Fort Lauderdale Divorce Law Blog

Mako Surgical Corp entered into a settlement with Stanmore Implants Worldwide Ltd. over a patent dispute. The settlement denoted that Mako will receive Stanmore's robotic business assets as well as its intellectual property. Furthermore, Mako has agreed to drop its patent-infringement litigation in two federal courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission, and Stanmore will withdraw from robotics.

The dispute between Mako and Stanmore revolved around computerized surgical devices and software. Mako is a Florida-based company, and Stanmore is a London-based company that received U.S. regulatory approval to market one of its products that is used for knee surgery. Stanmore's Sculptor Robotic Guidance Arm competed with Mako's RIO Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopetic system. By securing the property division of its competitor, Mako has effectively taken a potential robotic competitor off the market, says an analyst.

Many sellers in the Florida real estate market make up a niche that has become a specialty for some agencies. Couples going through a divorce often face challenges beyond those experienced by other sellers. The division of marital property can be contentious, and the different types of conflicts can have an effect on home showings, offers from prospective buyers and price negotiations.

One of the problems experienced by real-estate agents is the relative comfort of each selling party. A female agent may find it difficult to communicate with the man. Specialty agencies sometimes use a team in order to bypass communication problems. Another problem common to divorcing couples is the fact that buyers who know of the divorce are far more likely to make lower offers, according to one managing director at a major real-estate firm. An agent sensitive to this reality has a number of options to prevent low offers.

Although divorce is common today, many couples who have decided to end a relationship have no idea where to begin once the decision is made. They are unsure what happens to their property and assets when the petition to divorce is filed. Those who have assets that they inherited or brought into the marriage may be worried that the division of marital property ordered by family court will force them to split assets that are solely in their name.

Generally, however, a court will not consider separate assets in the division of property during divorce proceedings, so individuals will retain their rightful property. However, experts caution that many people make the mistake of putting an inheritance or assets and property acquired prior to a marriage in the names of both themselves and their spouse. If this happens, the property or assets in question become joint marital property and will be divided accordingly. This is considered transmutation of property. Be warned however, that laws vary from state to state, and in some jurisdictions, an estranged spouse living on the property is enough to consider it marital property.

As the population ages, there has been an increase in the number of divorces that occur after the age of 50, also known as gray divorces. Gray divorces carry with them a number of issues that are not associated with divorces between younger couples, especially when it comes to property division. While dividing a couple's assets is a huge point of contention in most divorces, thanks to issues related to retirement, it can have a much larger impact on older divorcing couples.

Those over the age of 50 are usually thinking about retirement, and the way assets are divided during a divorce can dramatically change people's options. Retirement accounts and IRAs are considered to be marital assets that are eligible for division. When individuals are older, it is much harder for them to rebuild these accounts once depleted, meaning that they may end up needing to work longer or change their retirement plans.