The prospect of a divorce can be intimidating for Florida residents. After all, no one gets married expecting their relationship to end in a divorce. But, the reality is that each year in Florida thousands of divorce cases wind their way through the legal system. So, how will your divorce case proceed?
Common steps in divorce cases
The first step in any divorce case is to make sure that you are actually eligible to file for divorce in a certain county in Florida. Getting the right information about these legal standards is crucial in any given divorce case. Once you are determined to be eligible to file for divorce in a certain county, the next step is to actually have the initiating documents of the case drafted and filed.
From there, the divorce paperwork needs to be “served” on your soon-to-be ex-spouse. This means that the proper paperwork is verifiably delivered to and received by your spouse. After that occurs, your spouse will have a set amount of time to respond to the divorce filings. Depending on that response, the divorce case will then proceed through the usual steps of a civil law case, such as the discovery phase, until the case either proceeds to mediation or trial, or the divorcing couple work out an agreement through direct negotiations.
Although the basic framework of divorce cases can be similar across the thousands of divorce cases that are filed in Florida each year, your unique circumstances will lead to a result that can impact your life for years or even decades after the divorce is finalized. Our readers in Florida will want to be sure to get specific information about their own divorce, preferably well before the case is actually filed.