In order to seek a divorce, Florida is a “no fault “state which essentially means you do not have to allege any reason for wanting a divorce other than an “irretrievable breakdown of the marriage” Provided, that you or your spouse has been a resident of the State of Florida for at least six months prior to filing your Petition with the Clerk of Court. Typically the location of the divorce within Florida is the county where the parties last resided together. Often divorces can be resolved in an uncontested manner either through negation or mediation. When disagreements arise between you and your spouse regarding issues such as alimony, equitable distribution, child support or time sharing ( what used to be called “custody” and “visitation”), relocation and the payment of professional fees, the divorce is considered contested. In a contested proceeding a Judge or General Magistrate may have to decide the result based on the facts of your case and the applicable law.
Our firm is uniquely sensitive to children’s issues, such as the amount of time each parent should enjoy with the children in determining a parenting plan, the correct calculation of child support, parental alienation and possible relocation with a child away from the other parent, as well as other individual child related circumstances. We understand the stress divorce places on you and your children and have answers to many of the difficult questions that a divorce brings with it.
Florida law requires each spouse to disclose their personal and business income from all sources. Spouses must also disclose their expenses, assets and liabilities. The exchange of documentation is not limited to financial information and important to determining whether assets are non-marital and obtaining a fair equitable distribution of the marital assets and liabilities based on accurate valuations.
Often there is a financial disparity between you and your spouse, which leads to questions whether alimony is going to be a contested issue. The parties’ individual financial circumstances, length of the marriage and other detailed statutory factors need to be carefully evaluated in order to obtain or defend against a claim for one of several different types of alimony.
Divorces can be expensive, that is why at the first meeting with our clients we discuss a strategy on how to expedite a result so that you keep marital assets instead of using them to pay attorney’s fees and costs of litigation. We explain how attorney fees are usually apportioned by the Court based on a need and ability to pay standard and what steps we can take to either limit the other spouse from seeking fees from our client or our client’s entitlement that their fees be paid by his or her spouse.