 At Sentinel Law, P.A. we will facilitate an uncontested divorce expediently, or we can help protect your interests through a battle for custody, support, alimony, and division of marital assets. Most importantly, we can help them deal withd the emotional issues of divorce. The following briefly addresses some aspects of divorce.
Grounds for Filing: A Petition for Dissolution of Marriage must declare the appropriate Florida grounds upon which the dissolution of marriage is being sought. The appropriate lawful ground will be that which the parties agree upon and can substantiate, or that which the filing spouse desires to prove to the court.No judgment of dissolution of marriage shall be granted unless one of the following facts appears, which shall be pleaded generally:
(a) The marriage is irretrievably broken.
(b) Mental incapacity of one of the parties. However, no dissolution shall be allowed unless the party alleged to be incapacitated shall have been adjudged incapacitated according to the provisions of S. 744.331 for a preceding period of at least 3 years. (Florida Statutes - Chapters: 61.052)
Filing Spouse Title: Petitioner. The Petitioner is the spouse who initiates the filing procedure with the family law or domestic relations court.
 Non-Filing Spouse Title: Respondent. The Respondent is the spouse who does not file the initial dissolution of marriage papers, but rather receives them by service.
Primary Documents: Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage. These are the essential documents needed to start and finalize a dissolution of marriage according to Florida law. There are anywhere from ten to twenty other documents that may be required throughout the filing process. A few other documents that are typically filed during the process are: Affidavit of Corrobrating Witness, Marital Settlement Agreement, Family Law Financial Affidavit, Answer, Waiver, and Final Disposition Form.
Property Distribution: Since Florida is an "equitable distribution" state, the marital property shall be divided in an equitable fashion. Equitable does not mean equal, but rather what is fair. The court will encourage the parties to reach a settlement on property and debt issues otherwise the court will declare the property award.
Spousal Support: Not all cases involve support from one spouse to the other. The obligation of one spouse to support the other financially for a temporary or permanent basis is decided on a case-by-case basis as agreed to by the parties or at the court's discretion.
In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, the court may grant alimony to either party, which alimony may be rehabilitative or permanent in nature. In any award of alimony, the court may order periodic payments or payments in lump sum or both. The court may consider the adultery of either spouse and the circumstances thereof in determining the amount of alimony, if any, to be awarded.
In determining a proper award of alimony or maintenance, the court shall consider all relevant economic factors, including but not limited to: (a) The standard of living established during the marriage. (b) The duration of the marriage. (c) The age and the physical and emotional condition of each party. (d) The financial resources of each party, the nonmarital and the marital assets and liabilities distributed to each. (e) When applicable, the time necessary for either party to acquire sufficient education or training to enable such party to find appropriate employment. (f) The contribution of each party to the marriage, including, but not limited to, services rendered in homemaking, child care, education, and career building of the other party. (g) All sources of income available to either party. The court may consider any other factor necessary to do equity and justice between the parties.
Child Custody: When minor children are involved in a dissolution of marriage, the Florida courts will do everything possible to help lessen the emotional trauma the children may be experiencing. If the parents cannot come to an agreement regarding the issues involving the children, the court will establish the custody order at its discretion.
The court shall determine all matters relating to custody of each minor child of the parties in accordance with the best interests of the child and in accordance with the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. It is the public policy of this state to assure that each minor child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents after the parents separate or the marriage of the parties is dissolved and to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities, and joys, of childrearing. After considering all relevant facts, the father of the child shall be given the same consideration as the mother in determining the primary residence of a child irrespective of the age or sex of the child. The court shall order that the parental responsibility for a minor child be shared by both parents unless the court finds that shared parental responsibility would be detrimental to the child.
Child Support: Florida child support guidelines are based on the Income Shares Model for calculating child support. The monthly support amount determined by applying the guidelines is divided proportionally according to each parent's income. These two support amounts are then offset to establish which parent will pay the other parent for support of the child. All income is typically verified by examining past W-2's and child support worksheets are available at the courthouse.
The court has the right to order child support according the Florida Child Support Guidelines. These guidelines are based on the income of each parent along with applicable deviation factors that may exist. If the parents can not come to a reasonable agreement on the child support amount the court will use the support guidelines located in the Florida Statutes.
Divorce Mediation
- It is usually faster than litigation
- It is typically less expensive than taking your divorce to court
- The settlement agreement that results is usually more satisfactory to both parties
- If all of the issues are not resolved, you can take those areas of agreement you did reach to the court and allow a judge to handle those issues you could not resolve
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