Florida Divorce Lawyer & Family Law Attorney

By Nadia Pazos, Florida Family Law Attorney, Pazos Law Group · AV Preeminent · 4.6★ Google (50+ reviews) · Updated May 2026

Pazos Law Group is a Florida divorce and family law firm serving Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Martin counties. Led by Nadia Pazos — AV Preeminent rated and a Florida family mediator — the firm represents Florida clients in high-asset divorce, child custody, alimony, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and mediation.

How long does a divorce take in Florida?

Twenty days, minimum. Fla. Stat. § 61.19 states that no final judgment of dissolution may be entered until at least 20 days have elapsed from the filing of the original petition, and the court may shorten that only on a showing of injustice. The 6-month residency condition in § 61.021 must already be satisfied on the filing date.

A Florida dissolution in which both spouses sign a settlement agreement generally reaches final judgment four to eight weeks after filing. Add a disputed § 61.08 claim, a § 61.13 parenting plan, or marital estates that can span several of Florida’s 67 counties that has to be appraised, and the realistic window in the Florida circuit court for your county widens to eight to eighteen months.

How much does a divorce cost in Florida?

The clerk of the circuit court in your county publishes the current dissolution of marriage filing fee and related charges on its own fee schedule rather than in the statutes; check the clerk’s filing fee schedule before you budget, because the clerk revises it.

Attorney’s fees are the larger number and they vary by complexity. As illustrative flat-fee ranges, an uncontested case with no minor children commonly runs $1,000–$2,500 and an uncontested case with minor children $1,500–$3,500. Contested Florida matters are normally handled on an initial retainer in the $5,000–$15,000 range drawn down against hourly billing; unused retainer is refundable. Where marital estates that can span several of Florida’s 67 counties are involved, appraisal and forensic accounting costs sit on top of that.

Fla. Stat. § 61.16 lets the court order one spouse to pay the other’s fees and suit money after considering need and ability to pay, together with the broader factors the Florida Supreme Court identified in Rosen v. Rosen. A fee award under § 61.16 is discretionary, not automatic.

Where do I file for divorce in Florida?

Florida cases are filed with the clerk of the circuit court in your county and assigned to the Family Division of the Florida circuit court for your county (one of the state’s 20 judicial circuits) at that county’s courthouse. Petitions are submitted through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, and the clerk collects the filing fee at that point.

Residency is jurisdictional. Fla. Stat. § 61.021 requires that one of the parties to the marriage reside 6 months in the state before the filing of the petition, and § 61.052(2) requires that fact be corroborated. Venue lies in the county of the parties’ last joint residence or the respondent’s county. Once the case is open, § 61.19 prevents entry of a final judgment for at least 20 days, absent a showing that the delay would cause injustice.

Who can file in Florida under Fla. Stat. § 61.021?

Fla. Stat. § 61.021 states the rule in one line: “one of the parties to the marriage must reside 6 months in the state before the filing of the petition.” Only one spouse needs it, the six months must precede filing, and § 61.052(2) requires the fact to be corroborated by a Florida driver license, a voter registration card, or a third party’s testimony. Where a Florida spouse spends part of the year abroad, actual residence — not citizenship or immigration status — is what the statute measures.

How is property divided under Fla. Stat. § 61.075?

Fla. Stat. § 61.075(1) tells the judge to “begin with the premise that the distribution should be equal” and to depart from it only for reasons the statute recognizes. That is the frame every Florida divorce starts in, whether the estate is a house and two retirement accounts or marital estates that can span several of Florida’s 67 counties.

Classification comes first. Under § 61.075(6)(b), assets acquired before the marriage and gifts or inheritances to one spouse are nonmarital. Under § 61.075(6)(a)1.e, vested and nonvested retirement benefits accrued during the marriage are marital. Under § 61.075(7), the court picks the valuation date. Getting those three right usually decides the case before any argument about percentages.

Is the goodwill in my practice or business divisible?

Only the enterprise portion. In Thompson v. Thompson, 576 So. 2d 267 (Fla. 1991), the Florida Supreme Court distinguished enterprise goodwill, which attaches to the business itself and is a marital asset subject to § 61.075, from personal goodwill, which attaches to the individual professional’s skill and reputation and is not. For Florida owners of marital estates that can span several of Florida’s 67 counties, the valuation expert’s allocation between the two categories often moves more money than any other issue in the case.

Is time-sharing presumed equal in Florida since July 1, 2023?

Yes. The 2023 amendment to Fla. Stat. § 61.13(2)(c)1. installed a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing serves the minor child’s best interests; the standard for rebutting it is a preponderance of the evidence. That is a meaningful change for Florida families, because before July 2023 there was no statutory default at all. The court still has to approve a written parenting plan, and it still applies the § 61.13(3) factors — the presumption tells the judge where to start, not where to finish.

How is child support calculated under Fla. Stat. § 61.30?

Child support in Florida is set by the guidelines in Fla. Stat. § 61.30. The calculation takes both parents’ net incomes, applies the statutory schedule, allocates the result proportionally, and adds health insurance premiums and child care. Deviations beyond 5 percent require written findings.

Section § 61.30(11)(b)8. supplies the threshold that changes the math: a parent exercising at least 20 percent of the annual overnights has a “substantial amount of time” with the child, and the gross-up formula applies. Income is broadly defined and includes bonuses, commissions, and self-employment earnings — relevant wherever marital estates that can span several of Florida’s 67 counties are in play.

Is mediation required before a contested hearing in Florida?

In practice, yes. Fla. Stat. § 44.102 authorizes courts to refer contested civil matters to mediation, and § 61.183 specifically addresses mediation of contested family issues including parenting and support. The Florida circuit court for your county refers essentially every contested dissolution to mediation before it will set a final hearing.

What is said there stays there. Fla. Stat. § 44.405 makes mediation communications confidential and privileged, subject to the exceptions listed in that section. A signed mediated agreement, by contrast, is a contract and is normally incorporated into the final judgment.

What kinds of alimony can a court award under Fla. Stat. § 61.08?

Fla. Stat. § 61.08 was rewritten in 2023 and now provides for temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational alimony only — permanent alimony no longer exists in Florida. The threshold findings are unchanged: one spouse’s need and the other’s ability to pay, evaluated against the statutory factors including the standard of living during the marriage and each party’s earning capacity.

Duration is now bounded. Section § 61.08(8) limits the length of a durational award by reference to the length of the marriage. In Florida cases this changed settlement posture considerably, particularly in long marriages where the parties previously negotiated against the prospect of a permanent award.

Statutory citations link to the official text published by the Florida Legislature. General information about Florida family courts is published by the Florida State Courts System. This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice for your case.

Florida Divorce: Key Things to Know

Florida is one of the more straightforward US states for divorce in some respects, and one of the more complex in others. Key principles:

• No-fault state. Florida requires only that the marriage is “irretrievably broken” under Fla. Stat. § 61.052. No proof of wrongdoing is needed.
• Residency requirement. One spouse must have lived in Florida for at least 6 months before filing (Fla. Stat. § 61.021).
• Equitable distribution. Marital assets are divided under Fla. Stat. § 61.075. The presumption is 50/50, adjusted based on statutory factors.
• Time-sharing. Florida uses “time-sharing” rather than “custody.” Decided under Fla. Stat. § 61.13 best-interests factors.

Florida Family Law Practice Areas

• High-Net-Worth Florida Divorce
• Florida Divorce
• Florida Divorce Mediation

Florida Counties We Serve

Each county has its own circuit court, judges, and procedural preferences. Pazos Law Group regularly appears in all four:

• Miami-Dade County (11th Judicial Circuit). See our Miami divorce attorney page and 14 dedicated neighborhood pages.
• Broward County (17th Judicial Circuit). See Fort Lauderdale, Las Olas & Rio Vista, Weston, and other Broward neighborhood pages.
• Palm Beach County (15th Judicial Circuit). See Palm Beach, Jupiter, Boca Raton, Wellington, Manalapan & Gulf Stream, and others.
• Martin County (19th Judicial Circuit). See our Tequesta & Hobe Sound page covering Jupiter Island and the southern Martin coastline.

Florida High-Net-Worth Divorce

Florida is one of the most active markets in the country for high-net-worth divorce. Many clients have business interests, executive compensation, real estate portfolios, international assets, and trust structures. For details, see our:

• High-Net-Worth Divorce in Florida — Complete Guide
• Florida Equitable Distribution Explained
• Divorce for Business Owners in Florida
• International Divorce in Florida
• Executive Compensation in Florida Divorce
• Trusts and Florida Divorce

Frequently Asked Questions

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More Florida Family Law Resources

• co-parenting tools that keep communication documented — how shared calendars and message logs help high-conflict cases.
• the rebuttable presumption of equal overnights — how courts apply it under Fla. Stat. § 61.13.
• Florida’s child relocation statute — what a parent must prove before moving with the children.

The information on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Florida family law is fact-specific. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship with Pazos Law Group.