Florida Divorce

Florida divorce laws apply to all Florida divorce cases and deal with terminating the marriage. Issues addressed include dividing property, determining child custody, and payment of spousal support and/or child support.

How To Begin A Florida Divorce

The divorce forms must be filed in either the county where the defendant resides or the county where the spouses last lived together prior to separating.

Residency Requirement

You must live in Florida for six months before you can obtain a divorce.

Uncontested Divorce

An uncontested divorce means that the spouses agree on the most important issues such as dividing the marital property, alimony, and child custody. The spouses must sign a Marital Settlement Agreement and go to court for a quick hearing to finalize the divorce.

The cost of an uncontested Florida divorce is usually minimal. It generally takes 30 days after the parties sign the Marital Settlement Agreement for the court to finalize the uncontested divorce.

No-Fault Divorce

Florida is a no fault divorce state. The only requirements to getting a Florida divorce are:

• The marriage be irretrievably broken
• The spouse filing for divorce be a resident of Florida for six months prior to filing the petition

Any property that was acquired before the spouses married or that was received as a gift or inheritance is not considered marital property.

Dividing Property

Florida divorce laws require an equitable distribution of the marital property. Each spouse can keep the property and debts that belonged to them before the marriage. Each spouse also keeps any property received as a gift or inheritance, or any property that the spouses agree to divide in a written agreement.

Alimony

Alimony can be requested when one of the spouses feels that they need financial assistance from the other spouse. In order to qualify for alimony, the requesting spouse must prove that they need financial assistance and that the paying spouse is financially able to make the payments. For example, the requesting spouse may say that they cannot pay the mortgage or car payments without the money contributed by the paying spouse.

The Florida divorce court can award temporary alimony until the final divorce hearing is held. Then, at the final divorce hearing, the court can order permanent alimony if it is requested and necessary.

If the paying spouse does not make timely and sufficient payments on their own, the court can order that alimony be automatically taken from the paying spouses paycheck. The court can also order that the paying spouse give the alimony payments to the Support Enforcement Department, which will give the money to the receiving spouse.

If the paying spouse fails to make timely and sufficient payments, the court can suspend the paying spouse’s driver's license.

Child Custody and Support

All divorcing spouses who have children must complete a Parent Education and Family Stabilization class. This class helps parents to minimize the emotional trauma of the divorce on the children. Each parent must independently complete the course before the Florida divorce court will finalize the divorce.

When the court decides on the issue of child custody and visitation, the gender of the parents is not considered. For example, a mother will not automatically receive custody of the children just because she is the mother. The judge must only consider that what is in the best interest of the child when making custody decisions.

Florida divorce law requires Shared Parental Responsibility. This means that even though the child may live with one parent, the other parent has equal say in raising the child. Each party must be consulted on the education, health, religion, and discipline of the child. And, if the parties cannot agree on these important issues, the judge will make the decisions.

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