Family Law Services in Miami

Who can file. At least one spouse must have lived in Florida for 6 months before the petition is filed (Florida Statutes section 61.021). Miami-Dade divorces are filed with the Clerk and heard in the Family Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.

Grounds. Florida is a no-fault state. The usual ground is that the marriage is irretrievably broken (section 61.052(1)); you do not have to prove wrongdoing, and your spouse cannot stop the divorce by refusing to agree, as our guide to divorcing a spouse who will not cooperate explains.

Timing. No final judgment can be entered until at least 20 days after the petition is filed, unless the court finds that the delay would cause an injustice (section 61.19). In practice an agreed case takes longer than that and a contested one much longer; see realistic Florida divorce timelines.

Property. Florida is not a community property state. Marital assets and debts are divided under equitable distribution (section 61.075), which starts from an equal split, as our guide on community property and equitable distribution covers.

If you have minor children. Both parents must complete the Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course before the final judgment; the parent who files has 45 days after filing, and the other parent 45 days after being served (section 61.21). The same rule applies in a paternity case that involves parental responsibility. In a later modification of a parenting plan, the court may require a parenting course. Our guide to Florida parenting plans explains what the plan itself must cover.

Mediation. Where a family mediation program exists and parenting issues are disputed, the court refers those issues to mediation, but on a party’s request it may not refer a case where it finds a history of domestic violence that would compromise mediation (section 44.102). Many contested cases settle there; see contested and uncontested divorce.

Court appearances. Every divorce ends with a judge’s final judgment, but not every divorce needs a hearing. In many uncontested Miami-Dade cases both spouses sign a sworn no-hearing affidavit, and the judge may enter the final judgment without them present; the judge can still set a hearing if something in the file is missing. A simplified dissolution is the exception: Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.105(b) requires both spouses to appear. When a hearing is needed, many Miami-Dade family hearings are held remotely. Our guide answers whether you have to go to court to get divorced.

Support and fees while the case is pending. A divorce can take months, and the bills do not wait for the final judgment. A spouse may ask for temporary alimony and suit money in the petition or by motion, and if the request is well founded the court must allow a reasonable amount while the case is pending (section 61.071). After considering both spouses’ financial resources, the court may also order one spouse to pay a reasonable amount toward the other’s attorney’s fees and costs (section 61.16(1)). If you depend on your spouse’s income, raise this early. Our guide to dividing debt in a Florida divorce explains why joint accounts should keep being paid on time while the case is pending, and how the debts are divided at the end.

Putting the house in one name. When the settlement gives the marital home to one spouse, the other usually signs a deed to carry that out, and the deed is recorded in the Official Records. Documentary stamp tax does not apply to a deed between spouses or former spouses under a dissolution of marriage action when the property is or was their marital home (Florida Statutes section 201.02(7)(a)), and a transfer due to a dissolution of marriage is one of the exceptions that keep a homestead’s assessment cap in place (section 193.155(3)(a)). A deed changes ownership, not the loan: the spouse who signs it stays on the mortgage until the lender releases them or the loan is refinanced, so the settlement should say how that will happen. See deed preparation and transfers in Miami and who gets the house in a Florida divorce.

When a child says where they want to live. Parents often hear that a child can pick a parent at a certain age. Florida law sets no such age. In every parenting plan and time-sharing decision the best interests of the child are the primary consideration, and the court starts from a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the child’s best interests (Florida Statutes section 61.13(2)(c) and (3)). A child’s wishes are one factor on that list: “the reasonable preference of the child,” if the court finds the child has sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to express one (section 61.13(3)(i)). The judge weighs it with the other factors, including how well each parent keeps the child out of the litigation. Our guide explains whether a child can choose which parent to live with and how a child’s views usually reach the court.

If either spouse files for bankruptcy. A bankruptcy filing during a divorce does not freeze the whole case. The automatic stay does not stop a proceeding to dissolve the marriage, establish paternity, decide custody or time-sharing, establish or modify support, or address domestic violence; what it holds back is dividing property that belongs to the bankruptcy estate (11 U.S.C. section 362(b)(2)(A)). Collecting support from property outside the estate, and income withholding for support, also continue (section 362(b)(2)(B) and (C)). So the divorce can usually keep moving on the marriage, the children, and support while the estate’s property waits on the bankruptcy court. Whether a payment owed under the settlement can later be discharged depends on whether it is support and on the chapter filed; our guide to filing bankruptcy before or after a divorce explains the difference, and our pages on how a Chapter 7 case runs and how a Chapter 13 case runs cover the stages of a filing.

After the judgment: wills, trusts, and beneficiaries. When a Florida marriage is dissolved, a provision in a will or revocable trust that affects the former spouse is void, and the document is read as if that spouse died at the time of the dissolution, unless the document or the judgment says otherwise (Florida Statutes sections 732.507(2) and 736.1105). A similar rule voids a former spouse’s designation on life insurance, IRAs, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts of a Florida resident (section 732.703). That statute has exceptions. It does not apply to the extent federal law provides otherwise, which can be the case for employer retirement plans, or to Florida Retirement System benefits or property held with survivorship rights, and a judgment may require you to keep a policy or account in place for a former spouse or the children. So do not count on the statute to do this for you. When the case ends, read what the judgment requires, then submit new beneficiary forms and review your will. Our guide to dividing a 401(k) or pension explains why the plan’s own form needs attention.

When a spouse serves in the military. Florida’s six-month residency rule still applies, and federal law adds two points to plan for. First, a servicemember who is in military service, or within 90 days after release, and who has received notice of the case can ask the court to pause it. At any stage before final judgment, if the request includes a letter explaining how current duty affects the ability to appear and a letter from the commanding officer that military leave is not authorized, the court must stay the case for at least 90 days (50 U.S.C. section 3932). That protection covers custody matters too. Second, military retired pay earned during the marriage can be divided, but the military pays a former spouse’s share directly only when the marriage lasted at least 10 years during which the member performed at least 10 years of creditable service (10 U.S.C. section 1408(d)(2)), and all such court orders together cannot take more than 50 percent of disposable retired pay (section 1408(e)(1)). Without that overlap the share can still be awarded, but it is not paid directly by the military. Our page on military divorce in Miami covers where to file and survivor benefits.

When a spouse moves out and buys a new home. The homestead exemption on the marital home does not follow the spouse who leaves. To claim it on a new home, the owner applies to the property appraiser of the county where that home is, by March 1, for a home owned and made a permanent residence on January 1 (Florida Statutes section 196.011). Part of the Save Our Homes savings can move, though. An owner who had a homestead exemption as of January 1 of any of the three preceding years can carry up to $500,000 of the difference between market value and assessed value to a new Florida homestead (section 193.155(8)). When the owners of a jointly owned homestead leave it and each sets up a new one, the statute divides that benefit among them, and the combined total cannot exceed $500,000. A husband and wife can designate each spouse’s share, but only if they are still married on the date the home is abandoned as a homestead (section 193.155(8)(d)). So the timing of the move and the wording of the settlement both matter. Our Deerfield Beach page walks through a move across a county line, and our deed transfers page covers which deeds keep or reset the assessment cap.