Florida No-Fault Divorce

For many years divorce was predicated on the misdeeds of one spouse.  That’s right, even in a divorce that both people wanted, there had to be a legal reason named that disparaged one of the partners.  Various states accepted issues such as mental or physical cruelty, infidelity, abuse of alcohol or drugs, desertion, or incarceration as a reason for divorce. Luckily, all of that denigration and blame is a thing of the past because Florida is a no-fault divorce state. If your wish to divorce is the result of simply falling out of love, for example, Florida law is okay with the split. These days either spouse may file for divorce without coming up with anything more than the wish to move on without a spouse. There needn’t be any allegations of transgressions by the other person, and, if both people agree, there are no children involved, no alimony requests, and no problems with the property split, once the divorce is approved, there’s no waiting period. The only thing you need to say if you want to split up is that the marriage is irretrievably broken and there’s nothing that can be done to save it.

When Your Spouse Disagrees 

But what if your spouse just can’t let you go? They’ve promised to do anything you ask if you’ll just give them one more chance! Promises to change, to go to counseling, to become the spouse you’ve always wanted—frets about how divorce will affect the kids—begging, pleading, promising, demanding–the list goes on and on. Even so, you are ready to start over–alone. While it may be a little more complicated (and a little rougher) you absolutely can still get the divorce.  You’ll just have to demonstrate how and why the union is irretrievably broken to the satisfaction of the court. That could mean simply stating that you no longer love your spouse, or it may need a few more details, including, perhaps, things like this: 

• Your spouse cheated on you and you can’t forgive them;
• Your partner is abusive, absent, or simply neglectful;
• Demonstrate that the two of you have lived separately for a period of time and you don’t want to live together again;
• Your spouse is a total slop and living together is impossible.

A hearing will be held to determine the soundness of your claim that the marriage truly cannot be revived. The  judge may immediately rule in your favor, may take some time to weigh the information presented, or may even require counseling or a cooling off period (especially if minor children are impacted). Ultimately,  once the court is convinced that there really is no chance of rehabilitating the marriage, the dissolution can occur. So even though your spouse might slow down the process by a few months, they can’t stop it all together.

Let Us Help 

The experienced family law divorce attorneys at WiseLieberman have encountered situations of all kinds over the years, and we are prepared to address the issues in your divorce head-on.  To discuss, schedule a confidential consultation in our Boca Raton office today.