A contested divorce in Florida is one where the spouses cannot agree on property, support, or the children, so a judge decides the open issues after the case moves through mandatory disclosures, discovery, and usually mediation. Most contested cases wrap up somewhere between four months and two years after filing, depending on how complex the disputes are and how crowded the court’s calendar is.
How a Contested Case Starts
At least one spouse must have lived in Florida for six months before a petition can be filed.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.021 – Residence Requirements Residency is usually proved with a Florida driver’s license, voter registration, or a corroborating witness. The petitioner files a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in the circuit court and has the other spouse formally served.
Florida is a no-fault state. The petition only needs to allege that the marriage is “irretrievably broken,” so neither spouse has to prove wrongdoing to get divorced.2Online Sunshine. Florida Code 61.052 – Dissolution of Marriage
If you are the one served, you have 20 days to file a written answer. Miss that deadline and the judge can enter a default, deciding property, support, and parenting without your input. Filing an answer protects your right to contest the petitioner’s claims, and if you have your own requests, you can attach a counter-petition.
The Issues You Will Actually Fight About
What makes a divorce “contested” is disagreement in one or more of four areas. Each has its own statute, and if you cannot settle, the judge will resolve it.
Equitable Distribution of Property
Florida courts divide marital assets and debts through equitable distribution. The starting point is an equal split, and a judge only deviates when specific statutory factors justify doing so.3Online Sunshine. Florida Code 61.075 – Equitable Distribution of Marital Assets and Liabilities Those factors include each spouse’s contribution to the marriage (homemaking and childcare count, not just paychecks), each spouse’s economic circumstances, the length of the marriage, career sacrifices made for the other spouse, whether either spouse intentionally wasted assets within two years before filing or after filing, and whether a dependent child’s best interests favor one parent keeping the marital home.
The work happens in three stages: sorting marital from nonmarital property, valuing each item, then distributing. Property owned before the marriage, individually inherited, or received as a personal gift generally stays with the original owner. Everything acquired during the marriage is presumed marital, including the home, vehicles, bank accounts, investments, retirement funds, and debts.
Alimony
Florida overhauled its alimony law in 2023 and eliminated permanent alimony. A court can now award temporary alimony during the case, bridge-the-gap alimony for short-term transitional needs (capped at two years), rehabilitative alimony for education or job training (capped at five years), and durational alimony for ongoing support after the divorce.4Online Sunshine. Florida Code 61.08 – Alimony
Durational alimony is where most contested fights happen. The maximum length depends on how long the marriage lasted:
- Short-term marriage under 10 years: durational alimony cannot exceed 50 percent of the marriage’s length.
- Moderate-term marriage of 10 to 20 years: capped at 60 percent of the marriage’s length.
- Long-term marriage of 20 years or more: capped at 75 percent of the marriage’s length.
Marriages lasting fewer than three years are not eligible for durational alimony at all. The amount is limited to the lesser of the recipient’s reasonable need or 35 percent of the difference between the spouses’ net incomes.
One tax point matters for negotiation. For divorces finalized after 2018, alimony is not deductible by the payer and is not taxable income to the recipient.5IRS. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance That changes the real-dollar impact of any number on the table.
Parental Responsibility and Timesharing
Florida does not use the word “custody.” The law separates parenting into parental responsibility (decision-making authority over education, healthcare, and welfare) and timesharing (the schedule of when the child is with each parent).6Online Sunshine. Florida Code 61.046 – Definitions
Shared parental responsibility is the default. A court will only grant one parent sole decision-making authority if sharing would harm the child. For timesharing, Florida applies a rebuttable presumption that equal time with both parents is in the child’s best interests, and a parent seeking a different split has to show equal time would not serve the child well.7Online Sunshine. Florida Code 61.13 – Parental Responsibility, Time-Sharing, and Support
Every divorce involving minor children requires a court-approved parenting plan. At minimum, it has to spell out how the parents will share daily childcare, the specific timesharing schedule including overnights and holidays, which parent handles healthcare decisions, which handles school matters, and how each parent will communicate with the child during the other parent’s time. Parents can negotiate their own plan; if they cannot agree, the court writes one.
Child Support
Both parents share the financial obligation of supporting their children, and Florida calculates the amount using a statutory guidelines formula. The two biggest inputs are each parent’s monthly net income and the number of overnight stays with each parent.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines The formula combines both parents’ net incomes, looks up the corresponding support amount on the statutory table for the number of children, and splits it proportionally by income. Overnights adjust that base obligation, and a judge can deviate from the guidelines with adequate written justification.
Mandatory Financial Disclosure
Within 45 days of the respondent being served, both spouses must exchange a detailed package of financial documents.9Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285 – Mandatory Disclosure This is not optional, and it is one of the first concrete obligations you will hit.
The centerpiece is the Family Law Financial Affidavit, a sworn statement listing income, monthly expenses, assets, and debts. Whether you file the short or long form depends on gross annual income, with $50,000 as the dividing line. Because the affidavit is sworn, inaccurate or incomplete answers can lead to sanctions.
Rule 12.285 also requires supporting documents:
- Federal and state income tax returns for the past three years.
- Pay stubs for the three months before serving the affidavit, plus W-2s, 1099s, and K-1s for the most recent year if that year’s return has not been filed.
- Bank statements for the last three months for checking accounts and the last 12 months for all other accounts, including brokerage.
- Any loan applications and personal financial statements prepared or used in the previous 12 months.
- The most recent statement and summary plan description for any pension, 401(k), or profit-sharing plan.
- Deeds from the last three years and promissory notes from the last 12 months.
- Declarations pages and recent statements for all life insurance policies, plus health and dental insurance cards.
Start pulling records early. Delays in producing disclosure stall everything downstream.
From Filing to Final Judgment
A contested case moves through several distinct phases. Not every case touches every phase; many settle along the way.
Temporary Orders
Because contested cases can drag, some issues cannot wait. Either spouse can ask the court for temporary orders on child support, alimony, exclusive use of the marital home, a preliminary timesharing schedule, and restrictions preventing either spouse from draining marital accounts. Courts typically expect the parties to attempt mediation on those specific issues before scheduling a hearing.
Discovery
Discovery is the formal information-gathering phase beyond mandatory disclosure. Each side can send interrogatories (written questions answered under oath) and take depositions (sworn testimony before a court reporter).10Florida State Courts System. Dissolution of Marriage (Divorce) Third parties like banks, employers, and financial advisors can be subpoenaed for records. When there are allegations of hidden assets or complicated business interests, this phase can run months and drive up costs quickly.
Mediation
Florida courts require mediation for parental responsibility and timesharing disputes wherever the circuit has a family mediation program, and in practice most circuits also require or strongly push mediation on financial issues before a case reaches trial. A neutral mediator helps the parties negotiate, and any agreement becomes binding once the court approves it. The exception: with a documented history of domestic violence, the court will not order mediation.11Online Sunshine. Florida Code 44.102 – Court-Ordered Mediation
Mediation resolves far more contested divorces than trials do. Even a partial agreement shortens the eventual trial and cuts the bill.
Trial
Whatever mediation does not resolve goes to trial. There is no jury in a Florida divorce; a judge hears the evidence and decides every open issue.10Florida State Courts System. Dissolution of Marriage (Divorce) Both sides present testimony, financial evidence, and expert witnesses if needed. The judge then issues a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage, the binding order that divides property, sets support, establishes the parenting plan, and ends the marriage.
Dividing Retirement Accounts
Retirement savings earned during the marriage are marital property, but you cannot just withdraw funds from a 401(k) or pension and hand half to your spouse. Employer-sponsored plans governed by federal law require a Qualified Domestic Relations Order to divide the account.12U.S. Department of Labor. Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Under ERISA – A Practical Guide to Dividing Retirement Benefits
A QDRO is a separate court order that directs the plan administrator to pay a portion of the participant’s benefits to the other spouse. Without a valid QDRO, the plan administrator is legally prohibited from splitting the account no matter what the divorce decree says. Getting a QDRO drafted, approved by the plan, and entered by the court can take months, so start on it before the divorce is finalized whenever possible.
IRAs are different. They can be divided through a direct transfer incident to divorce without a QDRO, and the transfer does not trigger taxes or early withdrawal penalties as long as it is properly documented in the divorce decree.
Tax and Social Security Consequences to Weigh Before Signing
Several federal rules quietly shape what a settlement is actually worth. Getting them wrong is expensive.
Property Transfers Between Spouses
Transferring property between spouses as part of a divorce is not a taxable event. Federal law treats it as a gift, so no capital gains tax is owed at the transfer.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1041 – Transfers of Property Between Spouses or Incident to Divorce The catch is that the receiving spouse inherits the original tax basis. Stock your spouse bought for $10,000 that is now worth $50,000 will produce a $40,000 capital gain when you sell. A $50,000 brokerage account and $50,000 in cash are not the same asset for settlement purposes, and treating them as equal is a common mistake.
Selling the Marital Home
If the home is sold during or after the divorce, each spouse can exclude up to $250,000 of capital gain, provided they owned and lived in the home for at least two of the five years before the sale. A spouse who moves out during separation still gets credit for the time the other spouse continues living there, and a spouse who receives the home in the divorce can tack on the other spouse’s ownership period.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 121 – Exclusion of Gain From Sale of Principal Residence
Claiming Children as Dependents
Only one parent can claim a child as a dependent in a given year. By default, that right belongs to the parent with more overnights. For the noncustodial parent to claim the child, the custodial parent has to sign IRS Form 8332 releasing the claim. A divorce decree alone no longer satisfies the IRS. Form 8332 controls eligibility for the child tax credit and the credit for other dependents, but it does not transfer the earned income credit or head-of-household status, which stay with the custodial parent.
The 10-Year Social Security Mark
If your marriage lasted at least 10 years, you may be eligible to collect Social Security benefits based on your ex-spouse’s earnings record. To qualify you have to be at least 62, currently unmarried, and entitled to a smaller benefit on your own record than you would get on your ex’s. If your ex has not yet filed, you also have to have been divorced for at least two years.15Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.331 – Who Is Entitled to Wife’s or Husband’s Benefits as a Divorced Spouse Claiming on your ex’s record does not reduce their benefit or affect their current spouse.
This is worth watching if you are near the line. A divorce that finalizes at nine years and 11 months looks the same as one that finalizes at 10 years and one month, and the lifetime difference in Social Security income can be substantial.