About Our Firm

The Law Offices of Albert Goodwin, PA is a boutique law firm in Coral Gables, Florida, focused on divorce and family law. We represent clients throughout Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties in every kind of family law matter -- from a simple uncontested dissolution to a complex contested case involving a closely held business or a contested time-sharing dispute.

Direct Access to the Lead Attorney

When you call our office, you speak directly with Albert Goodwin. You are not screened by an intake coordinator, and your case is not handed off to a junior associate after retention. The lead attorney develops the strategy, attends the hearings, conducts the mediation, and tries the case. Associates support that work; they do not replace it.

Florida Family Law Experience

Our practice tracks every amendment to Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes. In recent years that has meant detailed work with:

• Senate Bill 1416 (2023), which abolished permanent alimony and restructured every other form of spousal support
• House Bill 1301 (2023), which created the rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the best interests of the child
• Florida's Collaborative Law Process Act (Florida Statutes §§ 61.55 - 61.58)
• The 2017 amendments to the federal Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act and Florida's response to them in military divorce cases

Practice Areas

We handle the full range of Florida family law matters:

• Dissolution of marriage -- contested, uncontested, and simplified
• Equitable distribution of marital property
• Alimony -- temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational
• Time-sharing and parenting plans
• Child support -- establishment, modification, and enforcement
• Parental relocation
• Modification of existing orders
• Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
• Mediation and collaborative divorce
• Domestic violence injunctions
• Military divorce and high-asset divorce

Our Approach

Divorce is expensive when it becomes adversarial for its own sake. Most cases settle. The cases that do not should be tried with focus and economy -- not by filing every available motion, but by identifying the specific issues that drive the outcome and preparing them carefully.

We work to settle what can be settled. When trial is necessary, we are ready for it. We measure success by your final result -- the time-sharing schedule, the asset division, the support number -- not by motion count or correspondence volume.

Our Approach to Family Law

Our approach is built on three commitments: responsive communication, personal handling by the lead attorney, and transparent billing.

Responsive communication. Family law cases move on documents and deadlines. A short answer to a quick question can prevent a serious problem a week later. Clients of the firm have direct access to Albert Goodwin during business hours, and we return calls and emails within one business day in nearly every case. When a hearing or a trial requires extended focus, we communicate that in advance so that expectations are clear in both directions.

Personal handling. The lead attorney is on every hearing, every mediation, and every trial. The strategic decisions in a Florida family case -- which assets to pursue in discovery, how to frame a request for alimony under the post-2023 statute, when to push for an evidentiary hearing on time-sharing -- are not delegated. Associates and staff support that work; they do not substitute for it.

Transparent billing. Each engagement is governed by a written engagement letter that sets the hourly rates, the categories of work that will be billed, the costs that will be advanced, and the procedure for any fee dispute. Invoices are itemized in tenth-of-an-hour increments. We discuss any strategic step that will materially increase fees before the cost is incurred.

Areas of Concentration

Within Florida family law, our practice runs the full length of Chapter 61. We have dedicated pages with statute-grounded discussion of each of the following areas, and the work we do in any one matter often touches several of them at once.

Divorce -- Contested, Uncontested, and Simplified

We handle all three procedural tracks of dissolution. Simplified dissolution is available to couples with no minor children, no pregnancy, no alimony claim, and a written property agreement. An uncontested divorce applies when the parties agree on every issue but cannot use the simplified track. A contested divorce is the standard adversarial proceeding when the parties cannot agree, and it may involve temporary relief hearings, discovery, mediation, and trial.

Equitable Distribution

Under Florida Statutes § 61.075, marital assets and liabilities are divided equitably -- presumptively but not invariably equal. Equitable distribution work begins with classification of assets as marital or nonmarital, valuation as of the date set by the court, and tracing of separate-property contributions. We handle the financial side of the analysis along with forensic accountants and appraisers when the case requires it.

Alimony

The 2023 reform statute (SB 1416) eliminated permanent alimony and restructured every other form of spousal support. Alimony awards are now limited to temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational, each with statutory caps on duration and amount. The analysis is fact-intensive: length of the marriage, standard of living during the marriage, each party's earning capacity, and the relative financial resources of the parties all matter.

Time-Sharing and Parenting Plans

Florida does not use the word "custody." Courts allocate time-sharing and parental responsibility under Florida Statutes § 61.13, and every case involving a minor child requires a written parenting plan that addresses the schedule, decision-making, communication, and the day-to-day logistics of raising the child between two households. As of July 2023, equal time-sharing is the rebuttable starting point.

Modification

Family law orders are not always final. A substantial, material, and unanticipated change in circumstances can support modification of time-sharing, child support, or alimony. The burden of proof and the timing rules differ by type of order. We handle both petitions for modification and the defense of them.

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

A well-drafted prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement can predetermine how assets, debts, and alimony will be addressed in the event of dissolution. We draft, review, and litigate the enforceability of these agreements under Florida's adoption of the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act.

Mediation and Collaborative Divorce

Most contested family cases in South Florida go to mediation before trial. Collaborative divorce is a separate process under Florida Statutes §§ 61.55 through 61.58, in which the parties and their attorneys agree in writing to resolve the case out of court using jointly retained neutral experts.

Domestic Violence Injunctions

When safety is at stake, a domestic violence injunction under Florida Statutes § 741.30 can provide immediate protection: a no-contact order, exclusive use of the residence, and temporary time-sharing. The injunction case typically runs parallel to a dissolution and has its own evidentiary track.

Military Divorce and High-Asset Divorce

We handle military divorce matters governed by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act, including the division of military retired pay and Survivor Benefit Plan elections. In high-asset divorce, we coordinate with valuation experts, forensic accountants, and tax counsel to address business interests, executive compensation, deferred compensation, and complex real estate.

Who We Represent

Our client base reflects the diversity of South Florida. We regularly represent:

• Professionals and executives -- physicians, lawyers, financial professionals, and senior employees whose income includes salary, bonus, equity compensation, and deferred elements. The earnings picture in these cases requires careful translation into the financial affidavit and into the alimony and child-support analyses.
• Business owners -- founders, partners, and shareholders of closely held companies. Valuation, owner compensation, buy-sell agreements, and the protection of operating control are central issues.
• Public-safety personnel -- law-enforcement officers, firefighters, and others with defined-benefit pension entitlements that must be analyzed and divided correctly.
• Military families -- active-duty service members and spouses subject to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and federal rules on military retired pay.
• Blended families -- parents bringing children from prior relationships into a new marriage, with the complications that follow on estate planning, time-sharing, and step-parent involvement.
• Spouses with significant separate property -- clients whose pre-marriage assets, gifts, or inheritances require careful tracing to remain nonmarital.
• Spouses who managed the household -- a non-earner or lower-earning spouse whose contribution to the marriage took the form of homemaking and child-rearing, and whose post-divorce financial security depends on a proper equitable-distribution and alimony analysis.

Geographic Reach

We accept cases in each of the three core South Florida counties. Each circuit has its own family division, its own administrative orders, and its own scheduling rhythm.

Miami-Dade County -- Eleventh Judicial Circuit

The Eleventh Judicial Circuit hears family matters at the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center in downtown Miami. Mediation is required in nearly every contested case before a trial date is set. Our office is a short drive from the Miami-Dade family courthouse, and this circuit is the core of our practice.

Broward County -- Seventeenth Judicial Circuit

The Seventeenth Judicial Circuit hears family law at the Broward County Central Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. We handle dissolutions, parenting disputes, modification petitions, and injunction matters throughout Broward, from Hollywood and Pembroke Pines through Coral Springs and Pompano Beach.

Palm Beach County -- Fifteenth Judicial Circuit

The Fifteenth Judicial Circuit handles family matters at the Palm Beach County Main Courthouse in West Palm Beach. We appear regularly there for clients living from Boca Raton in the south to Jupiter in the north.

What Sets Us Apart

South Florida has many family law attorneys. A few features of our practice are worth highlighting.

One attorney from intake through trial. The same attorney who answers your first call attends your hearings, runs your mediation, and tries your case. Continuity is not a slogan here; it is the structure of the engagement.

A statute-grounded approach. Each strategic decision is tied back to the text of Chapter 61, the relevant Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, and the appellate opinions that interpret them. That precision matters most when the case is close on the law and a poorly framed argument can lose what a well-framed one would win.

Disciplined motion practice. We file the motions that move the case toward resolution. We do not file motions to fill time, to inflate fees, or to make a record for its own sake. Judges in South Florida family divisions reward focused practice and penalize the opposite.

Settlement-first, trial-ready. Most cases settle, and most cases should settle. When yours cannot, we have the preparation, the witness work, and the courtroom experience to try it.

How to Get Started

The intake process is straightforward. Call the office at 786-522-1411 during business hours. Albert Goodwin will answer the call, conduct a conflicts check, and either schedule a paid consultation or refer you elsewhere if the matter is outside the firm's practice. Before the consultation, it helps to gather what paperwork you have: any petition you have been served with, recent tax returns, pay stubs, statements for the major bank, brokerage, and retirement accounts, deeds and mortgage statements for any real estate, and any existing court orders or written agreements. You do not need to have everything organized; bringing what you can find is enough to make the first meeting productive.

Office

We are located at 121 Alhambra Plaza, Suite 1000, in Coral Gables. The office is convenient to the Miami-Dade Family Courthouse, the Broward courthouses in Fort Lauderdale, and the Palm Beach County courthouses in West Palm Beach. We meet with clients by appointment in person, by phone, and by video conference.

Call 786-522-1411 or email [email protected] to schedule a confidential consultation.