Summer Nichols

Summer R. Nichols is an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Florida. Mrs. Nichols received her Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in English from Florida State University. Her outstanding achievements at Florida State won her the Florida Governor’s Scholarship to attend Florida Coastal School of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctor Degree. Mrs. Nichols gained a wealth of experience while volunteering her services at Three Rivers Legal Aid in Jacksonville, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, and the Family and Child Advocacy Clinic during her second and third years of law school. While in the Clinic, Mrs. Nichols handled many cases, including dissolutions of marriage, child custody, and termination of parental rights. Upon becoming a member of the Florida Bar, Mrs. Nichols began her professional practice under senior attorney John C. Kenny at the Law Offices of John C. Kenny. While there, she continued to focus on family law matters. Within one month of her arrival, Mrs. Nichols won her first appeal before the First District Court of Appeals and continued to consistently secure favorable outcomes for her clients. In January, 2010, Mrs. Nichols opened the Law Office of Summer R. Nichols, LLC. Making the decision to hire a lawyer is a both a personal and professional one. Professionally, the attorney needs to be skilled in the particular area which you need representation. Family law is unique from any other type of practice and requires individuals who can excel in this particular area. Personally, you must feel comfortable working with the attorney you choose. As a little girl, Mrs. Nichols would assist her parents in their family business. As a result, the experience taught her the value of putting clients’ needs first and exceeding client expectations. The people she meets with in her office every day are going through some of the most difficult and emotional times of their lives, and she understands how important it is for them to feel comfortable with her and place their trust in her skills.

The Court always has the inherent right to modify child support based on the Florida Child Support Guidelines, despite any prior agreement of the parties to the contrary, including prior agreed upon deviations. A settlement agreement cannot divest the Court of jurisdiction to modify child support. SeeGuadine v. Guadine, 474 So. 2d 1245 (Fla. 4th…

How to Prevent the Other Parent from Taking Your Child Out of the USA Due to Fear the Child Will Not be Returned; the Hague Conference. If your former spouse desires to take your child out of the country and you are hesitant to agree due to fear that the spouse will not return the…

There is no specific age that Florida Law states is not okay for a child to be left at home alone. Chapter 39, Florida Statutes mandaes that the Division of Youth and Family Services Hotline be contacted when any person who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that a child of any age is…

If you have reason to believe you are NOT the Father of a child for whom paternity has previously been established, whether administratively by signing the child’s birth certificate, or judicially, such as during a child support or dissolution of marriage action, you can file a Petition to Disestablish Paternity. You must show that you…

Your Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is the initial document filed in your case which states you are requesting a divorce. Your Petition is your one chance to make any other requests you have, such as for alimony and attorney’s fees. If your Petition is not correct and complete, you could forever lose the right…

In May of 2014, the Florida Legislature passed a law permitting courts, when calculating child support,to take into consideration overnights which are non-court ordered. “Overights” are nights when either parent has timesharing with their child(ren). Prior to this new law, courts were unable to give a parent credit for overnights in the Child SUpport Guidelines…

Originally published on September 16, 2014. A dissolution of marriage action in Florida must be filed in the county where the Respondent resides or in the county where the marriage was last lived out. Just because one spouse may claim he or she was forced to flee the proper county due to spousal abuse, that…

If you already have a Court Ordered Parenting Plan in place and are the majority timesharing parent, you are NOT permitted to relocate more than 50 miles away without following the correct Florida legal procedure first! 1. You are required to file a Notice of Intent to Relocate and serve it on the other parent….

A black and white rule of Florida Law is that as the result of a divorce, each spouse is entitled to one half of any benefits which have accumulated during the marriage in any retirement, pension, or similar plan owed by the other spouse. Most often this division of assets is accomplished through a special…

While the normally automatic law in Florida is that, in the event of divorce, each spouse is entitled to half of the other spouse’s retirement or pension benefits which accumulated in such a plan during the years of marriage (your “marital share”), divorcing parties sometimes do not realize that even a pension or retirement plan…