Divorce mediation in Florida is a required step in most contested cases: before a judge will set your divorce for trial, you and your spouse must sit down with a neutral, state-certified mediator and try to settle the open issues yourselves. Those issues can include dividing property, alimony, a parenting plan, and child support. Anything you agree to is written up, signed before you leave, and becomes enforceable as a court order once the judge incorporates it into your final judgment.
When Mediation Is Required
Florida judges have broad authority to send contested divorce issues to mediation. Section 61.183 lets a court refer any dispute over parental responsibility, time-sharing, or child support to a mediator.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.183 – Mediation of Certain Contested Issues Section 44.102 goes further: in circuits with a family mediation program, the court must refer custody, visitation, and parental responsibility disputes to mediation whenever a dispute exists.2The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 44.102 – Court-Ordered Mediation In practice, almost every circuit in the state treats mediation as a prerequisite to trial.
You can also mediate voluntarily before anyone files anything. The confidentiality rules and standards for mediator conduct apply the same way whether a judge sent you or you went on your own.
The Domestic Violence Exception
If there is a history of domestic violence in the marriage, you can ask the court to waive mediation. Under Section 44.102(2)(c), when a party requests it and the court finds that the history would compromise the process, the court cannot order mediation.2The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 44.102 – Court-Ordered Mediation Mediation assumes roughly equal bargaining power. If that assumption does not hold for you, raise it with the court early.
What It Costs
Private family mediators in Florida typically charge $200 to $500 per hour, and spouses usually split the fee. Most sessions run four to eight hours, so the full bill tends to fall between $800 and $4,000. That is a fraction of what a contested trial costs in attorney fees alone.
If a private mediator is out of reach, check whether your circuit’s court mediation program provides one. For court-provided family mediators, the fee is calculated from the parties’ combined income rather than a flat hourly rate.3Florida Courts. Mediation
Whoever you hire, the mediator must hold a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator designation to handle a family case.4Florida Courts. Step by Step Guide How to Become a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator Ask for the credential before you book.
How to Prepare
Preparation is where mediations are won or lost. Florida Family Law Rule 12.285 requires both spouses to exchange detailed financial information before contested issues can be resolved, and the financial affidavit requirement cannot be waived even by agreement.5Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Rule 12.285 – Mandatory Disclosure
You will complete one of two financial affidavits:
- Form 12.902(b) if your gross annual income is under $50,000.
- Form 12.902(c) if your gross annual income is $50,000 or more.
Along with the affidavit, you need to produce three years of federal and state tax returns, pay stubs or income records for the prior three months, three months of checking account statements, and twelve months of savings and investment account statements.5Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Rule 12.285 – Mandatory Disclosure Gather these before the session. Incomplete financials stall negotiations and give the other side a reason to doubt the rest of what you say.
If you have minor children, draft a proposed Parenting Plan using Form 12.995. The plan must address daily caregiving, a time-sharing schedule, who makes health care and school decisions, and how each parent will communicate with the children.6The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.13 – Support of Children; Parenting and Time-Sharing; Powers of Court A rough starting proposal is enough. The mediator will help you work out the specifics.
What Happens in the Session
The mediator opens by explaining the ground rules: confidentiality, that any agreement is voluntary, and that the mediator is a facilitator, not a judge. You and your spouse then meet in a joint session to lay out the issues that need resolving.
Most sessions quickly move into private meetings called caucuses. You go to one room, your spouse to another, and the mediator shuttles proposals and counterproposals between you. People say things in caucus they would never say across the table from a spouse, and the mediator can push back on an unrealistic position without either of you losing face in front of the other.
What the Mediator Can and Cannot Do
A Florida mediator cannot give legal advice and cannot decide anything for you.7Florida Courts. Florida Rules for Certified and Court-Appointed Mediators The mediator will help you identify options, clarify tradeoffs, and draft the language of any agreement, but will not tell you whether a proposed deal is fair to you. That is your attorney’s role.
Bringing an Attorney
You have the right to bring your lawyer. With the parties’ and mediator’s agreement, a session can also proceed without attorneys in the room.8Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Rule 12.740 – Family Mediation Even if yours does not attend, consult one beforehand. What you sign is binding, and signing a bad deal because you did not know your rights is very hard to undo later.
How Long It Takes
Rule 12.740 requires mediation to be completed within 75 days of the first mediation conference unless the court orders otherwise.8Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Rule 12.740 – Family Mediation Many cases resolve in a single full-day session. Complex estates or contested custody disputes may take two or three sessions over several weeks.
The Issues You Will Negotiate
Mediation can cover anything you would otherwise ask a judge to decide. Knowing the legal baseline for each issue tells you whether a proposal in the room is reasonable.
Property Division
Florida uses equitable distribution. Courts begin from a presumption of an equal split of marital assets and debts and can deviate based on factors like each spouse’s financial circumstances, length of the marriage, contributions to the other spouse’s career, and whether either spouse wasted marital assets.9The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.075 – Equitable Distribution of Marital Assets and Liabilities Nonmarital property, such as what you owned before marriage or received as a gift, stays with the original owner.
Alimony
Florida recognizes three types of post-divorce alimony. Bridge-the-gap alimony covers short-term transition and cannot exceed two years. Rehabilitative alimony supports education or job training, capped at five years. Durational alimony runs for a set period tied to the marriage length, capped at 50 percent of a short-term marriage (under 10 years), 60 percent of a moderate-term marriage (10 to 20 years), or 75 percent of a long-term marriage (20 years or more).10The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.08 – Alimony Permanent alimony no longer exists in Florida.
Parenting Plans and Child Support
If you have minor children, every parenting plan must address daily responsibilities, a time-sharing schedule, health care and school decisions, and parent-child communication.6The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.13 – Support of Children; Parenting and Time-Sharing; Powers of Court Any plan you reach still has to clear the court’s best-interests-of-the-child review, so proposals that put parental convenience ahead of a child’s stability tend not to survive.
Child support follows a statutory formula based on both parents’ net incomes and the time-sharing split. The guideline number is presumptive. The court allows a deviation of up to 5 percent without special justification; larger deviations require a written explanation of why the guideline amount would be unjust.11The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines; Determination If a spouse is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court can impute income based on what that person could reasonably earn.
What You Can Safely Say
Section 44.405 makes mediation communications confidential and lets each party refuse to testify about them in later proceedings.12The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 44.405 – Confidentiality; Privilege; Exceptions You can float settlement offers, concede weak spots, and discuss sensitive finances without worrying those statements will show up at trial. Breaking confidentiality in a court-ordered mediation can bring sanctions, including costs and attorney fees.
The shield has limits. A signed settlement agreement is not confidential unless the parties expressly say so. Communications used to plan a crime, threats of violence, and information required for mandatory child or elder abuse reports fall outside the privilege. And if you later move to set aside the agreement for fraud or coercion, the relevant mediation communications can be disclosed for that limited purpose.12The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 44.405 – Confidentiality; Privilege; Exceptions
If You Don’t Settle
Not every mediation produces an agreement. If neither side will move further, the mediator declares an impasse and the case returns to the litigation track for trial.3Florida Courts. Mediation An impasse is not always final. Settlement talks often resume as the trial date approaches.
Partial agreements are common too. You might settle property division and alimony and reach impasse on the parenting plan. Only the unresolved pieces go to trial, which shortens and cheapens the proceeding.
If You Do Settle
When you reach agreement, you and your spouse sign a written Mediated Settlement Agreement before leaving the session, along with any attorneys who are present.3Florida Courts. Mediation At that point it is a binding contract between the two of you, but not yet a court order.
You then file the agreement with the Clerk of the Circuit Court with the rest of your dissolution paperwork and schedule an uncontested final hearing. The judge reviews the agreement to confirm it complies with Florida law and, where children are involved, serves their best interests. If it does, the court incorporates it into the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage. From that point it is enforceable as a court order.
Can You Undo It?
Rarely. Florida courts set a high bar for vacating a mediated settlement: you generally need to show fraud, misrepresentation, coercion, or overreaching. Regret, hindsight that you could have done better, and the ordinary emotional pressure of a mediation session are not grounds. Have a lawyer review proposed terms before you sign, even if no lawyer was with you in the room.