(1) Florida is a “no-fault” divorce state
A no fault divorce means that you do not have to
accuse your spouse of abandonment, abuse, or adultery because no fault means
that neither party is at fault for anything. To file for a no-fault divorce,
you just claim that the marriage is “irretrievably broken.” If both parties
agree that there was an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, and if there
are no children involved, the court will most likely grant the divorce without
any additional steps. However, if one spouse denies the irretrievable breakdown
or if there are children, the court will likely order the couple to get
counseling with either a marriage counselor or a religious minister.
(2) Florida has certain residency requirements
In Florida, either both parties or at least one party
must be a resident of Florida or in the military and stationed in Florida to
file for a divorce in Florida. Also, either you or your spouse must have lived
or been stationed in Florida for at least six months before filing for divorce
and you must provide proof of residency in the form of a Florida Driver’s
License.
(3) Filing your divorce petition
The divorce petition must be filed in the Florida
county in which the resident lives. If each spouse lives in different counties,
the petition may be filed in either county but the Court has the option of
transferring the case to the county in which you both last lived together in as
husband and wife. Once the petition is filed, the Clerk of Court issues a
summons that must be served along with the petition on the other spouse. Once
served, the other spouse has twenty (20) days in which to respond. At this
point, both parties will have to meet for mediation. If both parties agree
about child custody, spousal support and property division, you will probably
not have to go to court for the divorce to proceed and a date for the final
hearing will be set. If there are children, Florida may require both parties to
attend a seminar to discuss any issues relating to the divorce and the children.
(4) Options exist if you cannot locate your spouse
If you live in Florida and do not know where your
spouse lives, you can still get a divorce in Florida but it requires that you
make a “good faith” search to attempt to locate your spouse where you think he
or she might live. The steps including in this search include contacting the
Department of Motor Vehicles, speaking with friends and family and placing a
notice in the proper newspaper for a certain period of time. Once these steps
are complete, you must file another pleading with the court, which will be
followed by a hearing where you will go before a judge and at that point, the
court will make the decision of whether or not to grant the divorce.
(5) Dividing property
Florida law says that each spouse is allowed to keep
their own “non-marital” property they brought into the marriage as well as
non-marital debts. If each spouse cannot agree on a division of assets and
debts by you, the court will devise an “equitable” distribution of the marital
property. Even though this is supposed to be equally, it does not always happen
that.
(6) Determining spousal support
If the Florida court finds alimony or spousal support
is “well-founded” an award may be made. There are several factors the Court
uses to determine if support is appropriate including the standard of living
enjoyed during the marriage, the length of the marriage, the needs of each
spouse, the age and health of each spouse and the abilities to pay support.
(7) Determining child custody and child support
The Court will determine what the “best interest of
the child” is if the couple cannot work out an agreeable custody arrangement.
Normally, parents are assigned joint custody and share in all parental
responsibilities concerning the child or children even though the child may
live with one parent for the majority of time. Florida laws set strict guidelines
concerning child support including the number of children involved, the income
of each parent, child health insurance expenses, any special needs of a child
and daycare expenses.
(8) Divorce mediation may be helpful
If the couple just cannot agree on all the issues
related to custody, support or property division, mediation may be the only
alternative rather than litigation. A mediator is a neutral third party who is
there to help the couple work through any disagreements calmly and come up with
possible solutions and outcomes for the court to order. Most arbitration is
binding but mediation is not and the couple is not required to accept any
conclusions reached while in mediation, but instead opt to go to court to
litigate.
(9) A simplified divorce process exists for
certain couples
A “Simplified Dissolution of Marriage” is the
quickest and easiest way to get a divorce but Florida law required the couple
to meet the residency requirements and have proof of residency, the couple both
agree the marriage is irretrievably broken, have no minor children from the
marriage, and the wife is not pregnant, both decline alimony, and both agree on
the division of property. If all these issues are met, you can go from filing
the petition to the final hearing between 21 and 31 days because the date of
the hearing has to be at least 21 days after the petition is filed.
(10) The process may be very
fast, or take a very long time
An uncontested divorce can be had in only a few weeks
if the couple agree to custody, support, and property division and the petition
meets all pleading requirements according to Florida law. However, if any part
of your case is contested and full litigation is required, and if you fill the
petition in a county that has a full court docket, it will take a lot longer to
finalize your divorce.
