Ah, the Sunshine State, where the weather is beautiful 90% of the year and everyone lives carefree lives spent on the beach as often as possible. Well, unless you live in a fantasy world, you’ll know that this is true for maybe 1% of those that reside in Florida.
Divorce Rates
Divorce is prevalent in all 50 states, sure, some more than others, but it still exists nationwide. According to the 2009 data collected by the US Census Bureau, the divorce rate in Florida for men is 8.5% and 9.9% for women, based on national, regional, and state divorce rates per 1,000 men and women aged 15 and over. If you’re serious about filing for divorce in Florida, there are a few things you need to know.
Laws and Documentation
To obtain dissolution of marriage, one of the parties to the marriage must reside 6 months in the state before the filing of the petition. You must, of course, be legally married and have proper documentation to prove as such, i.e. a marriage license. When all proper documentation of matrimony is proven, there are a few other steps before signing the papers to make the divorce final.
Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes demands that you and your spouse must exchange financial affidavits, and those couples with property and/or children together must enter into a Marital Settlement Agreement. This Agreement will ease in the process of division of assets, debts, custody, etc, as the written document will lay out any and all provisions for both parties.
It’s important to understand that if the court finds that the marriage is not irretrievably broken, it shall deny the petition for dissolution of marriage. In the initial pleading for dissolution of marriage, each party is required to provide his or her social security number and the full names and social security numbers of each of the minor children of the marriage. If/when a judgment of dissolution of marriage is granted, it will result in each spouse having the status of being single and unmarried.
Are you sure?
So there you have it, in a nutshell. Each state has different laws and proceedings that need to be carried out by both parties, but as far as ease goes, Florida is by far one of the top states. Some more of the special circumstances and intricate details can be found at Florida’s Official State Law Webpage. Make sure you have all of the proper and specified documents when you come to actually file, and you should be under way pretty quickly with the process.