What Are Divorce Laws In Florida?

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If you are looking to get a divorce in Florida, it is best to understand the divorce laws that the state adheres to. Being aware of the divorce laws in Florida will help you form reasonable expectations about your divorce, and will ensure that you make informed decisions regarding your coming legal case.

Important Divorce Laws In Florida

Residency requirements – One of the parties in the divorce must reside in the state for at least six months before Florida will grant a dissolution of marriage.
Legal grounds for divorce – Florida is a no-fault divorce state. This means that there does not need to be any fault for a divorce to be granted, one only has to state that the marriage is irretrievably broken. Mental incapacity can also be used as a grounds for divorce if it has lasted three years or longer.
Mediation – The court may require counseling or mediation to resolve differences among the two parties. This can happen in situations involving children – including disagreements over child custody, child support and child visitation. If an agreement is reached between the two parties the mediator will present this agreement to the court.
Distribution of property – Florida practices “equal distribution”, which means that the state focuses on dividing property equally and fairly among the two parties. If one or both parties desires that the distribution be unequal, they will have to present evidence as to why this should be the case. Factors that the court will consider include the financial situation of both parties, the contribution each made to the marriage, the length of the marriage, the contribution of one spouse to the other, the need for a home for the children and the waste of marital assets by a party. The process of distributing property equitably can be time consuming and expensive, which is why Florida encourages divorcing couples to reach an agreement beforehand if at all possible. This can save the state and the divorcing parties a great deal of money and usually results in an agreement that both sides are more easily able to adhere to.
Alimony – Florida can grant alimony or spousal support in certain circumstances. This can be for any time period and the court may take into consideration fault in the divorce when considering alimony. Some considerations of the court concerning alimony will include the length of the marriage, the standard of living each spouse was accustomed to in the marriage, the age and health of each spouse, the time it will take to retrain or reeducate one party to reenter the workforce, the earning capabilities of each party and all sources of income for each.
Child custody – The court is primarily interested in the welfare of the child. All decisions related to child custody will hinge on this. The state wants the child to live in a happy and healthy home and will take a number of factors into consideration, including the financial situation of each spouse, the spouse more likely to allow visitation, the child's current circumstances and the need to maintain those standards, the parenting abilities of each parent, evidence of abuse or violence and a number of other factors.
Child support – The court is always interested in the well being of the child and will make decisions based upon this standard. Florida expects both parents to help with the raising of the child and will award child support to balance the burden between each party. It will look at the financial situation of both parties, the ability of the non-custodial parent to pay child support, the contribution of the custodial parent to the arrangement and several other factors to determine the amount of child support. The court may also enter a provision to keep the child insured with health insurance when it is possible to do so, and it may require a life insurance policy to ensure that the support awarded by the court continues to be paid.

SEE IF YOU QUALIFY

Do you know the location of your spouse?

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Is your spouse in agreement regarding this divorce and willing to sign the divorce papers with you?

Yes No

Do you and your spouse have any children under the age of 18 from this marriage?

Yes No

Divorce Laws in other states:

What Are Divorce Laws in Washington?

What are Divorce Laws in Ohio?

What are Divorce Laws in Missouri?

What Are Divorce Laws in New York?

What are divorce laws in New Jersey?

What are divorce laws in Georgia?

What are divorce laws in Texas?

What are divorce laws in Pennsylvania?

What are divorce laws in California?

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USA Today

Web site offers point-and-click splits

By Deborah Sharp, USA TODAY

Couples can find a mate, fill out a bridal registry and plan a honeymoon on the computer. Now they can also divorce online.

A Web site started last year by a Seattle attorney gives the unhappily wed in Washington, California, Florida and New York the option of dissolving their marriages online. Texas is next, and several other states are being considered.

The site is the latest twist in a do-it-yourself trend. Changing trends in the USA Average age of first marriage Divorce year male female Divorced Americans Divorces granted 1970 23.2 20.8 4.3 million 0.7 million 2000 26.8 25.1 19.9 million 1.2 million Sources: U.S. Census; National Center for Health Statistics

No national figures exist on self-representation. But some experts estimate that as many as half of 1.2 million couples divorcing annually in the USA do so without a lawyer representing at least one of the parties.

The Web site, www.completecase.com, differs from the many self-help sites offering advice, referrals or downloads of documents needed to file for divorce in a particular state.

For $249, the Web site prompts couples with questions on everything from dividing financial assets to deciding where the kids celebrate birthdays. The software then uses their answers to fill out the documents that a couple can download and submit to a court.

Requirements vary by locale as to whether a couple must show up in court or can mail in or fax their divorce filing. But in all cases, a judge must still sign the order ending a marriage.

Randy Finney, a family law attorney for 11 years and the founder of the Web site, says it was designed for uncontested divorces. It's not for couples with convoluted finances or for those fighting over child custody and who gets the dog.

"The decision to get a divorce comes way before the decision about how to get a divorce," says Finney, 35, who is happily married. "I don't think anyone takes their wedding vows so frivolously that they're going to get a divorce just because they can do it for $249."

Not everyone is thrilled with the notion of cyber-divorce.

Judges and lawyers fret that couples who use the Web site may believe they've had legal counsel when they haven't. And leaders in the movement to save marriages complain that point-and-click divorce further undermines the institution's supposed sanctity.

"I can only think of one use of the Internet that's worse and that's pornography," says Dennis Rainey, executive director of FamilyLife, a religious group based in Little Rock. "We're trying to do all we can to call people to keep their wedding vows."

FamilyLife has joined with 30 other organizations since 1999 in drawing 175,000 spouses nationwide to "I Still Do" ceremonies that affirm marriage.

Despite the marriage celebrations, about one-fifth of American men and women have been divorced at least once.

A study released last month by the U.S. Census shows about 90% of Americans will marry at some point. For men, 54% married just once. For women, 60%. Serial marriage is rare: Only 3% of Americans have married three times or more; 13% have married twice.

Finney estimates his Web site has helped 1,000 couples unhitch. Stacey Kiss of Seattle is among those who traveled to virtual Splitsville. The self-described "Internet junkie" says it took her and her husband of seven years about three hours one night to click through the Web site's detailed questions.

"We never got along on anything through our entire marriage, but we still managed to come to an agreement," says Kiss, 36, a hospital business-services manager. "Why drag it out and make it complicated?"

She says the online split was cheaper and easier than her first, traditional divorce. Now single, Kiss says she's comfortable with dot-com divorce, but she draws the line at cyber-dating.

"I like surfing the Web," she says, "but not for men."

TIME Magazine

Express Divorce

Ernesto Gomez and his wife Blanca had been planning to get a divorce for three years. They had already separated and worked out custody and child support for their two kids. But they had stalled on filing because they didn't want to deal with the hassle and expense. Hiring a lawyer, they were told, would cost at least $1,500. Using a free service offered by the court would involve numerous meetings spread out over several weeks.

So when Gomez heard an ad on the radio for a service called completecase.com that would let him fill out the paperwork online for just $249, he decided to give it a try. Four days after he logged onto the site, he had the papers completed and filed in court. "CompleteCase gives you step-by-step instructions. You can't miss anything," says Gomez, a distribution-center manager in Miami.

Gomez is not the only one turning to the Internet to simplify the process. Other services, like divorcewizards. com and divorcesyourself.com also offer quickie online divorce kits, usually for $300 or less. No lawyer is involved unless a client chooses to pay extra for a consultation by phone or e-mail.

Brian Lee, president of legalzoom.com says his site has handled more than 30,000 divorces since its launch in 2001. Though people still have to convey their forms to the court, the process of filling out the paperwork can take less than an hour, thanks to simple online questionnaires that hand-hold customers through the process.

Online divorce is not an option if the couple can't agree on the terms. Even when they can, not everyone thinks it's a good idea. "Instant divorce is the last thing we need," says Mike McManus, president of the marriage advocacy group Marriage Savers. Instead of a divorce, McManus says, couples often just need time to cool off before working out their differences.

Still, such services are spreading. Utah and California offer do-it-yourself sites that let you fill the forms out online (for $20 at utcourts.gov/how to; free at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp) Traffic on the California site rose from 6,800 page views in May 2002 to nearly 17,000 in May 2003. --By Anita Hamilton

Los Angeles Times

Couples Can Untie the Knot Online; Divorce is a mouse click away, but not for everyone.

The Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles, Calif.; Nov 19, 2001; MARTIN MILLER;

Abstract: Californians can legally split from their spouses over the Web site http://www.completecase.com and never have to set foot in a courthouse or lawyer's office. Legal papers can be completed within anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, depending on the complexity of the split, according to Randolph Finney, a Seattle-based family law attorney who founded the site.

For Californians, once the judge signs the documents, they are "legally binding and enforceable," says Finney, but per state law the divorce doesn't become finalized for six months.

The circle of online life is now complete. You can date online; you can marry online; and now you can divorce online.

Californians can legally split from their spouses over the Web site http://www.completecase.com and never have to set foot in a courthouse or lawyer's office. Legal papers can be completed within anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, depending on the complexity of the split, according to Randolph Finney, a Seattle-based family law attorney who founded the site.

For a flat fee of $249, the site walks divorcing couples step-by- step through such issues as community property and calculating child support payments. When the online form is completed, the applicant simply signs the papers and mails them to the courthouse.

But it's not for everyone. It works only for those couples who are parting amicably and filing for an uncontested divorce. "If you can't agree on who gets the kids, our site is not for you," says Finney, a married 35-year-old.

The site debuted earlier this year, but only to residents of Washington state. Last month, California was added, and soon Florida, New York and Oregon are expected to be added. So far, the site has helped process hundreds of divorces, says Finney.

The site has drawn critics who denounce the online divorce as yet another blow to society's bedrock institutions. The very ease of the process, some contend, makes family and marriage as disposable as an old appliance. Indeed, a similar site in England was recently condemned by the pope as immoral because it made divorce too easy.

Naturally, Finney disagrees. "I think our Web site has the opposite effect," he said. "If you're going to get divorced, let's do it in a civil manner. I really don't believe having something available that makes it easier and costs less money is going to encourage divorce."

The inspiration for the project came from his law practice, where he primarily handles divorces. It took about a year to get the site up and running. "On almost a daily basis, I would get clients who said they needed a divorce but didn't have the money or the patience with the legal process to pursue it," he said. "These people are really stuck between a rock and a hard place."

For Californians, once the judge signs the documents, they are "legally binding and enforceable," says Finney, but per state law the divorce doesn't become finalized for six months. "It isn't quite as fast as a Las Vegas divorce," he says.

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USA Today

Web site offers point-and-click splits

TIME Magazine

Express Divorce

Los Angeles Times

Couples Can Untie the Knot Online; Divorce is a mouse click away, but not for everyone.

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USA

Canadian Provinces

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