Our Florida Family Law Attorneys

Albert Goodwin, Esq.

Albert Goodwin is the founding and lead attorney of the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin, PA. He has more than 18 years of courtroom experience and represents clients across South Florida in divorce, time-sharing, alimony, equitable distribution, parental relocation, and parenting plan disputes.

Practice Focus

Albert handles every aspect of a Florida family law matter personally -- the strategy, the financial analysis, the mediation, and, when needed, the trial. He works extensively with:

Contested and uncontested dissolution of marriage
Equitable distribution involving closely held businesses, professional practices, and complex real estate
Alimony under the 2023 reform statute, including modification and supportive-relationship cases
Time-sharing disputes under the equal-time-sharing presumption
Parenting plans and parental relocation
Modification and enforcement of existing family law orders
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
Collaborative divorce and family law mediation

Memberships and Bar Admissions

The Florida Bar
Dade County Bar Association
American Bar Association

Media

Albert has been quoted by, or appeared in, ProPublica, Forbes, ABC, CBS, NBC News, CNBC, NPR, Discovery, and the Wall Street Journal on issues at the intersection of family wealth, estate, and trust law.

Practice Philosophy

Albert built the firm around a simple proposition: a Florida family law matter is too consequential to be handed off. The lead attorney develops the strategy, attends the hearings, conducts the mediation, takes the depositions, and tries the case. Associates and staff support that work; they do not replace it. Clients call the firm because they want the experience that comes with eighteen-plus years of courtroom practice, and the engagement is structured so that they get exactly that.

The work is grounded in the text of Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes and in the appellate decisions that interpret it. That sounds obvious, but it is not always how family law is practiced. A material number of cases turn on a single statutory provision -- the alimony formula, the equitable-distribution factors, the best-interest factors, the modification standard -- and the careful application of that provision to a specific set of facts. Albert's preparation reflects that. Each strategic decision is tied back to a statute, a rule, or an appellate opinion that supports it.

The default posture is settlement-first. Most Florida family cases settle, and most should. Litigation costs money, takes time, and produces unpredictable outcomes. A well-prepared mediation is usually the most efficient path to a result the client can live with. At the same time, the credible threat of trial is what gives a settlement negotiation its leverage. Albert prepares every case as though it will be tried, even when both sides believe it will settle. That preparation is what protects the client when an opposing party refuses to engage in good faith.

How Albert Approaches a New Case

The first phase of any engagement is structured the same way.

Intake call. The first conversation is with Albert directly. The call is used to identify the parties, run a conflicts check, understand the procedural posture (is anything pending? have you been served?), and decide whether the firm is the right fit.
Document review. Before or during the initial consultation, Albert reviews whatever paperwork is available -- the petition if one has been filed, tax returns, pay stubs, deeds, mortgage statements, and any prior agreements or orders. The documents drive the analysis far more than any narrative does.
Issue identification. A Florida family case is rarely one issue. It is property classification plus equitable distribution plus alimony plus time-sharing plus child support plus any urgent protective relief. Each of those threads has its own statute and its own strategic considerations. The initial work product is a clear map of the issues that will drive the case.
Strategic plan. With the issues identified, Albert sets a working strategy -- what to file, what discovery to pursue, what experts may be needed, what the realistic settlement range looks like, and what the trial-posture alternative would be if the case does not resolve.
Written engagement letter. Representation is formalized in writing, with the scope of representation, the hourly rates, the retainer amount, the categories of cost advances, and the billing procedure all set out clearly.
Execution. The plan is then carried out. Pleadings are drafted, financial affidavits prepared, discovery served and answered, motions argued, mediation conducted, and -- where necessary -- trial tried.

Areas of Concentration in Depth

Equitable Distribution

Under Florida Statutes § 61.075, the court divides marital assets and liabilities -- not separate property -- and starts with the presumption of an equal split. Albert handles the classification step rigorously: tracing pre-marital funds, identifying interspousal gifts, analyzing the active versus passive appreciation of nonmarital property, and evaluating dissipation claims. In cases involving closely held businesses, professional practices, or executive compensation, this is where the case is usually won or lost.

Alimony

The 2023 reform statute (Senate Bill 1416) eliminated permanent alimony and capped the duration and amount of durational alimony based on the length of the marriage. The four remaining forms -- temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational -- each have specific statutory criteria. Albert structures alimony arguments around the statutory factors, the parties' actual standards of living during the marriage, and the post-divorce financial reality of each spouse.

Time-Sharing

Florida law presumes that equal time-sharing is in the best interests of the child, subject to rebuttal by a preponderance of the evidence on the best-interest factors in Florida Statutes § 61.13(3). Albert prepares time-sharing cases by gathering specific, documented evidence on each applicable factor -- not generalities, but dates, witnesses, school records, medical records, and the parties' actual historical involvement with the child.

Parenting Plans

Every case involving a minor child requires a written parenting plan. Drafting a workable plan is its own discipline. The schedule has to handle weekdays, weekends, holidays, school breaks, and summers. Decision-making authority on education, healthcare, and religion has to be assigned. Communication protocols and exchange logistics have to be defined. Albert drafts and litigates parenting plans that are precise enough to enforce and flexible enough to live with.

Modification

Family law orders can be revisited when there is a substantial, material, and unanticipated change in circumstances. Modification petitions arise most often around relocation, changes in income, changes in a child's needs, or supportive-relationship claims under the alimony statute. Albert represents both petitioners seeking modification and respondents defending an existing order.

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

A well-drafted prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement can pre-resolve much of what a divorce would otherwise litigate. Albert drafts these agreements with attention to the formal requirements of Florida law -- written form, voluntariness, full financial disclosure, and substantive fairness -- so that they will withstand challenge if and when they are tested. He also litigates the enforceability of such agreements where that question arises in a dissolution case.

Collaborative Divorce

The collaborative process is governed by Florida Statutes §§ 61.55 through 61.58. The parties and their attorneys sign a participation agreement to resolve the case out of court, with the assistance of jointly retained neutral experts (typically a financial neutral and a mental-health professional). The collaborative track works well for couples committed to a non-adversarial process and willing to invest in the team model.

Mediation

Florida courts in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach require mediation in nearly every contested family case before trial. Mediation is confidential under Florida Statutes § 44.405. Albert prepares for mediation as carefully as for a hearing -- with a written mediation statement, organized financial exhibits, and a clear settlement range developed in advance with the client.

Courtrooms and Counties Served

Albert appears regularly in the three core South Florida circuits.

Eleventh Judicial Circuit -- Miami-Dade County

The Eleventh Circuit's family division hears matters at the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center in downtown Miami. The circuit's family bench, general magistrates, and mandatory mediation program shape how a case moves from filing to final judgment. This circuit is the geographic core of the firm's practice.

Seventeenth Judicial Circuit -- Broward County

The Seventeenth Circuit's family division hears matters at the Broward County Central Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. Albert handles dissolutions, time-sharing disputes, modifications, and domestic-violence injunctions throughout Broward.

Fifteenth Judicial Circuit -- Palm Beach County

The Fifteenth Circuit's family division hears matters at the Palm Beach County Main Courthouse in West Palm Beach. Albert appears in Palm Beach for clients from Boca Raton through Jupiter.

Working With Albert

Communication. Clients have direct access to Albert during business hours. Calls and emails are returned within one business day in nearly every case. When trial or extended hearings require focused preparation, that is communicated in advance so expectations are clear in both directions.

Fee structure. Engagements are governed by a written engagement letter that sets out the hourly rate, the retainer amount, the categories of work that will be billed, the costs that will be advanced (filing fees, mediator fees, court reporter charges, expert fees), and the procedure for any fee dispute. Invoices are itemized in tenth-of-an-hour increments. Strategic steps that would substantially increase fees are discussed with the client before the cost is incurred.

What to bring to a consultation. If you have been served, bring the petition and the date of service -- the twenty-day response window matters. Otherwise, bring 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 (prenuptial agreements, prior divorce decrees, or parenting plans from earlier relationships). You do not need to have everything organized; what you bring is enough to make the meeting productive.

Confidentiality. The initial consultation is confidential and protected by the attorney-client privilege, regardless of whether you ultimately retain the firm. Information shared in the consultation does not lose that protection if you decide to retain a different attorney.