DeWitt Law Firm - February 2021

DeWitt Law Firm - February 2021

The

Digest

DeWittLaw.com

FEBRUARY 2021

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Bring Some Warmth Into Your Home

DURING THE LAST FULL MONTH OF WINTER

By the time February rolls around, most of the winter fun has long since passed us by. Yearning for spring weather may leave you feeling like February, the shortest month, is actually the longest! Nevertheless, though the holiday season has long since gone, and spring is still over a month and a half away, there’s still wintertime fun to experience with the people you love. STAY COZY TOGETHER Though Florida winters aren’t nearly as frigid as they are in some parts of the country, we do experience some winter days that can certainly numb the toes and send a shiver down the spine. The best fix for that? Cozy, comfy winter clothes and blankets, of course! Whether you go out and buy your new favorite wool socks and sweaters, or you learn how to knit your own out of yarn, you’ll undoubtedly end up hunkered down under some warm blankets on the couch, sheltered as far from the cold weather as humanly possible. This pastime is best enjoyed with a warm cup of tea, hot cocoa, soup, or other warm beverage. BAKE TOGETHER The holiday season certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on when you can bake delicious treats for yourself and for others — and a belly full of warm cookies and pastries can be the perfect cure for the wintertime blues! So, if you’re looking for something that will warm you right up from the inside, ask your family and friends if they have any baked goods recipes that you can enjoy on a chilly day. If you can’t find a good recipe, you and your baking buddies can look one up online and give it a go. Who knows? Maybe that will become the recipe you end up sharing with friends and family!

LAUGH TOGETHER Warmth isn’t just physical; it’s emotional, as well — and what better way to generate emotional warmth than to laugh with one another? So, whatever gets you and the people you care about laughing together, make time to do that this month. If you enjoy games, find one that you know you and your friends will find hilarious. Having a cozy movie night is also an option, and while it might not be the time of winter for holiday favorites, you could throw on “Groundhog Day” (starring Bill Murray); it’s seasonally appropriate in February and endlessly quotable. When the temperatures outside are chilly, it’s easy to just hunker down by yourself and not see anyone — but it’s the warmth we feel from others that can ultimately get us through to spring. So, whatever it is you do to bring warmth to your household, and to the people you care about, February will pass by in the blink of an eye when you find ways to spend that time with the people around you.

Though the holiday season has long since gone, and spring is still over a month and a half away, there’s still wintertime fun to experience with the people you love.”

– Moe DeWitt

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PERSONAL INJURY - DIVORCE - REAL ESTATE

THIS MONTH ON THE ‘DEWITT LAW REVIEW’

The “DeWitt Law Review” airs every Sunday at 10 a.m. on 107.3 FM and 580 AMWDBO. It is always our goal to bring the listeners of Central Florida the latest legal news and create a forum where they can ask legal questions anonymously from the comfort of their own home without having to retain an attorney. To listen to this month’s episodes or any episode of the “DeWitt Law Review,” you can visit our website at dewittlaw.com, where you can download the podcast from Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We receive many questions from our listeners each month, and we wanted to share some of the interesting questions in hopes that they may also benefit others facing similar legal issues. If you would like to ask a question, give us a call and leave a voicemail at 407-536-6737. You can also text questions to that number or email [email protected]. Q: If I am going through a divorce that is uncontested, does each party have to have an attorney? A: No, neither party is required to have an attorney for an uncontested divorce or even a contested divorce. You are always allowed to represent yourself in any legal proceeding. That being said, it is always best to have an attorney review any Marital Settlement Agreement before you sign it. Q: I married a foreign national in Colombia. She has never been in the United States or lived in the United States. Unfortunately, we are no longer a couple. Do I need to file for divorce in Colombia or Florida? A: For Florida to have jurisdiction to grant a divorce, one of the parties has to have lived in Florida for six months or more prior to filing a petition for a divorce. However, because your wife has never lived in Florida, Florida courts would not have what is known as personal jurisdiction of your wife. Your wife could agree to allow Florida to have personal jurisdiction over her and allow Florida to grant the divorce. Unfortunately, if she does not agree, then you would probably have to get divorced in Colombia. Q: My wife and I have not been getting along, and she asked me to move out of our home. She has not allowed me to see our children for two months, and I want to see my children and move back home. What are the consequences if I move back into our home without her permission? A: From a purely legal standpoint, the house is still your home as much as it is her home, if the house was purchased during your marriage. So, legally, you can move back into the home. However, is it a good idea for you to move back into the home? Probably not. If it is going to be a hostile and contentious environment, then common sense says that it is not a good idea to move back into your home.

LOVE BOOSTS YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND LIFESPAN

It doesn't take a scientist to tell us that a healthy, loving relationship can lessen our stress — but did you know it also boosts our immune system's response and could help us live longer? Multiple studies have shown that couples in happy, loving marriages tend to have lower blood pressure. Marriage itself isn’t the key to a healthier life — the love is, researchers find. How do researchers define a loving relationship? To put it simply, it depends on the couples’ own opinion. Married couples with a high quality (aka loving) relationship showed significantly lower ambulatory systolic blood pressure than singles. However, happily married couples and singles had lower blood pressure than people in low quality marriages. Which means, at least in terms of your health, it’s much better to be single than unhappily married. How does it help your blood pressure exactly? Well, when positive events occur, the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin interact with your dopamine reward system. Vasopressin in particular helps control blood pressure. Of course, getting into a new relationship can be a little stressful! Cortisol, the stress hormone, initially rises when you fall in love. However, it quickly drops in a long-term, stable relationship. Those low cortisol levels sustained for a long period of time contribute to many health benefits. But how does it improve your immune system? That’s a bit of a mystery to researchers. So far, women in love have shown changes in their gene regulation of immune cells compared to women not in love. Some theorize that this is in order to prepare for pregnancy. Unfortunately, we still don’t have conclusive research on whether men in love better fight flu and other viruses, too. High blood pressure is known as the “silent killer” since it has no symptoms, but it will steadily degrade your health over time, significantly increasing your risk of chronic conditions like heart disease. And while love is certainly not the only way to lower blood pressure, it’s comforting to know our loved ones can boost our health for a longer, happier life. Happy Valentine’s Day!

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HELPING THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES CLIENT SPOTLIGHT

Dennis Ward experienced a traumatic brain injury that resulted in loss of memory. During that time, he got married, but unfortunately, the relationship did not work out, and Dennis found himself needing a divorce attorney. After interviewing multiple attorneys, Dennis contacted Moses DeWitt. Dennis found that the DeWitt Law Firm was “honest and caring.” He did not feel like he was “just a dollar sign.” “They explained the process to me. A day didn’t go by that I emailed or called and didn’t get a response the same day. I wasn't intimated to call, even if I thought it was a stupid question.

“I would definitely recommend the DeWitt Law Firm because they make you feel like family.”

–Dennis Ward

Thank you, Dennis, for allowing us to help you through this difficult time. We appreciate the trust you placed in our law firm, by allowing us to help you.

BREAK TAKE A

STRAWBERRY KISSED ALMOND BUTTER MUFFINS

Inspired by AmbitiousKitchen.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tsp vanilla extract • 1 cup oat flour • 1 tsp baking powder • 1/4 tsp salt • 1/4 cup strawberry fruit spread, divided (we recommend Bonne Maman INTENSE)

• 1 cup ripe bananas, mashed • 3/4 cup natural creamy almond butter (can substitute creamy peanut butter) • 2 large eggs • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or honey)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners and spray with nonstick cooking spray. 3. In a large bowl, mix bananas, almond butter, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. 4. Stir in oat flour, baking powder, and salt until smooth. 5. Evenly divide batter into liners. Add 1 tsp strawberry fruit spread to the top of each muffin.

6. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the spread into the batter. 7. Bake for 22–27 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. 8. Transfer muffins to wire rack to cool and enjoy!

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THIS ISSUE

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Staying Warm and Staying Together Through February 1

High Quality Relationships Lower Blood Pressure

2

This Month on the ‘DeWitt Law Review’

2

Helping Through Difficult Times

3

Strawberry Kissed Almond Butter Muffins

3

What’s the Deal With Valentine’s Day Cards?

4

IT’S IN THE CARDS

WHY VALENTINE’S DAY IS THE ULTIMATE CARD HOLIDAY

tradition was Saint Valentine himself. One story says that on the night before he was set to be executed, Valentine wrote a small letter to a jailer’s daughter. He ended the note with “Your Valentine.” It’s unknown whether that story is true, but to 18th century Europeans and Americans, it was inspiring! So inspiring, in fact, that the entire Valentine’s Day industry began to gain traction. A guidebook called “The Young Man’s Valentine” was published in 1797 to help suitors garner the attention of their love interests through the written word. Eventually, books aimed at women were also published, including “The Lady’s Own Valentine Writer,” which served much the same goal. These publications, along with young people writing notes to one another every February, have made Valentine’s Day cards an ingrained tradition, and now people can’t get enough of them!

fashionable to trade Valentine’s Day cards with a short poem or verse. The popularity of swapping cards only increased throughout the 1800s. Sometimes, people would go as far as to paint or draw spring-like images on the cards. They were much more elaborate than what we typically see today, though they were still usually very small. But where did those folks get the idea? People of that era were likely inspired by stories that go back even further. There are legends that the originator of this holiday

This may be the first year in a long time that kids don’t pass out Valentine’s Day cards at school. Going in to the new year, the seasonal section of most stores is lined with cards featuring fun characters from superheroes to unicorns. Handing out cards is now a well- loved tradition, but have you ever wondered how Valentine’s Day became one of the biggest card-giving holidays of the year? Like many holiday traditions, the convention of handing out Valentine’s Day cards goes back centuries. During the 1700s, it became

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PERSONAL INJURY - DIVORCE - REAL ESTATE