Questions About Divorce in Florida?

Unlike some other states, Florida is a “no-fault” divorce state. For example, in Florida, it is no longer necessary to allege or prove adultery, bigamy, cruelty, desertion, or other grounds in order for the court to grant one party’s request for a divorce. The only allegation necessary is that your marriage is “irretrievably broken”, and this simply means that at least one spouse believes the marriage is beyond repair.

Yes. At least one spouse must have resided in the State of Florida for six months immediately preceding the date of filing of the divorce action. This is typically proved using a valid Florida driver’s license, a valid Florida id card, a current Florida voter’s registration card, or an affidavit or the testimony of a neutral third party who knows the party has resided in the state of Florida for six months immediately preceding the date of filing of the divorce action.

Yes. So long as at least one of you has resided in the State of Florida for at least six months prior to the date of filing of the divorce action, the divorce action can be filed in Florida even if one or both of you subsequently move out of the state of Florida.

This is more problematic because the court will not necessarily have jurisdiction (the authority) to do more than grant your divorce unless your spouse consents to the court’s jurisdiction. Even then the court may not have jurisdiction over your minor children if they reside with your spouse outside the state of Florida. This question must be answered on a case-by-case basis.

A divorce case is filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the couple last resided together. The Clerk charges $408 to file and process the court documents for both contested and uncontested divorces.

A Simplified Dissolution of Marriage Action is a streamlined divorce action. Spouses with no joint assets, no joint liabilities, no minor children, and who are not seeking any financial relief from the other party can file a Simplified Dissolution of Marriage Action. Spouses filing Simplified Dissolution of Marriage Actions are not required to file their marital agreement and are not required to complete and file financial affidavits. Spouses who do not meet these requirements must file a marital settlement agreement and must complete and file financial affidavits with the court clerk.

What happens immediately after the divorce case is filed depends on whether the case is contested or uncontested. If everything has been settled at mediation prior to filing the petition for divorce, and if all the court documents necessary to process an uncontested divorce have been prepared and are filed along with the petition for divorce, the clerk of court will process the court documents and then schedule a short 5-10 minute hearing before a judge or a general magistrate, who will check over the court documents and grant the divorce.

If you have joint assets, or joint liabilities, or minor children, or if one spouse is seeking financial relief from the other, you must file a marital settlement agreement with the clerk of court and you must complete and file a financial affidavit with the clerk of court. You and your spouse can agree to waive the other “mandatory” financial disclosure requirements of Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285, but you cannot waive the requirement to complete and file a financial affidavit if any of these circumstances apply.