Gavilanes Law Firm, PLLC

A well-written contract is at the heart of every successful business. If you need help drafting or negotiating contracts, I will provide the services you need in order to stay ahead of the business curve. I strive to offer my clients high-quality services that are efficient and cost-effective.

A prenuptial agreement determines the division of a couple’s assets in the event of a divorce, before they actually marry. These agreements are important for couples with extensive assets before the marriage, and these agreements need to be drafted with great care to protect each spouse.

These agreements can provide guidelines on a number of topics that are important to the couple, such as:

• Division of property and assets
• Spousal Support
• The division of retirement benefits
• How property will be controlled during the marriage
• If either partner’s will should reflect the terms of the prenuptial agreement
• Which state’s laws will be used to interpret the agreement

A prenuptial agreement cannot be used to decide child custody or child support. Child support rights belong to the child, and parents cannot bargain the rights before the divorce. Support must be decided based on the current needs of the child at the time of the divorce, not before the marriage.

To meet the requirements under Florida Law, a prenuptial agreement must:

• Benefit both spouses
• Be notarized
• Be read and signed by each spouse
• Not be an oral agreement
• Be validated by a marriage

A prenuptial agreement can only protect both parties if it is valid. It is important to ensure that your agreement will stand up to all the intricacies of the law. An experienced prenup attorney can help you draft an appropriate agreement, and help you understand the implications of the agreement.

Many couples chose a prenuptial agreement to protect them against the fight over assets during a divorce.

This agreement can be important in helping them preserve their assets if one or both spouses have:

• A high net worth
• A business
• Or other property they wish to protect in the event of a divorce

One spouse may own a home or have interest in a family business, which can be difficult to divide later if the marriage ends. A prenuptial agreement can allow couples to also have full financial disclosure before the marriage and understand each other’s financial state.

Because of the discussion that goes into a prenuptial agreement, couples can learn about their finances and how their partner approaches financial matters before the marriage occurs. This can provide needed information and allow the couple to decide together how to handle their assets as a team.

For couples marrying later in life, a prenuptial agreement can be a valuable protection.

The types of couples who may benefit from outlining the division of assets before they marry include:

• Marrying again
• Have children from a previous marriage
• Or have other considerations

A prenuptial can make the process of divorce easier and may prevent painful arguments later.

Asylum is an immigration benefit that allows certain foreign nationals who fear persecution to remain lawfully in the United States indefinitely, providing them protection from their country. People who are granted asylum may apply for lawful permanent residence (a green card) one year after being granted asylum. With some exceptions, an asylum application generally must be filed within one year of the applicant’s last entry into the U.S.

The application for asylum has a one-year filing deadline in which the individual seeking asylum must apply within one year of arriving to the United States, unless there is a valid exception as to why he or she applied late.

The exceptions to the asylum filing deadline fall under two categories – “changed circumstances” or “extraordinary circumstances.”

Examples of “changed circumstances” include, but are not limited to:

• Changes in conditions in the applicant's country of nationality or, if the applicant is stateless, country of last habitual residence;
• Changes in the applicant's circumstances that materially affect the applicant's eligibility for asylum, including changes in applicable U.S. law and activities the applicant becomes involved in outside the country of feared persecution that place the applicant at risk; or
• In the case of an alien who had previously been included as a dependent in another alien's pending asylum application, the loss of the spousal or parent-child relationship to the principal applicant through marriage, divorce, death, or attainment of age 21.

Examples of “extraordinary circumstances” include, but are not limited to:

• Serious illness or mental or physical disability, including any effects of persecution or violent harm suffered in the past, during the 1-year period after arrival;
• Legal disability (e.g., the applicant was an unaccompanied minor or suffered from a mental impairment) during the 1-year period after arrival;
• Ineffective assistance of counsel (despite specific provisions)

The main difference between an individual seeking “asylum” and an individual seeking “refuge” is the location of the individual. A refugee can be present in any outside country – not of their nationality or past habitual residence – and apply for refuge in the U.S. An individual seeking asylum must be entering or already present in the U.S. in order to apply for and be granted asylum. Also, the asylum application must be submitted within one year of arriving to the United States, unless changed or extraordinary circumstances prevent the individual from doing so. In the case of asylum, you may be barred if you could be removed to a safe “third country pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral agreement” that is not the United States. You must meet the definition of a refugee in order to be eligible for asylum.

In both cases, the applicant must prove they are unable or unwilling to return to their country of national or recent habitual residence due to persecution or a “well-founded fear” of persecution on account of:

• Race,
• Religion,
• Nationality,
• Membership in a particular social group, or
• Political opinion.

An asylum seeker (in the United States) must prove that he or she has suffered “past-persecution” and/or has a “well-founded fear” of future persecution based on one or more of the five grounds mentioned above and must be entering or present in the United States.

Once USCIS has received the completed application, you will receive two notices:

1. Acknowledgment of receipt of your application, and
2. Notice to visit your nearest application support center (ASC) for fingerprinting.

You must attend your fingerprinting appointment. If you are applying with your family, everyone must attend their own fingerprinting appointment.

Once that is done, the applicant(s) will be scheduled for an interview with an asylum officer.
After the interview is attended, the asylum officer will determine eligibility and the supervisory officer will review the decision.

A decision will usually be mailed to the applicant.

If the individual’s application for asylum is denied by the asylum office, the applicant will be referred to immigration court.

If an immigration judge also denies the plea for asylum, the case can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

If the case is also denied by the Board, an appeal can be made to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals – whichever circuit serves the region of the U.S. in which the applicant lives.

If the case is also denied by the U.S.C.C.A., a last appeal can be made to the U.S. Supreme Court.