Divorce In Florida, we have uncontested divorces and contested divorces. Uncontested divorces are for people who are in complete agreement about all of the issues about their marriage. In those cases, an attorney will usually draft a consent final judgment to dissolve your marriage that includes all of your agreement. Contested divorces are those that require some issues to be decided by the Court. You, and the children if there are any, must be residents of Florida for at least six months before filing for divorce. You will have to show that your marriage is broken. Florida is a "no-fault" divorce state so it is enough that the two of you no longer wish to be married, whatever the reason. If you have children or your spouse wants to try to save the marriage, the judge can order that you go to counseling. Each party, if you have children, will have to attend the Children First in Divorce Class. It is a four hour class on either Thursday night or Saturday during the day. This class must be completed before you can be divorced. You will be required to attend mediation (if you do not settle your case) for a minimum of two hours at which time you and your attorney will meet with your spouse and their attorney and a mediator in an effort to allow you to resolve your own issues. If you can agree, you will sign a consent final judgment and the case will not be heard by the judge. If you cannot agree, you retain your full rights to have the Court decide the issues. If your case involves custody, the judge can appoint a child custody evaluator to do a home study of your and your spouse’s home and submit a report to the judge with their recommendation about what is best for the child(ren). How long it will take and how much it will cost depends of the specific facts of your case and, ultimately, upon you. Uncontested divorces usually can be completed within a short time after the twenty day waiting period required by law, (assuming that the parties have completed all of the paperwork and the parenting class). Contested divorces can take from three to six months, again, depending on the specifics of the case. While you are waiting to get divorced, the judge can enter a temporary needs and faculties order regarding temporary custody and visitation, child support, temporary alimony, and temporary attorney fees. Alimony Like custody, we have a new name for alimony. We call it spousal support. There are basically three types of alimony for the layperson to be concerned with: permanent, rehabilitative, and temporary. Whether or not you are entitled to alimony depends on the specifics of each case. It is determined by one parties' need and the other parties' ability to pay and a number of other factors. Permanent alimony usually requires that one party support the other party until remarriage of the party getting support or death of either party. Rehabilitative alimony requires that one party support the other for a period of time until the party getting support gets a job or finishes school. It is for a limited period. Temporary alimony helps one party pay bills and support themselves while waiting to be divorced. Child Support The amount of child support to be paid is determined according to Florida Guidelines child support. Child support is calculated based upon the parties ’ gross income minus allowable deductions to determine a net income. Those numbers are placed into a formula and the amount of child support is calculated. Health insurance and daycare expenses are factored in to the amount. There must be a provision for health insurance for the children. The parties CANNOT agree that one party does not have to pay support. They also CANNOT agree to pay less than guidelines child support. Such an agreement requires Court approval. If you separate, the Court may require that a person pay child support back to the date of the separation. If the parties do not live together anymore, the party with whom the child is not living should pay support to the party with the child. Support must generally be paid until the child ’ s eighteenth birthday or nineteen if the child is finishing high school and graduates after eighteen. There is no requirement to pay for college. If a party has 40% or more time with the child(ren), the Court should reduce the child support accordingly. Custody In Florida, the Court’s do not award “custody” to parents. “Custody” as you may understand it now refers to both parents having shared parental responsibility with a timesharing plan. Each parent, after a divorce, retains their full share of parental responsibility and rights as parents. Both parents have a right, by law, to remain involved in the education, religion, upbringing, activities, and medical care of the child. The timesharing plan will probably include the child being in one of the parent’s homes during school periods with the other parent having timesharing on weekends, holidays, and perhaps some midweek visitation. The timesharing plan will be based upon what the judge believes is in the child or children’s best interests. Some parents desire equal timesharing with the children. Despite good intentions and a desire to be fair to both parents, such arrangements usually are not practical for the child or parents and create problems when the child goes to school. The judges of our circuit usually do not favor schedules where children go back and forth between two homes during the school week. All arrangements regarding the children must be approved by the judge, even if the parties agree. We have circuit guidelines for both in state and out-of-state timesharing. While it is better for the parties to make their own arrangements, we like to have specific guidelines for timesharing with dates and times to follow on those occasions when the parties cannot agree. This guidelines change from time to time. If you call, we will be happy to email you a current copy. Property The division of property by the Court during a divorce is called equitable distribution. Property is generally divided on a fifty-fifty basis. Gifts from your family to you alone or inheritances are generally exempt and your property alone. Each party receives a one-half share of any property that was acquired during the marriage. The same is true for debts, each party generally receives one-half of any debt that was incurred during the marriage. Credit can be given to either party if one party destroys or squanders marital assets before or during the divorce. People cannot hide things in the names of relatives or give things away.