People often ask, “What does it take to get a divorce in Florida?” The answer is fairly simple. People need to be a Florida resident for the six months prior to the filing of a divorce action, and they must allege and establish that the marriage is “irretrievably broken” meaning that it cannot be repaired under any circumstances. We also frequently hear people say that his or her spouse won’t “agree to the divorce.” We have to explain that it is not up to the other spouse to agree or disagree. If one spouse wants a divorce and the above two criteria are met, it is a certainty that the Court will dissolve the marriage. Sometimes, however, we see situations where one party truly wishes to oppose the divorce, wanting to keep the marriage together, for whatever reason. So what happens under those circumstances?

Required Counseling by Florida Divorce Court

Divorce Courts in Florida have great discretion in how they handle this type of issue. For example, the Court might refuse to grant the divorce without first requiring the parties to participate in some form of marital counseling in an effort to save the marriage. That does not frequently occur, but it is within the Court’s power to do so, particularly where one spouse requests that it do so. Should the other spouse be strongly opposed to the marital counseling, some Courts will see the counseling as a likely waste of time, and will refuse to grant such a request. The facts and circumstances of each divorce case will ultimately guide the Court’s decisions in this regard.

Remember, it is not up to the other spouse to decide if you get a divorce. It is up to the Court. If you need help deciding if a divorce is right for you, or how you should proceed once you have decided to divorce, you need experienced attorneys handling your case.

Call Jacksonville Attorneys Makofka & Makofka today for a free consultation regarding your divorce rights in Florida. We can help!

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Divorces can turn nasty for couples who are not keeping sight of the important aspects of life. In most divorce cases, couples are not thinking about their financial situation or their family, due to their feelings being hurt that the marriage ended. After all, no one got married with the intent on divorcing the person a few years down the road. As a family law attorney, I have dealt with several couples who are going through a divorce. Over the years, I have found that for those who think with their brain, instead of their heart, their divorce will likely work out better for all involved.

There are several aspects that I encourage my clients to consider when they are going through a divorce. They do not need to think about what happened to make their marriage end in this way, as this can get emotions high. Instead, I encourage my clients to look at:

1. Family:

If you have children, they must be considered first in the context of a divorce. Your time should be devoted to ensuring that their needs and welfare are met and not just yours. Remember that children are innocent bystanders and completely dependent upon their parents. I also encourage couples to consider their visitation/timesharing, talk with one another about their children, and even seek out counseling/therapy to ensure their family is not suffering from this decision.

Protect your children from the divorce as much as possible. While there may be an urge to say something negative about your soon-to-be former spouse while in the presence of the children, never give in to that temptation. Children are much more insightful than people realize. They will internalize the negative comments that you might make about the other party. Children realize that they are one-half mom and one-half dad. So when the children are with mom, and they hear mom describe their dad as being no good, the children hear that as mom saying that they are no good.

2. Finances:

This is the time to be smart about your finances. Once a divorce in Duval, Clay, Nassau, or St. Johns County has been filed, the case is governed by a standing family law court order. That court order directs neither party to do anything that is going to negatively impact the other party outside of the normal course of business. In other words, don’t hide money, don’t empty out savings accounts, don’t take out unusual loans against your 401(k), don’t transfer title of assets such as cars and boats, don’t deed properties out, and do not cancel insurance policies without the written permission of the other party or an order from the court.

Also, neither party should even attempt to hide assets. Attempting to hide or dispose of assets is something that can really get you into hot water with the court. In Florida, each party is entitled to one-half of the marital estate, both assets and debts, regardless of how the marital assets were acquired. Additionally, in Florida, there are rules of procedure requiring mandatory disclosure of financial documents. Not only does this make it very difficult for a person to hide financial assets, but if caught, it could be viewed as an attempt to commit a fraud upon the court. At that point, the court may possibly determine that the person attempting to hide or dispose of the assets is no longer deserving of their presumptive half of the marital estate. In other words, if the court finds that there was fraud committed by one of the parties, then the court has the discretion to award an unequal distribution at the expense of the party committing the fraud.

3. Lifestyle:

I highly encourage my clients to look at their current lifestyle and factor in how divorce is going to change this, then start adapting to a new lifestyle. During your marriage, you and your spouse may have been each working and sharing expenses. After your separation, it is likely that while your income will not increase, your expenses will. This may mean that you have to downgrade your home or budget a bit more carefully if there is only going to be one income in the family.

As your Family Law & Divorce Attorneys, the offices of Makofka & Makofka, work to ensure that your divorce proceedings are going to be fair to you. We take into consideration the type of lifestyle you have lived, your finances, and most importantly your family when helping you to come up with a plan that is going to work for you. However, we strongly encourage couples who are seeking divorce to remain civil with one another. Divorce is hard enough as it is, there is no reason to add to the stress and pain by being vindictive and unreasonable.

If you are considering or perhaps even already going through a divorce, and live in the Jacksonville area, call us at 904-355-2700. The offices of Makofka & Makofka are here for you and will help you through this tough time.

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If you are going through a divorce in Florida, then one of the major areas of concern has to deal with how to divide up the marital estate. In order to fairly or “equitably” distribute the marital estate, it must first be determined what exactly is the marital estate.

In Florida, the marital estate consists of marital assets and liabilities. A marital asset or liability is any asset or liability that was obtained during the marriage, with a few exceptions. But essentially, if something was obtained during the marriage, then it is considered marital property in the eyes of the law. Marital property in a divorce context does not only consist of land and homes, commonly referred to as “real property,” but also other tangible items like automobiles, paintings, furniture, jewelry, boats, guns, and on and on.

Property Distribution in Divorce

What people going through a divorce sometimes do not realize though is that intangible items, such as retirement accounts, pension plans, annuities, and even some life insurance policies are also considered marital property. All of these items are subject to what is called in Florida divorce law as “equitable distribution.” This means that under Florida law, the court will equitably, or fairly, distribute these marital assets between the parties. Regardless of who acquired the assets, the court will usually distribute the marital estate equally between the parties. This means that even if you did not work, but your spouse did, almost anything obtained during the marriage could be equally divided by the court during the divorce.

But what if you aren’t sure what your spouse has? Perhaps he or she does not keep you informed about their assets and debts. In Florida, there is “mandatory disclosure” in all family law cases, including divorces. That means that your spouse will have to provide information regarding all of his or her accounts and assets. If they refuse to provide such information willingly, then it can be subpoenaed from their bank, credit union, or employer.

If you have any questions regarding asset or property division in the context of a divorce, then do not hesitate to give us a call at (904) 355-2700. One of our experienced, aggressive divorce attorneys will be happy to confidentially discuss your case with you. Makofka & Makofka, Jacksonville family law attorneys, help those going through a divorce in Northeast Florida, including Duval, St. Johns, Nassau, Clay, and Baker Counties.

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