FLORIDA DIVORCE
To obtain a dissolution of marriage, one of the parties to the marriage must reside 6 months in the state before the filing of the petition. The dissolution of marriage can be filed in the county in which either or both spouses reside.
If you have minor children living with your spouse in another state for over six months then you should consider filing in that state as that court has jurisdiction over the children. You spouse can waive that jurisdiction in writing.
County of Filing:
You should file the divorce in the county your spouse lives in, or in the county that you both lived in when you separated, or in your county if your spouse lives out of state. You or your spouse must have a Florida address in the county of filing. Florida civilian residents living overseas may file in Florida if they have maintained their residency in Florida.
MILITARY:
Active duty members of the military (or their spouses) may file in Florida if they have been stationed in Florida for six months or were residents of Florida when they entered active duty. Smart Divorce.com staff includes former active duty officers and enlisted personnel and are completely knowledgeable on the special military requirements and the “Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act”. Our staff prides themselves on the service they provide our military members.
GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE: NO-FAULT or FAULT ?
The no-fault ground for divorce in Florida is either (a) irretrievably breakdown of the marriage, OR (b) Mental incapacity of one of the spouses.
Florida has a procedure for a Simplified Dissolution of Marriage. In order to qualify to use this procedure, the spouses must certify that:
(1) there are no minor or dependent children of the spouses and the wife is not pregnant;
(2) the spouses have made a satisfactory division of their property and have agreed as to payment of their joint obligations;
(3) that 1 of the spouses has been a resident of Florida for 6 months immediately prior to filing for dissolution of marriage; and
(4) that their marriage is irretrievably broken.
The spouses must appear in court to testify as to these items and file a Certificate of a Corroborating Witness as to the residency requirement. Each must also attach a financial affidavit to the Simplified Dissolution Petition. This divorce can be completed in as little as 10 days. We will supply you the documents for both types of divorces so you can choose which one you prefer or are qualified for.
WAITING PERIOD:
There is no waiting period in Florida for the signing of the decree by the judge. Most divorces take about 30 days. See Note above for a Simplified Divorce.PROPERTY OF THE MARRIAGE:
In a divorce, the property (land, house, buildings, and items of personal property) owned (and debts owed) by the couple is divided between the parties. In an uncontested divorce, this division is accomplished by means of a Marital Separation Agreement (MSA). You and your spouse must agree to the property and debt division and memorialize your agreement in the Marital Separation Agreement, which will be incorporated by reference into the Decree of Divorce that ultimately ends your marriage. You may agree to divide the property any way you like, as long as a basic fairness is maintained. You do not need to list items already divided or not an important issue in the divorce. You may revise the MSA after receipt of the documents from us by sending an email with your changes. There is never a charge for revisions at any time up to one year.
If you cannot agree on any item of this division, the dissolution of marriage transforms into a contested divorce. If at the final hearing the divorce is still contested we do not provide advice for that hearing. You may need to consult an attorney or be prepared to tell the judge why you feel your requested division of property is fair.
SPOUSAL SUPPORT:
Spousal Support is either agreed upon by the parties or determined by the judge in a contested hearing. We cannot give legal advice regarding spousal support but will include your request in the documents.
The questionnaire you fill out will outline the custody, visitation and support for the children. We will prepare the documents accordingly, and we will also prepare a Marital Separation Agreement (at no additional cost) which outlines in specific detail all the provisions regarding the children. Both parties must attend the parenting class or get a waiver. A list of the places in Florida to attend may be obtained from the court.
CHILD SUPPORT:
The child support will either be an amount you and your spouse agree upon, or it will be determined for you by the court, according to the Florida Child Support Guidelines. If you wish the court to calculate the amount then you will need to file the standardized Child Support Guidelines form and Child Support Income Statement/Affidavit which we provide. See “Florida Child Support Calculator” on any search engine such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
CUSTODY:
You may have Joint Legal Custody or Sole Legal Custody. This determines how the decisions are made regarding the raising of the child(ren).
Physical custody may be with one residential parent or “SPLIT CUSTODY” where the child(ren) live a substantial time with each parent.
VISITATION:
This can be any program agreed upon by the parties and may change from time to time. If the parties cannot agree then the state guidelines are in effect. State guidelines are outlined in the MSA provided with your documents. You do not need to list your present visitation agreement as it will change from time to time but you may if you wish. “No Visitation” or “Restricted Visitation” may be requested by supplying the reason on the questionnaire.
COURT ADDRESSES:
You must file the divorce documents in the Circuit Court in the county that you are filing in. Some court addresses for larger counties are as follows:
Miami-Dade County Courthouse: 73 West Flagler Street, Suite # 242 | Miami, Florida 33130 Telephone: (305) 275-1155
Hillsborough County: George E. Edgecomb Courthouse 800 East Twiggs Street Tampa, Florida 33601 (813) 276-8100 Ext. 4358 Fax: (813) 272-6792
Duval County Courthouse: 330 East Bay Street, Jacksonville, Florida 32202 Tel: (904) 630-2230
Leon County Courthouse: 301 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL. 32302 Tel: (850) 577-4000 Fax: (850) 577-4013
Orange County County Courthouse: 425 N. Orange Avenue, P.O. Box 4994, Orlando, FL 32801 Phone: (407) 836-2000 Fax: (407) 836-2269
Sarasota County Circuit Court: Sarasota County Courthouse 2000 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34236 Phone: (941) 861-7400
Pinellas County Circuit Court: Clearwater Courthouse, 315 Court Street, Clearwater, FL 33756 Phone: (727) 464-3341; Civil: 727-464-3267
Escambia County Circuit Court: M.C. Blanchard Judicial Building, 190 Governmental Center, Pensacola, FL 32502 Phone: 850-595-4130 (civil)
Alachua County Circuit Court: Alachua County Family / Civil Justice Center, 201 East University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32602-0600 Phone: (352) 374-3636
Volusia County Circuit Court: Volusia County Courthouse, 101 N. Florida,
DeLand, FL 32724 Phone: (386)736-5915 (general) (386) 736-5907 (civil)
Broward County Circuit Court: Broward County Judicial Complex, 201 SE 6th Street, Ft Lauderdale, Fl. 33301 Phone: (954) 831-6565 (civil)
Collier County Circuit Court: Courthouse, 3301 E. Tamiami Trail, Bldg. L / 5th Floor, Naples, FL. 34112 Phone: (239) 252-2745 Fax: 239-252-2755
FILING FEES:
The court filing fees for a divorce in Florida is approximately $352.50 - $402 .
If your spouse won't sign and must be served, then the sheriff may charge a fee of around $25 to serve your spouse.
If you don't know the whereabouts of your spouse, then your spouse will need to be served by publication. The average publication fee is approximately $75.
You may call the Clerk of the Court in your county to determine the exact fees in your county.
METHODS OF SERVICE:
1. The most common way is to have your spouse sign the documents AFTER you have filed the complaint with the court. You can hand deliver the documents , mail them or have a third party deliver them to your spouse. This method is available even though your spouse is incarcerated.
2. If your spouse will not sign or you not not sure if your spouse will sign then you can get service by having the sheriff in spouse’s county serve a copy of the filed documents along with other documents requiring spouse’s signature. You can contact the sheriff in any state to serve your spouse. You can also get service by Certified Mail, (Return Receipt Requested) if your spouse lives out of state. If your spouse is incarcerated then you can get service by having the prison/jail officials serve your spouse.
3. Service by publication. If you cannot find your spouse after a diligent search then you can publish. The publication fee for the newspaper is approximately $65 but varies for different counties. Upon the filing of the Affidavit the clerk shall direct that service of notice be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the complaint is filed. We provide all the required documents for service by publication.
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