Florida Divorce Laws: Property, 2023 Alimony, and Parenting Plans

Florida divorce laws require one spouse to have lived in the state for at least six months before filing, allow a no-fault dissolution on the ground that the marriage is irretrievably broken, and govern how property, alimony, time-sharing with children, and child support are decided. The state overhauled its alimony statute in 2023, ending permanent alimony and replacing it with three time-limited forms of support. If you are heading into a dissolution in Florida, the rules below cover what the court will do and what you have to do to get there.

Who Can File and on What Grounds

At least one spouse must have lived in Florida for six consecutive months before the petition is filed.¹ A Florida driver’s license, a voter registration card, or testimony from someone who can confirm where you live will typically satisfy the court.

Florida is a no-fault state. You do not have to prove cheating, abuse, or any wrongdoing. The petition just has to state that the marriage is “irretrievably broken.”² If both spouses agree, the court accepts it. If one spouse denies it, the judge can order counseling or pause the case for up to three months, but the dissolution ultimately goes through if the court concludes the marriage cannot be saved.³

There is one other ground. If a spouse has been legally adjudicated mentally incapacitated for at least three years, the other spouse can file on that basis, and the court appoints a guardian to protect the incapacitated spouse’s interests.³

How to File

Florida uses Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms. The core document is the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, with different versions depending on whether there are minor children or specific financial claims. A Financial Affidavit comes with every filing: Form 12.902(b) if your individual gross annual income is under $50,000, Form 12.902(c) if it is higher. The affidavit requires a full accounting of monthly income, expenses, assets, and debts, backed up by bank statements, tax returns, and pay stubs. Hiding assets or income can trigger sanctions and later litigation to reopen the case.

If minor children are involved, you also file a UCCJEA Affidavit documenting where each child has lived over the past five years, which establishes the Florida court’s authority to make time-sharing decisions.⁴

You file with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in your county, usually through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal.⁵ The statutory base filing fee runs up to $295, with surcharges bringing the total to roughly $400 depending on the circuit.⁶ If you cannot afford it, file an Application for Determination of Civil Indigent Status to request a waiver.

After filing, you must have your spouse formally served. A professional process server or county sheriff delivers the summons and petition. Your spouse then has 20 calendar days to file a written response.⁷ If your spouse cannot be found after a diligent search, Florida allows service by publication in a newspaper.⁸

How Property Is Divided

Florida uses equitable distribution, not community property. The court starts with a presumption that marital assets and debts should be split equally, then adjusts if the facts justify an unequal division.² Equitable means fair, which is not always 50/50.

Before anything is divided, the court separates each spouse’s nonmarital property from the marital estate. Nonmarital assets generally include what you owned before the marriage and inheritances or gifts received individually during it. Marital assets include everything acquired during the marriage by either spouse, the increased value of nonmarital assets resulting from either spouse’s efforts or marital funds, and gifts between spouses.²

When weighing an unequal split, the court considers each spouse’s contribution to the marriage (including homemaking and raising children), the economic circumstances of each party, the length of the marriage, career sacrifices one spouse made for the other, the need to keep certain assets like a business intact, whether the marital home should be retained for a dependent child, and whether either spouse wasted marital assets within the two years before filing or after. In contested cases the judge must issue written findings explaining why the distribution is fair.²

Alimony Under the 2023 Rules

Florida eliminated permanent alimony in 2023. The court can now award bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, or durational alimony, or a combination.⁹

Bridge-the-gap alimony covers identifiable short-term needs during the move from married to single life. It cannot exceed two years and cannot be modified.
Rehabilitative alimony supports a spouse in developing job skills, completing education, or rebuilding a career. It requires a specific rehabilitative plan and cannot exceed five years.
Durational alimony provides financial assistance for a set period. It cannot be awarded for marriages lasting less than three years.

Duration caps for durational alimony depend on the length of the marriage. A short-term marriage is presumed to be under 10 years, moderate-term is 10 to 20, and long-term is 20 or more. Durational alimony cannot exceed 50 percent of the length of a short-term marriage, 60 percent of a moderate-term marriage, or 75 percent of a long-term marriage.⁹ For an eight-year marriage, that means a maximum of four years.

The amount of durational alimony is capped at the lesser of the recipient’s reasonable need or 35 percent of the difference between the spouses’ net incomes.⁹ The court can also consider adultery and its economic impact. All alimony terminates on the death of either party or the remarriage of the recipient.

Parenting Plans and Time-Sharing With Children

Florida does not use the word “custody.” Every case with minor children requires a parenting plan setting out how both parents will share responsibilities and time. There is a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the child’s best interest, and the court must order shared parental responsibility unless it would harm the child.¹⁰

At minimum, the plan must include a detailed time-sharing schedule, assignments for healthcare, school, and extracurricular decisions, how each parent will communicate with the child while the child is with the other parent, and the locations for exchanges unless both parents agree otherwise in writing.

When parents cannot agree, the judge evaluates over twenty best-interest factors. In practice the ones that carry the most weight are each parent’s willingness to cooperate with the schedule, the stability of each home, the preference of a child mature enough to express one, and any history of domestic violence or substance abuse.¹⁰ A parent who undermines the child’s relationship with the other parent is at a real disadvantage.

How Child Support Is Calculated

Florida uses an income shares model. Both parents’ incomes determine the total support obligation, and each parent pays a share proportional to earnings. The court figures each parent’s monthly net income (gross minus taxes, mandatory retirement, health insurance premiums, and similar deductions), combines them, and applies a statutory guidelines schedule to find the minimum support need for the number of children.¹¹

Each parent’s share equals the total obligation multiplied by that parent’s percentage of combined income. Time-sharing changes the math. When both parents have at least 20 percent of overnights (73 or more nights per year), the base obligation is multiplied by 1.5, and each parent’s share is then adjusted by the other parent’s time-sharing percentage. The parent with the larger obligation pays the difference to the other.¹¹

A judge can deviate from the guidelines by up to 5 percent without explanation. Larger deviations require a written finding that the standard amount would be unjust, for instance when a child has special medical needs or a parent has extraordinary expenses. For combined monthly net incomes above $10,000, the obligation is the guidelines maximum plus a percentage of the excess, ranging from 5 percent for one child to 12.5 percent for six.¹¹

Retirement Accounts and QDROs

Retirement benefits earned during the marriage are marital assets subject to equitable distribution. This includes vested and unvested benefits in pensions, 401(k) plans, deferred compensation, and annuities.¹² Contributions and growth from before the marriage stay nonmarital, so the marital portion has to be calculated separately. For defined benefit pensions the valuation often requires an actuary.

To split an employer-sponsored plan you need a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. A QDRO directs the plan administrator to pay a portion of the participant’s benefits to the other spouse, called the alternate payee. The order must name both parties with addresses, identify the specific plan, state the dollar amount or percentage being transferred, and specify the payment period. A plan administrator has no obligation to honor an order that fails to meet these requirements.¹³

Distributions paid to an alternate payee from a qualified plan like a 401(k) are exempt from the 10 percent early withdrawal penalty, even if the alternate payee is under 59½.¹⁴ This exception applies only to employer-sponsored qualified plans. If the funds are first rolled into an IRA and then withdrawn, the penalty applies.

Steps That Have to Happen Before the Judge Signs

If minor children are involved, both parents must complete a four-hour Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course before the final judgment can be entered. The course covers the emotional impact on children, co-parenting communication, and financial responsibilities. Proof of completion goes in the court file.¹⁵ Skipping it can delay the judgment or lead to contempt sanctions.

When the parties disagree on parental responsibility, time-sharing, or child support, the court can order mediation. A neutral mediator helps both spouses negotiate.¹⁶ A full agreement gets reduced to writing and submitted for court approval. Unresolved issues go to trial. Mediation is where many cases settle, and it is almost always cheaper and faster than a trial.

Florida also imposes a 20-day minimum between the date the petition is filed and the date a final judgment can be entered. Even an uncontested case with no children typically takes at least 30 days from filing to finalization. Contested cases that go to trial can stretch to a year or more depending on the complexity of the disputes.

Taxes and Health Insurance

For any divorce finalized in 2019 or later, alimony payments are not deductible by the payer and are not reported as income by the recipient. The older treatment, under which the payer deducted alimony and the recipient reported it, still applies to divorces finalized on or before December 31, 2018, unless the agreement has been modified to adopt the new rules.

Your filing status for a given tax year turns on whether you are still legally married on December 31. If the final judgment is entered before year-end, you file as single or, with a qualifying dependent, as head of household. If the divorce is not yet final, you file as married filing jointly or married filing separately.¹⁷

Divorce is a qualifying event under COBRA. A spouse covered under the other spouse’s employer-sponsored health plan can continue that coverage for up to 36 months after the divorce is finalized.¹⁸ You must notify the plan within 60 days of the divorce; the employer has no duty to report it for you. COBRA is expensive because you pay the full premium plus a small administrative fee, but it buys time to find coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace, a new employer, or a private plan.

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.021 – Residence Requirements
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 61.075 – Equitable Distribution of Marital Assets and Liabilities
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.052 – Dissolution of Marriage
4
Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(d), Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) Affidavit
5
Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. Florida Courts E-Filing Portal
6
Florida House of Representatives. Florida Statutes 28.241 – Filing Fees
7
The Florida Bar. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 49.011 – Service of Process by Publication; Cases in Which Allowed
9
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 61.08 – Alimony
10
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 61.13 – Support of Children; Parenting and Time-Sharing; Powers of Court
11
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines
12
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.076 – Distribution of Retirement Plans Upon Dissolution of Marriage
13
U.S. Department of Labor. QDROs Chapter 1 – Qualified Domestic Relations Orders: An Overview
14
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
15
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.21 – Parenting Course Authorized; Fees; Required Attendance Authorized; Contempt
16
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.183 – Mediation of Certain Contested Issues
17
Internal Revenue Service. About Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals
18
U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers