Divorce

Florida is a no-fault divorce state.  Therefore, one party does not need to prove the other is at fault to get a divorce.  To end a marriage, either spouse can file a petition for dissolution of marriage alleging that the marriage is irretrievably broken.

Generally, all issues of property division, children and support must be determined at the time of final judgment.  For special circumstances, a court may bifurcate the case and enter a partial final judgment and reserve jurisdiction to determine those issues.

Legal Separation:  This is also known as support without dissolution. Legal separation is not a term used in Florida family law cases. Instead of filing suit for legal separation, one files for support without dissolution.  There is no division of property and only support issues are heard by the court.  In these cases, the parties believe the marriage is irretrievably broken, but they need an enforceable court to establish and direct support for a spouse and/or children.

Annulment:

An annulment is a legal determination that the marriage was void or invalid when it occurred.  Grounds for annulment include: incestuous marriage, bigamous marriage, petitioner’s age at time of marriage, unsound mind, fraud, force and physical capacity.