Can the State of Florida enforce an out of state child support order?
Several clients of the Moon Law Group have inquired about child support. Some have recently moved to Florida and are hoping that the state of Florida can enforce an out-of-state child support order.
The answer is YES!
You can contact the Divorce Law office of the Moon Law Group and provide a copy of your support order and payment record if you have them. If you do not have copies, tell us the state, county and date of the order. Our trusted Tampa family law attorneys can assist with child support orders. Contact us today!
Moon Law Group helps Apollo Beach Cancer Patient fight Condo Association
The Moon Law Group in the News:
RUSKIN, Fla. – Like most dog owners, Pat Picavet thinks the world of her girl, Marley. “This is cliché, but she is like my best buddy,” says Picavet during a game of fetch.
But to Picavet, the chocolate lab is much more than just a pet. The dog helps Picavet get through her toughest days. “She’s very, very special to me,” she says, then laughs when Marley burps in her face.
Laughs like that are mighty important now, because Picavet is battling stage IV breast cancer. The cancer has spread to her bones and doctors can’t say how long she has to live. “I take it day by day,” she says.
To make those days as best as they can be, Picavet’s husband, Herb Grigg, purchased her a condo in Ruskin. It’s a relaxing waterside retreat. “It’s just wonderful. I just love it,” says Picavet from her balcony overlooking Tampa Bay.
How can a Florida attorney assist a veteran with benefits?
We at the Moon Law Group would like to help all veterans with every problem that they may have. We do, however, have to focus on a few key areas where we can make the biggest difference in getting veterans the disability compensation they are owed by the VA.
While we would like to be able to handle initial claims for service-connection, we only have the time to handle veterans benefits appeals, mainly. This means that if you have been denied compensation benefits by the VA and wish to appeal the VA’s decision, you may hire an attorney to handle your appeal as early as at your local regional office. In order to preserve your case, you must file the Notice of Disagreement with your local VA regional office within one-year of VA’s rating decision on your disability claim. Once you have filed your Notice of Disagreement with your local VA regional office, you are then able to hire an attorney to handle your case.
We at the Moon Law Group know the length of time that an appeal can take. Since we are located in the Tampa Bay region of Florida and have an office that is close to the Bay Pines Regional Office, we are able to hopefully provide you with the speedy assistance of reviewing your file without the waiting period of having the VA send the VA regional office claims file to us or to the veteran. This means less waiting time for the veteran’s case.
Getting an Earlier Effective Date Part 2: The Importance of New and Material evidence
Let us consider the scenario in the previous article where the veteran had an unadjudicated claim in 1990, but instead of the case where the VA grants the claim, the VA here denies the veterans 1995 claim. How can the veteran preserve the earlier effective-date of 1990?
Answer, through new and material evidence during the one-year time the veteran has to appeal the VA’s decision on their claim.
If there is no appeal and no NME submitted during the veteran’s one-year time to appeal a VA decision on their claim, then yes, the veteran must start the claims process over (but the veteran should understand that they may have filed an informal claim for benefits after their denial, and that there may be unadjudicated claim(s) still open, so long as there is no subsequent denial of a newer claim for the same disability).
Most importantly, it may be the case that during the one-year time to appeal the VA’s decision the veteran received medical treatment at a VA medical facility for the same condition, and such treatment is relevant to the earlier denied claim. This evidence should be considered New and Material Evidence and the veteran may be able to get an earlier effective date based on this evidence if the claim is later granted.
The moral of this story is to remember to submit New and Material Evidence during one-year time to appeal if your claim is denied, because doing so could preserve the date of your earlier claim and a larger retroactive benefit.
Getting an earlier effective date through unadjudicated claims
There are a few ways to get an earlier effective date for your claim. One of the rules to establish an earlier effective date is if the VA never made a decision on a prior claim.
To illustrate the rule, consider a veteran makes a claim for compensation in 1990 and for whatever reason, the VA never does anything with the claim. If the veteran files again in 1995 and is subsequently denied, then the claim is over if the veteran does not appeal the decision within one-year. But what if the VA granted the second claim in 1995?
If the VA ignores the first claim and then subsequently grants the second claim for the SAME condition, then the effective date for the 1995 claim is 1990 in the above scenario.
The first question to ask is when did the veteran tell the VA in writing that they wanted compensation for their disabilities connected to their service? Second, did the VA adjudicate the claim? If not, then the date of the unadjudicated claim should be the proper effective date.
For questions about Earlier Effective Dates, (legal advertisement) contact the Moon Law Group today!
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