Uncontested Divorce Procedures

You can file an "uncontested" divorce if you and your spouse agree:

• Your marriage is broken and you want a divorce
• How your property and debts will be divided
• Whether alimony will be paid, and if yes, how long and how much

and if you have children, you agree on:

• Who the children will primarily live with
• What the visitation plan is
• How much child support will be paid (after consulting the child support guidelines)

You can write all the terms of your agreement into a Marital Settlement Agreement, you both sign it and file it with a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and other required initial documents. Your spouse then files a Waiver of Service and Answer. After that, your case can be set for final hearing.

In the Petition, you must claim that the marriage is “irretrievably broken,” that one of you has lived in Florida for at least six months before filing the Petition; and, that you both signed a Marital Settlement Agreement.

• If you have children, you will use Form 901(b)(1).
  
• If you have property but no kids, use Form 901(b)(2).
  
• If you can't use the Simplified procedure and have no property or kids, use Form 901(b)(3).
  

Next time I'll talk more about marital property.