Florida Divorce Blog

An uncontested Florida divorce means that all issues pertaining to your matter are agreed to and that there is nothing left for the judge to decide. Those issues may include alimony, child support, visitation (now known as time sharing), division of property, division of debt and who is going to pay attorney’s fees. It is certainly less expensive, less time consuming and less aggravating to come to an agreement on all issues than it is to have a contested divorce where the judge must decide the issues. And note that it is possible to agree on some issues with your spouse and have the judge decide the rest.

There are two types of Broward divorces, contested and uncontested. Uncontested means that the parties agree on all issues and there is nothing left for the judge to decide. Contested means that there are one or more issues the parties cannot come to agreement on, and therefore the judge needs to have a trial. Broward divorces are heard in front of a Judge without a jury. The issues typically involve division of property, division of debt child-support and timesharing (visitation) and whether or not there will be alimony. In Florida we no longer use the words custody or visitation with regard to child related issues.

There are several topics concerning minor children which the Broward divorce Court has to rule upon, or the parties have to deal with upon settling their case. The first is child support. Florida uses a statutory formula to determine the amount of child support that one party will pay the other. As a general proposition Florida child support is dependent upon how much time each party gets to spend with the child or children, and how much income each party has.

In today’s economy people want to do whatever they can to save money on the Florida divorce process and that is understandable. But there may be a big downside on not using a Broward divorce attorney. Unfortunately, there are companies on the internet that make you believe that a Broward divorce with children is something that can be accomplished for $195.00 or some other ridiculously low price. There is nothing wrong with having an attorney prepare your court required documents but not attend court with you. That can save you money because you would file the papers on your own and go to Court on your own.

The petition for dissolution of marriage (ie divorce) is filed at the Broward courthouse and it is served upon the other party. The other party has twenty days to file an answer to the petition by responding to the allegations in the contested divorce petition. The other party may also file a counter petition asking that they be granted certain things, such as property and alimony or timesharing with regard to the children for example.

If a party needs financial support while the Broward contested divorce case is going on they can make a request for temporary support. This may be temporary alimony for themselves or it may be temporary child support, or temporary exclusive use of the marital home such that the other party has to stay away, or temporary attorney’s fees because they do not have the funds to pay their lawyer, and the other side does. .

Assets and property acquired during the marriage are considered marital property subject usually to a 50/50 split in Broward divorce court. Assets acquired after the filing date of the Florida divorce case are considered non-marital. As a general proposition it doesn’t matter which of the parties acquired the property during the marriage if marital funds were used to obtain the asset. For example if one party took their own paycheck during the marriage and bought a camera with it, that camera would be considered a marital asset subject to a 50/50 split. Or if one party saved up money in a bank account from their own separate earnings, those savings would be subject to a 50/50 split.

There are several types of Florida alimony. Alimony is based on the need for financial assistance, and the financial ability of the other party to assist. The first is called “bridge the gap” alimony. It is an amount of money paid to a party so that they can get themselves situated in life following a divorce. A party for example may need money for a security deposit on an apartment, or for a down payment on a car so that they can go to work. “Rehabilitative” alimony is money paid by one party to someone who needs education or retraining in order to get into the work force and make enough money to sustain themselves. That party seeking such alimony has to present a rehabilitation plan to the Broward Court and show that it is going to lead to them becoming self sustaining.

Broward divorce mediation is the process by which a neutral person listens to the parties and learns about the specifics of the case, including issues regarding children and division of property and debt and claims for alimony. The Broward divorce mediator will then make a recommendation for a fair disposition of the case. Divorce Mediation is a wonderful process for getting cases settled and is often successful. It is a lot cheaper to go to a Broward divorce mediator typically than to have a case tried in front of a judge with two lawyers involved.

It is also a shorter process to use a mediator than it is to wait for hearing time in front of a judge. (which is often difficult to obtain quickly depending on where in the state your case will be heard) Mediators are not judges and therefore have no authority to force a settlement, or rule on anything the way a judge can.  Broward divorce Mediators can be certified by the Florida Supreme Court which means that they receive certain training and have a certain amount of experience. Mediators do not have to be attorneys but it is often helpful, as they may be the most experienced with the law that applies to the issues of your case.

As a general proposition a party should not be removing assets from the marital home when there are Florida divorce proceedings pending. Most judges will conclude that if a party is leaving the marital home, that they may take with them their personal property. That would include clothes, work related tools and items, and personal jewelry for example.

Gross monthly income means your pay before taxes, social security and other deductions are made from your earnings. Make sure that you include part time job income and other earned and unearned income, including side jobs and “under the table” income, and regular money gifts from family or friends. If you (or your spouse) receive a check for the same amount of money each pay period, things are pretty simple in terms of calculating your income.

But if for example you work on commissions or work a different number of hours each pay period at an hourly rate, or get overtime occasionally, calculating income is more difficult (bonuses and commissions are considered income and should be factored into the income calculation, unless for example it was a one time bonus not likely to reoccur).

The marriage needs to be irretrievably broken. In other words one of the parties will testify that it cannot be put back together through marriage counseling or by any other way. Not many people ever contest whether the marriage is irretrievably broken. So you get a Florida divorce just by requesting  one and your spouse can at most delay it.

In Florida to get a divorce only one of the parties must be a Florida resident for the six month period immediately preceeding the filing of the petition for divorce. (although there may be other residency related issues if you also want the Court to rule on property or other issues) All you need to prove to get a divorce in Florida is that the marriage is irretrievably broken. This is different than some states where for example you have to prove adultery or violence or some other grounds, or be separated for some period of time.