The Legal Examiner Affiliate Network The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner search instagram avvo phone envelope checkmark mail-reply spinner error close The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner
Skip to main content
selective focus of couple sitting at table with divorce documents

Florida divorces fall generally into the categories of “simplified” and “contested.” With the former type, you and your spouse have nothing to dispute. The divorce takes the filing of a petition and a court hearing for the judge to grant it. Usually, such divorces take perhaps 30 to 60 days.

Should you not be able to resolve your differences on property division, alimony, or other issues, you must file a “contested divorce.” This proceeding includes the filing of mandatory disclosures of the spouses’ assets, income, and debts. You and your spouse must gather and produce wage statements, tax records, and other documents of your financial standing. During a contested divorce, lawyers might depose the parties and witnesses. The process may take several months, perhaps over a year – especially if you and your spouse go to trial.

The first steps in a Tampa divorce occurs before you file. That is, you and your spouse should determine what, if anything, you can take out of the realm of dispute before you enter into the court system. The kind of divorce you can or must file turns upon agreement to handling property, support, and other issues of the marriage.

Coming to agreement can occur once the separation and divorce become imminent or even before you and your spouse exchange vows and rings.

Settlement Agreements

Without a separation or property settlement agreement, the court will divide the property in equitable distribution. Such a process begins with a classification of assets as marital or separate. Marital property consists generally of what the parties acquired from the date of the marriage to the date of separation. It includes not only jointly-titled property but also contributions during the marriage to the value of otherwise separate property. Things bought even by one spouse during a marriage and put in that spouse’s sole name could also be subject to equitable distribution.

Separate property consists of assets acquired before marriage and those obtained even during marriage but due to:

Gift by someone other than the other spouse
Will
Inheritance by intestate succession, or from someone who died without a will

By default, courts will divide the property (or its collective value) equally between the spouses. However, as the name suggests, an equitable distribution focuses on fairness to the parties and not necessarily a 50/50 split. Factors such as the need of a party for an asset, how long the parties were married, whether a spouse interrupted or set aside career pursuits for the marriage, and contributions of the parties to the household may call for an unequal division.

Having a separation agreement prevents the otherwise considerable time and expense of litigating various issues related to the marital finances. Court proceedings to divide property and consider alimony claims require production, analysis, and argument over tax forms, financial statements, and account records.

Often, the parties to a separation agreement will waive their respective rights to alimony. In Florida, alimony can be permanent or temporary to bridge a dependent spouse’s transition to post-divorce life or afford the dependent spouse resources for education and training for job skills.

In Florida, the spouses must fully disclose their assets in entering into a separation agreement. This may entail:

  • The identity and location of real property, including land, buildings, condominiums
  • Vehicles
  • Retirement plans and pensions
  • Business interests
  • Bank accounts
  • Investments
  • Inheritances
  • Children
  • Wills

Thus, in preparing for a divorce – whether uncontested or contested – means that you need to marshal information of your assets and (as much as you can) those of your spouse.

Premarital Contracts

With a prenuptial agreement, spouses settle matters even before the marriage. A valid prenup requires that each spouse enter into it voluntarily and without duress. As with separation agreements, Florida law requires a reasonable disclosure of property and other matters.

With a prenuptial, the prospective spouses decide matters such as:

  • Who gets the house up on divorce
  • Whether each party will keep respective 401(k) plans, retirement plans, pensions, or otherwise how to divide these benefits on divorce
  • Distribution of vehicles and other items of personal property on divorce
  • Defining what constitutes separate property of the spouses
  • Alimony, often that alimony is waived
  • Disclaimer of inheritance or other rights in the estate of the other spouse

A Word About Children

As part of preparing for a divorce, you will need a parenting plan if you and your spouse have minor children together. In the plan, you address

  • Time-sharing for care, custody, and visitation of the children
  • Dates and times the children spends with each parent, including birthdays of children and parents and holidays
  • Communication with the children, such as via phone, video, other electronic means
  • Which parent has responsibility for enrollment in school and health care
  • Children’s participation in extracurricular activities, such as sports, bands, and choirs, and allocation of financial and other responsibilities for these activities
  • Transportation and exchange of children

Courts have a duty to promote the child’s best interests in any parenting plan or arrangement. This means even an agreed upon plan is subject to a judge’s approval. In considering the child’s best interests, the judge takes into account factors such as the parents’ moral fitness, whether parents will delegate some care for the children to third parties, effects on the emotional or mental stability of the children, and the distance that the children or parents may have to travel in carrying out the plan.

Contact a Tampa Divorce Lawyer Today.

If you find yourself in need, contact our Tampa Divorce Attorneys today.

Sometimes life takes an unexpected turn. With the right approach and the representation of an attorney experienced in the nuances of Florida’s divorce laws, you can be confident in the outcome of your case. At Robert Sparks Attorneys, we take these matters seriously.

Comments for this article are closed.