of specific rights.
Florida law also protects the rights of people who have been determined incapacitated. This includes rights involving dignity, independence, access to the courts, counsel, and continuing review of restrictions on their rights.
An elder law attorney may therefore become involved before a guardianship proceeding, during the proceeding. Or in disputes concerning an existing guardianship.
When Long Term Care Becomes a Financial Problem
Long term care can turn an ordinary family financial plan into a complicated legal problem surprisingly quickly.
Medicaid planning is one of the better known areas of elder law because eligibility for long term care benefits involves detailed federal and Florida rules concerning income, assets, transfers, exemptions, and other circumstances.
The Florida Bar’s current elder law education materials specifically describe Medicaid planning as an area in which elder law attorneys use federal and state rules to help clients legally and ethically protect assets and income when skilled long term care may be necessary.
This is also an area where timing affects the results.
A family that waits until admission to a nursing facility may be dealing with a very different set of circumstances from a family that begins planning years earlier. The appropriate strategy depends on the person’s assets, income, health situation, family circumstances, existing documents, and the applicable Medicaid rules.
For that reason, Medicaid planning should not be reduced to a simple question of whether someone is “over the limit.” Eligibility is a legal analysis, not a single number.
When Someone May Be Taking Advantage of an Older Adult
Not every elder law problem begins with a hospital, nursing facility, or court.
Sometimes it begins with a bank statement.
A caregiver starts using an older person’s money. A relative suddenly changes ownership of property. Someone with access to a power of attorney begins making transactions that appear to benefit themselves. An older adult may also be pressured into giving away assets or signing documents they do not fully understand.
Florida law specifically addresses exploitation of elderly persons and disabled adults. Section 825.103 includes conduct involving the unauthorized use of an older person’s funds, assets, or property, including circumstances involving people in positions of trust and confidence and certain breaches of fiduciary duty by guardians, trustees, and agents acting under powers of attorney.
The law also provides a civil cause of action for an injunction to protect a vulnerable adult from exploitation in qualifying circumstances.
These matters can require more than identifying that something feels wrong. The relevant documents, financial transactions, authority granted under a power of attorney, property records, and relationships between the people involved may all need to be examined.
Where Elder Law Meets Estate Planning and Probate
Elder law also overlaps naturally with estate planning and probate.
That does not mean every estate planning matter is an elder law matter. A straightforward will or trust may have little to do with elder law.
The overlap becomes more significant when planning involves incapacity, long term care, public benefits, special needs, guardianship, fiduciary responsibilities, or protecting an older person’s ability to control property and financial decisions.
This is also why the old idea that elder law is primarily about “estate taxes” misses the modern picture.
Florida does not impose a separate state estate tax on people who died after December 31, 2004. The Florida Department of Revenue confirms that the state no longer requires the former Florida estate tax affidavits for estates subject to the current rules.
Estate planning remains relevant to elder law, but the important questions are broader: who can act, when can they act, what authority do they have, what happens if capacity changes, and how should assets and responsibilities be handled?
What Should You Ask an Elder Law Attorney?
If you are meeting with an elder law attorney for the first time, the most useful questions are usually practical.
Ask whether the attorney regularly handles the type of problem you are facing. Ask what legal authority currently exists and what happens if the person’s capacity changes. If Medicaid or long term care is involved, ask what information the attorney needs before discussing eligibility or planning.
It is also reasonable to ask about experience with guardianship, powers of attorney, public benefits, exploitation, probate, or other areas that may overlap with your situation.
Board certification can provide another useful credential to investigate. The Florida Bar’s elder law certification requires at least five years of legal practice, substantial involvement in elder law, continuing legal education, peer review, and a written examination.
Certification is not the only measure of an attorney’s experience. But where it exists, it is a meaningful indication of specialized training and practice.
The Right Question May Be “What Happens Next?”
If you are reading about elder law because something has already happened in your family, you probably do not need a textbook definition of the field.
You need to understand what kind of legal problem you are looking at.
Is this a planning issue? A capacity issue? A Medicaid or long term care problem? A guardianship matter? A dispute over someone’s authority to act? Possible financial exploitation? A probate or estate planning issue that has become more complicated because of age, illness, or incapacity?
Those distinctions matter because the legal response can be very different.
If an older family member’s finances, health care decisions, capacity, or long term care has created a legal problem, contact Reinfeld & Cabrera in Coral Springs to discuss the circumstances with an elder law attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an elder law attorney do in Florida?
An elder law attorney may handle incapacity planning, powers of attorney, health care directives, guardianship, Medicaid and long term care planning, elder exploitation matters, estate planning, probate, and related disputes.
When should I contact an elder law attorney?
You can contact an elder law attorney before a crisis, particularly when planning for incapacity or future long term care. An attorney may also become important when a person is already losing capacity, facing guardianship, applying for long term care benefits, or experiencing possible financial exploitation.
Is guardianship always necessary when an older person loses capacity?
No. Florida law requires consideration of less restrictive alternatives when appropriate. Existing planning documents, including a durable power of attorney, advance health care directives, or certain trusts, may affect whether guardianship is necessary.
Does elder law include Medicaid planning?
Yes. Medicaid planning for long term care is a recognized part of elder law practice, and the applicable rules can be highly fact specific.
Can an elder law attorney help if someone is exploiting an older relative?
Potentially. Florida law addresses financial exploitation of elderly persons and disabled adults, including certain misuse of property and breaches of fiduciary duty. The appropriate legal response depends on the facts and the authority involved.
Finding an attorney in Coral Springs is not particularly difficult. There are law firms, directories, referral services, advertisements, reviews, and search results ready to give you names.
The harder part comes afterward.
You have a legal problem. You may have several attorneys in front of you who appear qualified. Their websites may use similar language. Their credentials may look impressive. Their reviews may all be positive. One office may be five minutes away while another is across Broward County.
So how do you decide?
The useful place to start is not with the attorney. Start with the problem you need to solve.
What Kind of Legal Problem Do You Have?
A lawyer’s practice area is a useful starting point, but it should not be the end of your research.
A probate dispute is different from preparing an estate plan. A personal injury claim is different from a real estate transaction. A divorce raises different legal questions from a business dispute.
Even within a single area of law, experience can vary considerably.
Someone looking for an attorney after a serious automobile accident may want to know whether the lawyer regularly handles personal injury claims involving insurance disputes, serious injuries, contested liability, or litigation. Someone dealing with an estate dispute may need an attorney who regularly handles probate litigation rather than someone whose practice consists primarily of drafting wills.
The first question to ask is therefore fairly simple:
Does this attorney regularly handle problems like mine?
The Florida Bar recommends asking prospective lawyers whether they have handled cases like yours before, how frequently they do so, and how much experience they have with that type of matter.
That is considerably more useful than counting how many different practice areas appear on a firm’s website.
Experience Should Be Specific
“Experienced attorney” is one of those phrases that appears on an enormous number of law firm websites.
By itself, it tells you very little.
A lawyer may have practiced for twenty years without spending much of that time on the particular kind of matter you are facing. Another lawyer may have concentrated heavily on a particular area for a shorter period.
That is why it is worth asking about relevant experience, rather than simply years in practice.
You can ask:
How often do you handle cases like mine?
Have you handled cases involving circumstances similar to mine?
Will my matter probably require litigation?
If so, how much experience does the firm have with that type of litigation?
Who will actually handle my case?
The last question deserves particular attention.
Who Will Actually Handle Your Case?
You may meet one attorney during your initial consultation and later discover that another lawyer, associate, paralegal, or other member of the firm will be doing much of the work.
That arrangement is not necessarily a problem. A law firm is a team, and different people can have different responsibilities.
You should simply know what you are agreeing to.
The Florida Bar specifically recommends asking what support resources an attorney has available and who will work on the matter. Its consumer guidance also recommends asking about how and how often you will communicate with the attorney.
A reasonable question at the beginning is:
Who will be my primary contact, and who will be doing the legal work on my matter?
There is nothing awkward about asking. You are considering a professional relationship, and you should understand how that relationship will work.
Pay Attention to How the Lawyer Explains Things
Legal problems can be complicated. Your lawyer does not have to make them sound simple when they are not.
But you should be able to leave a consultation with a clearer understanding of what you are dealing with.
A good consultation should give you an opportunity to explain what happened, ask questions, hear the relevant legal issues, and understand what may happen next.
That does not mean the attorney can predict the outcome.
In many legal disputes, important facts are still unknown. The other side may take a position you cannot predict. Evidence may change the analysis. A court may ultimately have to decide an issue.
Be cautious of anyone who seems to know the result before knowing the facts.
A useful attorney can explain the strengths and weaknesses of your position without turning the consultation into either a sales pitch or a lecture you cannot follow.
Communication Is Part of the Representation
You may not need your lawyer to call you every afternoon.
You do need to know how communication will work.
Ask whether communication will generally happen by telephone, email, a client portal, or some combination. Ask who you should contact with routine questions. Ask how frequently you should expect updates.
The Florida Bar specifically recommends discussing both the means and frequency of communication during the initial meeting.
This is one area where client reviews can provide useful information. If numerous clients independently describe a firm as responsive, organized, or difficult to reach, that can tell you something about the client experience.
Reviews still have limits, though.
A collection of five-star reviews cannot tell you whether an attorney has handled your particular legal problem. Likewise, a lawyer with substantial experience in a specialized area may not have hundreds of online reviews.
Reputation and legal experience answer different questions.
Understand the Fee Before You Hire the Lawyer
Money is an uncomfortable subject until you receive a bill you did not expect.
It is better to discuss fees early.
Lawyers may charge fixed or flat fees, hourly fees, contingency fees, or other arrangements depending on the type of legal work. The Florida Bar recommends discussing prospective charges at the first meeting and understanding other costs that may arise.
Ask:
How are your fees calculated?
Is there a fee for the initial consultation?
Are there costs separate from the attorney’s fees?
What circumstances could cause the cost to increase?
For litigation and other matters where the amount of work depends heavily on what happens next, an attorney may not be able to give you an exact final number. That does not mean the financial conversation should be vague.
You should understand the basic fee arrangement before deciding whether to proceed.
Do You Need the Lawyer Who Is Closest to You?
If you live in Coral Springs, having an attorney nearby can certainly be convenient.
There may be times when you need to attend a meeting, review documents in person, sign something, or discuss an issue face to face. Local familiarity can also be useful depending on the nature of the legal matter.
But distance should not become a substitute for relevant experience.
Someone searching for a Coral Springs attorney may reasonably want a lawyer who understands the local area and can serve clients in Broward County. At the same time, the best geographical match is not necessarily the attorney whose office happens to be closest to your front door.
If the legal problem is specialized, experience with that problem deserves serious consideration alongside convenience.
What About Lawyer Referral Services?
You do not have to find an attorney entirely on your own.
The Florida Bar operates a statewide Lawyer Referral Service designed to connect consumers with verified attorneys based on their legal needs and location. The service is available online, and eligible referrals can receive an initial 30-minute consultation for no more than $25. Local bar associations also operate referral services in parts of Florida.
Referral services can be particularly useful if you know you have a legal problem but are unsure which type of attorney you need.
They are one starting point.
You should still use the consultation to decide whether the attorney is appropriate for your particular matter.
Check the Basics
There is also nothing wrong with checking the basic professional information available about an attorney.
The Florida Bar’s public resources allow consumers to search for an attorney and review information such as membership status and public disciplinary history.
That is not a substitute for evaluating experience or having a conversation with the lawyer.
It is simply sensible due diligence.
What Should You Bring to the First Meeting?
The quality of an initial consultation depends partly on how much useful information you can give the attorney.
The Florida Bar recommends organizing relevant documents and correspondence before the appointment and preparing a timeline when one would help explain what happened.
Depending on the matter, that might include:
Contracts or other agreements
Court papers
Letters or emails
Medical records or bills
Insurance correspondence
Property records
Financial documents
A written timeline of important events
You do not need to become your own lawyer before meeting the lawyer.
You simply want to give the attorney enough information to understand what happened.
And tell the truth, including the uncomfortable parts. Your attorney can deal with a fact you disclose. A surprise is harder to deal with after the other side has already found it.
Questions to Ask an Attorney in Coral Springs
If you are comparing several attorneys, you can ask each of them the same basic questions.
Have you handled matters like mine before?
How frequently do you handle them?
Who will actually work on my case?
What do you see as the main legal issues?
What information or documents do you need from me?
How will we communicate?
How often should I expect updates?
How are your fees calculated?
Are there additional costs I should understand?
What happens after this consultation?
The answers will not tell you everything. They will, however, give you something considerably more useful than a search-results page full of law firm names.
Finding the Right Attorney Is About Fit, Experience, and the Problem in Front of You
There is no single characteristic that makes an attorney the right choice for every client.
A large firm may be appropriate for one matter and unnecessary for another. A lawyer with decades of experience may be exactly what one case requires. Another client may need someone whose practice is highly concentrated in a particular area.
Location matters. Reviews matter. Professional experience matters. Communication matters. Fees matter.
What matters most is how those factors fit the legal problem you actually have.
If you are looking for an attorney in Coral Springs, start by identifying the type of legal help you need. Then look closely at the lawyers you are considering. Find out whether they regularly handle matters like yours, who will be working on your case, how communication will work, and what the financial arrangement will look like.
You are not expected to know Florida law before you hire a Florida lawyer. That is the lawyer’s job.
Your job is to ask enough questions to understand who you are hiring and what you can reasonably expect from the relationship.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose an attorney in Coral Springs?
Start by identifying the type of legal problem you have and looking for attorneys who regularly handle that kind of matter. Then ask about relevant experience, who will handle your case, communication, fees, and the likely next steps.
What should I ask a lawyer before hiring them?
Ask whether they have handled matters like yours, how frequently they do so, who will work on your case, how communication will work, how fees are calculated, and what other costs may arise. The Florida Bar recommends discussing these issues during the initial meeting.
How can I find a lawyer in Coral Springs?
You can search directly for local attorneys, ask people you trust for recommendations, or use a lawyer referral service. The Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service can match consumers with attorneys based on their legal needs and location.
Should I choose a lawyer based on online reviews?
Reviews can provide useful information about client experience, particularly communication and responsiveness. They should be considered alongside relevant legal experience and the attorney’s ability to handle the specific type of matter you have.
Does the closest attorney make the best choice?
Not necessarily. Convenience can matter, particularly when in-person meetings are useful, but relevant experience with your particular legal problem should also be considered.
How much does an attorney in Coral Springs cost?
There is no single standard fee. Florida attorneys may use different fee arrangements depending on the type and complexity of the legal matter. Discuss the consultation fee, attorney’s fees, and other anticipated costs before retaining counsel.
Looking for an Attorney in Coral Springs?
Reinfeld & Cabrera, P.A. represents clients in Coral Springs and throughout Broward County in a range of probate legal matters.
A divorce attorney explains how Florida law applies to your situation. He or she prepares and files legal documents, negotiates with the other side, handles procedural requirements, and represents you in court when necessary.
The work can also involve property and financial issues. As well as parenting plans, child support, mediation, settlement agreements, and other disputes that arise during the divorce.
What a divorce lawyer does depends on the circumstances of the case. An uncontested divorce may involve document preparation, legal review, and a settlement agreement. A contested divorce can involve financial disclosures, discovery, negotiation, mediation, hearings, and trial preparation.
The client still makes the decisions that belong to them. The attorney explains the legal options and consequences, advises the client about the available courses of action, and handles the legal work required to move the case forward.
“By the time someone walks into my office, they have usually spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what is going to happen next. Unfortunately, Google can give you a hundred answers to the same divorce question. My job is to figure out which answer actually applies to the person sitting in front of me.”
What Does a Divorce Attorney Do Before the Case Is Filed?
A divorce attorney may become involved before any paperwork reaches the courthouse.
The first stage is usually understanding the client’s circumstances and identifying the legal issues that will have to be resolved. That can include the length of the marriage, children, income, property, debts, retirement accounts, existing agreements, and other facts that could affect the case.
Florida law requires a dissolution proceeding to begin with a petition filed in circuit court. The petition and summons must then be served on the other spouse.
Before filing, an attorney can also explain what the filing will set in motion and what information or documents should be gathered.
That preparation can be especially important when the couple has significant assets, owns a business, has minor children, or disagrees about financial support or the division of property.
What Does a Divorce Lawyer Handle After Filing?
Once the case is filed, the attorney takes responsibility for the legal and procedural work required to move the divorce through the court system.
That can include:
Preparing and filing pleadings and other court documents
Responding to documents filed by the other spouse
Communicating with the other spouse’s attorney
Gathering and reviewing financial information
Requesting documents and other evidence
Preparing settlement proposals
Negotiating disputed issues
Preparing for mediation or other forms of dispute resolution
That is consistent with how many divorce cases actually proceed. A case can involve substantial negotiation without ever reaching a trial.
The attorney’s work therefore changes as the case develops. A straightforward uncontested divorce may involve relatively little litigation. A contested case involving property, support, or parenting issues can require extensive preparation and negotiation.
How Does a Divorce Attorney Deal With the Other Spouse’s Lawyer?
When both spouses have attorneys, much of the communication about the legal case takes place between the lawyers.
That can involve requests for information, settlement proposals, scheduling, procedural matters, discovery, mediation, and disputes about what should happen next.
This has a practical advantage for the client: the attorney can deal with the legal arguments and procedural requirements while the client concentrates on providing accurate information and making decisions about the issues that affect the client’s life.
The attorney does not become the decision-maker.
If the other side proposes a settlement, for example, the lawyer can explain the terms, identify legal consequences, point out potential problems, and advise the client about the available options. The client decides whether to accept the agreement.
What Does a Divorce Attorney Do About Property and Money?
Property division can become one of the most complicated parts of a divorce.
Florida law addresses the equitable distribution of marital assets and liabilities, as well as retirement plans, marital homes, and other financial issues under Chapter 61.
An attorney may therefore need to identify which assets and debts are marital, determine what financial information is necessary, review account statements and other records, and negotiate how property and liabilities should be divided.
The financial side of a divorce can become considerably harder to sort out when the couple owns property, operates a business, or has accumulated substantial financial accounts during the marriage.
A home or other real estate
Businesses or business interests
Retirement accounts
Investment accounts
Valuable personal property
Multiple properties
Significant marital debt
Assets acquired before or during the marriage that have changed in value
The attorney may also need to coordinate with financial professionals, appraisers, accountants, or other experts when the circumstances require specialized analysis.
A spreadsheet showing who owns what is sometimes enough to clarify a case. Sometimes it raises several additional questions.
“You can settle a divorce on paper and still create a disaster for the people who have to live with the agreement. A parenting schedule, for example, has to survive birthdays, school mornings, holidays, sick days and everything else that never appears in a courtroom. That is where the details start to matter.”
What Does a Divorce Attorney Do When Children Are Involved?
When minor children are involved, the divorce case includes issues concerning parental responsibility, time-sharing, child support, and the parenting plan.
Florida requires a written parenting plan in dissolution cases involving children. The plan addresses matters such as parental responsibility, time-sharing, and decision-making concerning the child’s care.
A divorce attorney can help the parent understand these requirements, negotiate proposed parenting terms, prepare the necessary documents, and present the client’s position if the parents cannot reach an agreement.
The attorney can also explain how particular arrangements may affect the client’s legal rights and responsibilities.
Florida law does not treat parenting disputes as a simple question of which parent gets custody. The legal framework addresses parental responsibility and time-sharing, with the child’s best interests guiding the court’s decisions.
Parents in Florida divorce cases involving minor children are also required to complete an approved parenting course. The Florida Bar explains that the course addresses the consequences of divorce for families and children.
Does a Divorce Attorney Have to Take the Case to Court?
No.
A divorce attorney can represent a client in negotiations and settlement discussions without taking every disputed issue to trial.
Florida’s divorce process allows spouses to resolve some or all of their issues by agreement. Those issues can include property division, parenting, support, and attorney’s fees and costs. A written settlement can then be presented to the court for approval.
Mediation is another important part of many Florida family law cases. Florida law authorizes courts to refer contested issues to mediation, including disputes involving parental responsibility, time-sharing, and child support. If the parties reach an agreement, the agreement can be submitted for court approval.
The role of the attorney during mediation is different from that of the mediator.
The mediator is a neutral third party. The divorce attorney represents one spouse and can advise that client about proposed terms, legal rights, and whether an agreement should be accepted.
What Happens When the Case Does Go to Court?
If negotiation and mediation do not resolve the disputed issues, the attorney prepares the case for a hearing or trial.
That preparation can include identifying the disputed issues, gathering evidence, preparing witnesses, reviewing financial records, preparing legal arguments, and determining which documents or testimony will be needed.
The attorney also prepares the client for what will happen in court.
That can involve explaining the procedure, discussing likely questions, reviewing testimony, and making sure the client understands what the court is being asked to decide.
At trial, each side presents evidence and arguments. The judge then decides the disputed issues that remain unresolved.
The resulting judgment can address the dissolution itself and, depending on the circumstances, matters such as property, support, and parenting.
What Happens After the Parties Reach an Agreement?
Reaching an agreement does not necessarily mean the legal work is finished.
The agreement must be documented properly and submitted through the appropriate court process. The attorney reviews the final terms, prepares or reviews the necessary documents, and works toward entry of the final judgment.
This is particularly important when an agreement covers several separate issues.
A settlement might address the marital home, retirement accounts, debts, child support, time-sharing, parental responsibility, alimony, attorney’s fees, and other matters. The final documents need to reflect what the parties actually agreed to.
The Florida Bar notes that spouses who reach an agreement can enter into a written settlement and present it to the court for approval and incorporation into the final judgment.
What Are the Responsibilities of a Divorce Attorney?
A divorce attorney’s responsibilities are broader than filling out forms.
The attorney represents the client’s legal interests, provides legal advice, prepares the necessary documents, communicates with the other side, negotiates when appropriate, and represents the client in court when litigation is necessary.
The attorney also has to work within the rules governing Florida lawyers and the court system.
That does not mean the attorney controls every decision.
A client still decides personal questions such as whether to accept a settlement, what compromises are acceptable, and what priorities should guide negotiations. The lawyer’s role is to provide legal advice so those decisions are made with a clear understanding of their consequences.
That division of responsibility is important in any divorce case.
What Does a Divorce Lawyer Do in a Coral Springs Case?
For someone going through a divorce in Coral Springs, the underlying law is Florida law and the case proceeds through the appropriate Florida court system.
The local setting can still matter.
A divorce may involve a family home in Coral Springs, children attending school in Broward County, local financial institutions, businesses, retirement accounts, or other property and relationships located in South Florida.
An attorney handling the case needs to understand the Florida legal framework while also dealing with the practical details of the client’s circumstances.
For residents of Coral Springs and throughout Broward County, that can include everything from a relatively straightforward uncontested dissolution to a heavily disputed case involving property, support, or parenting.
What Does a Divorce Attorney Actually Do for the Client?
The simplest answer is this:
A divorce attorney handles the legal work required to move a divorce through the Florida court system while advising and representing the client on the issues that must be resolved.
That work can begin before filing and continue through settlement, mediation, hearings, trial, and entry of the final judgment.
Some cases require extensive litigation. Others are resolved through negotiation and agreement.
The attorney’s job changes with the circumstances.
The client’s job is different. You provide information, explain your priorities, consider the options presented by your lawyer, and make the decisions that belong to you.
A good attorney should be able to tell you what Florida law permits, what the other side is asking for, what risks or consequences come with different choices, and what needs to happen next.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a divorce attorney do in Florida?
A divorce attorney advises the client about Florida family law, prepares and files legal documents, communicates with the other side, negotiates settlements, handles procedural requirements, prepares evidence, and represents the client in court when necessary.
Does a divorce lawyer have to go to court?
No. Many divorce issues can be resolved through negotiation, mediation, or a written settlement. A lawyer can represent a client through those processes without taking every issue to trial.
What does a divorce attorney do if children are involved?
The attorney can advise the parent about parental responsibility, time-sharing, child support, and the parenting plan, negotiate parenting arrangements, prepare the necessary documents, and represent the parent if the dispute has to be decided by a court. Florida requires a written parenting plan in dissolution cases involving children.
Does a divorce attorney handle property division?
Yes. A divorce attorney can address the classification and division of marital assets and liabilities and negotiate or litigate disputes involving property, financial accounts, retirement assets, debts, and other financial interests. Florida’s equitable distribution rules are contained in Chapter 61.
What does a divorce lawyer do during mediation?
The attorney represents the client during the mediation process, reviews proposed terms, explains their legal consequences, negotiates with the other side, and advises the client about whether a proposed settlement should be accepted. The mediator remains a neutral third party.
What happens if my spouse and I agree on everything?
The agreement still needs to be documented and submitted through the appropriate court process. A divorce attorney can review the agreement, prepare or review the necessary documents, and help bring the case to a final judgment.
Talk With a Florida Divorce Attorney
Divorce law involves decisions about property, money, children, support, and the legal end of a marriage. The work required from an attorney depends on which of those issues are present and whether the spouses can resolve them by agreement.
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