Best Child Custody Lawyers in Coral Springs, FL

Generally, there is only one type of divorce ground in Florida: no-fault, when the marriage is irretrievably broken. Though under some, rare circumstances, annulment and other types of divorce exist such as when a spouse has been adjudicated as incompetent and a certain amount of time has passed since the adjudication, Florida is a no-fault state.

Generally, an uncontested divorce takes only a few weeks when both parties timely enter into a marital settlement agreement and parenting plan (when children are involved), and complete and execute the necessary Petition Answer, and Waiver, and all other documents, such as financial affidavits, that must be completed and filed prior to the final hearing. The person filing for the divorce (the petitioner) is often the only party who must be present at the final hearing unless the other spouse is the wife, and she is returning to her maiden or prior married last name, in which case she must be present at the final hearing to give testimony as to the name change.

Although divorcing couples must follow equitable distribution guidelines when dividing property, assets and debt, what is determined to be equitable may not always result in a 50-50 split. There are a variety of factors that affect the agreement a Florida judge will approve. Marital property can be distributed, but other types of property, such as separate property, cannot. In addition, some property can be considered part separate and part marital, which requires extensive legal understanding to assess.