3 Requirements You Must Meet To File for Divorce in Florida

According to a recent study, Florida has the 7^th highest divorce rate in the USA, with 13.2% of the population divorced – and 2.5% of the population separated.

Divorce, also known as “dissolution of marriage” is defined by the Black’s Law Dictionary as “The legal separation of man and wife, effected, for cause, by the judgment of a court, and either totally dissolving the marriage relation, or suspending its effects so far as concerns the cohabitation of the parties.”

In simpler terms, divorce is the termination of marriage by a court judgment. Such marriage is declared dissolved, and each party becomes free to marry again.

Generally, divorce cases also cover issues like child custody, child and spousal support, distribution or division of property and debt, and there are certain statutory requirements that anyone filing for a divorce must meet.

It has to be noted however, that divorce in the USA is governed by the laws of the state in which it occurs. This therefore makes divorce laws vary from state to state, and in essence, makes the requirements parties must meet to be able to file for divorce a little different from state to state.

Though I’ll be talking from the general side of divorce law, I’ll however be focusing on Florida in this article.

Divorce is basically called dissolution of marriage in Florida family law. To successfully file for a divorce in Florida, and eventually get a divorce – and a divorce certificate to that effect, you must meet the following 3 requirements:

1. Residency

In order to successfully file for dissolution of marriage in Florida, at least one of the spouses must have lived in the state for a minimum period of 6 months prior to filing.

Filing the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is to be done with the circuit court in the county where the petitioner (the spouse filing for the divorce) lives, with the provision that the other party (other spouse) must be notified of the petition.

Other things, like the Respondent’s Answer or counter petition, Notice for Trial, etc, also have to be filed in same circuit court.

2. “Irretrievably broken”

Formerly, divorcing spouses were required to assign fault to one of the parties (like adultery, abandonment, insanity, etc), but now, Florida (and most other states) no longer require “fault” for successfully filing a divorce.

All that is now required is that both parties claim or agree that the marriage is irretrievably broken, that is, things have gone wrong beyond repair.

3. Online class

Finally, couples who have children are now required to take an online course (Florida Parenting Class – $19.95) before filing for divorce. There are also specially designed courses the children in a divorce case might be made to take.

The essence of the course is to help spouses learn about the probable impacts of divorce on the family, and the best way to handle such difficult transition. More so, it makes sure spouses understand the process of filing for a divorce.

Meet these requirements, and your filing for divorce in Florida will be easier and seamless.