Time Line for a Divorce Case in Florida

The big question: How long will it take to get divorced?

The answer: It depends.

The timeline for a dissolution of marriage case in Florida all depends on the fact and circumstances of the case. It can take a couple who is in agreement with all matters of property division, spousal and child support and child custody as little as a month to get everything finalized. On the flip side, it can take a couple of years in some very contested cases.

Once a petition is filed, the other party has 20 days to respond with an answer to the petition. At that point, financial discovery will be conducted so that both parties know the income of the other party as well as all the marital and non-marital assets and debts. This is important because it allows the parties to have an informed decision when they are trying to settle their case.

The big determining factor is if the case will settle or not. Once discovery has been completed, the parties usually attend mediation. In the state of Florida, all family cases are required to go to mediation prior to going in front of the judge for trial. I have been able to settle many cases for my clients even prior to going to mediation as well as at the mediation itself. When the parties settle, they will sign a marital settlement agreement. Once this agreement is signed by both parties, the case is pretty much done – all that is left is for the petitioner to go in front of the judge for a 5 minute uncontested final hearing, which allows the judge to take testimony for some basic information and to sign the order dissolving the marriage. The timeline for getting to mediation will depend on how much discovery will need to be done.

If the parties cannot settle the case at mediation, the case will need to be set for trial. This can take a while. On June 21, 2011, I asked for a trial date for one of my cases that was not able to settle. The first available trial date is April 6, 2012. Almost one year from now!