How Quickly Can You Get A Divorce In Florida?
Oftentimes, couples are in a hurry to get a divorce in Florida. It could be for various reasons, such as the anxiousness to marry someone else, or if they just cannot tolerate their spouse any more. In other cases, the couples may be filing for divorce if one of them want to stop sharing their income with the other spouse. Whatever the reason, they are hopeful that they will get a speedy divorce.
Sad news is that a divorce may take several months or even years in Florida to finalize in some cases. If the marriage was long between the couple, then reaching an agreement between division of debts, assets, child custody, support, and other issues can be a long and drawn out process. However, in case these issues are not present, then the couple can obtain a quick divorce in Florida.
In cases where you and your spouse reach an agreement on all issues related to the divorce, then your marriage can be dissolved in as less as 20 days. The 20 day period starts from the time of filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage. In some cases, if you can prove in court that the waiting period of 20 days will be unjust, then you can get a divorce even more quickly. Whatever the case, it is advised to get in touch with a Florida divorce attorney in order to make the divorce process go as smooth as possible.
Different Types of Divorce Available
In Florida, there are several different types of divorce options available as given below:
Simplified Divorce – A simplified divorce may be the quickest route to finalizing a divorce in Florida if you qualify for it. In this type of divorce, you and your spouse both need to agree to the divorce mutually. You also don’t need to have any children, and there will be no alimony granted after divorce. Any decisions regarding division of marital property are reached mutually. This type of divorce is finalized in 20 days when the court will officially dissolve the marriage at the hearing after completion of those 20 days.
Uncontested Divorce – Couples who do not qualify for a simplified divorce can shorten the divorce process by filing for an uncontested divorce. In such a divorce, both parties have to agree on the terms of divorce. They must decide how to take care of child support, parental responsibility, property division, alimony and other issues. This agreement has to be submitted to the court to make it a part of the final judgment. In many cases, the divorce is often finalized within a few weeks.
Default Divorce – This type of divorce is followed if the spouse is unreachable or unresponsive. If that spouse doesn’t show up to any hearings, then the divorce is handed over by default. The waiting period in this type of divorce is also 20 days.
Contested Divorce – Contested divorce cases take a longer period of time as the divorce terms are decided by the court. Contested divorce cases arise when the couple cannot agree on alimony and other issues like custody and support. These types of divorce cases take the longest time if an agreement cannot be finalized.
