Family Law Handbook

Family Law Handbook¹
Created by the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar² (2020 Revision)³

Congratulations on your decision to marry! This information is intended to help marriage license applicants have successful marriages. It includes topics such as learning to communicate effectively, building the team, solving problems collaboratively, and resolving conflicts. The information also provides general guidance on economic issues, raising a family, and the consequences that occur when marriages fail.

The provision of this information is one way the State of Florida is showing its support of your decision to marry. The information is intended to be a basic roadmap to guide you. The State of Florida hopes that you have a happy and healthy marriage! Again, Congratulations!

1. This Handbook [Revised 10/2020] is meant to be read in a digital format and has hyperlinks to relevant Florida Statutes and Florida Family Law Forms. If you have received a printed copy and wish to access the digital version, please go to https://www.familylawfla.org/resources/handbook​.
2. The Family Law Section thanks the Florida Legislature, and especially Representative Clay Yarborough and Senator Dennis Baxley, for their authorship of Part One).
3. Part Two of this handbook has been prepared as a public service by the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar and has been reviewed for accuracy by The Family Court Steering Committee of the Florida Supreme Court.

As you and your spouse begin your journey together, the first thing you will need to know is where you are going. Your shared destination is determined by your personal and shared values. By understanding your mutual values, you are on the same road, going the same direction, using the same mode of transportation. The marriage journey will require lots of decisions from both of you. Through mutual respect, trust, honesty, and love, you will have a rewarding trip.

There are two basic forms of communication, verbal and non-verbal. Verbal includes the spoken or written word and non-verbal refers to body language. Often HOW something is said, including one’s tone of voice, facial expression, and gestures, is more important than WHAT is said. Even what is NOT said can have a dramatic effect. For example, walking out or refusing to communicate can be very damaging to a relationship. When couples gain confidence in communication, they are better able to avoid habits of withdrawal and succeed in tackling key issues.

Communication has two parts. One is speaking, the other is listening. Couples who learn how to do this calmly and effectively learn how to protect their love from the predictable problems that exist in every marriage. The goal is to learn to listen in a way that shows your partner you love them. This includes listening without interrupting, giving your partner your full attention, and listening so carefully that you can show them you understand their point of view. Speaking effectively takes just as much care as listening. Try to speak in a way that shows your partner that you love them, respect them, and that you want to work as a team. When you are discussing a heated topic, try to speak in short sentences and stick to the issue being discussed. Successful marriages depend on good communication between both partners. Learning to be a good communicator takes patience and practice.

People in conflict are seldom upset about what they think they are upset about. One event may trigger an emotional outburst. The outburst often is caused by a series of unresolved issues. A win/lose situation will not solve the problem. Resolving conflicts effectively strives to achieve a win/win solution for both of you. How can you find an answer that benefits you and your partner? The first step is for the two of you to step out of the battle and look beyond the event that created the conflict. The next step is to shift your focus to your common interests, mutual values, and positive qualities. Each of you might want to silently ask yourself: “How do I want to respond to this conflict?” And, “What kind of experience do I want this to be? Do I want a positive experience or a negative experience?”

Refocusing your own thinking helps to calm emotions. You can redirect your thinking -- and your partner’s -- to what you both really want: an activity or mutual goal, something more satisfying than the conflict. Couples can change their conflict experiences by changing their thoughts about the situation.

As you prepare for your new journey as a couple, you have several financial issues to discuss. What financial resources and obligations do you bring into your marriage? Do you have business debts? Will you combine your finances and have joint checking and savings accounts or maintain separate accounts? Who will pay the bills? Will you develop a budget together? Talking to each other about how you plan to earn, spend, and save your money is easier when you agree on priorities. Your marriage benefits from forming and sticking to a spending plan that includes discussion and agreement.

One of you may be better at balancing a checkbook, paying the bills, and developing a budget. As you take this marital journey with your partner, talk with each other about which one of you is best suited to do specific financial tasks. Then, after you are married, try out your new system! Adjust it if it doesn’t work well.

It is important to make your budget realistic and flexible. Major categories of expenses are: rent or mortgage payment; utilities; food and household goods; clothing; healthcare; insurance premiums; tuition, charitable donations; transportation; household maintenance; credit card debt; hobbies and entertainment; vacation and holiday savings; and other expenses, such as cosmetics, hair care, veterinary fees (if you have pets), gifts, plants, and artwork.

Certain budget items are fundamental expenditures or “absolutes”, such as housing, food, and transportation. Other budget items are less important. Hobbies, vacations, gifts, and artwork are a lower priority than shelter and food. These are “discretionary” expenditures. Prioritize your budget items, starting with “absolutes.”

Involve your spouse in major budget decisions. Talk together about the mutual benefit and impact of your budget decisions. For example, what should you do if one of you wants a new computer while the other wants new carpet, and there is money for only one of the two items? Which of the purchases is most needed and beneficial to both of you? What is the impact on the quality of your life together if you buy the computer? The carpeting? Set your purchasing priorities together. Be a team working towards your shared financial goals.

Deciding to start a family is a BIG decision! The change you experienced when your household became two, triples with the addition of a child! Children bring great joy, sleepless nights, and new roles and responsibilities for both of you.

Parenthood is a lifetime commitment. It requires emotional maturity from both partners. Raising children can be the most satisfying experience when both of you are ready to make this unselfish commitment.

Raising a child is a team effort and requires both partners to be active participants. You are bringing into the world a new human being who will require your full support physically, emotionally, socially, instructionally, and economically. Both of you are responsible for your child’s care. This mutual responsibility for the care of your child or children never ends. When you agreed to have a child, you signed on for life.

Your successful marriage is the crucial foundation on which to build a healthy home that will nurture your children. A married two-parent household generally provides a better standard of living (more money), more time to be with children, and stronger family bonds.

Sometimes raising children can be very difficult. You may find that you need help. Some children have problems making friends, getting along in school, and staying out of trouble with the law. Family counseling can strengthen families by providing a safe place to explore issues and resolve problems.

It may surprise you to learn that the State of Florida has an interest in your marriage. Not in the ceremony, but in whether the marriage is long lasting, happy, and healthy.

What does all that mean? It means that staying happily married is difficult, and requires hard work to maintain. The struggles that couples face during their marriage sometimes causes one or both of them to consider dissolution of their marriage. Even the best marriages have conflict; however, committed couples learn how to work through the rough times.

The laws of Florida require that you read this handbook. This handbook is not designed to give individualized legal advice. It is designed to generally inform you about marriage, legal aspects of the marital relationship, and the dissolution of the marital relationship.

This handbook has been based on, and some of it has been taken directly from, Florida laws in effect at the time it was written and represents general legal advice. Since the law is continually changing, some provisions in this handbook may be out of date. It is always best to consult an attorney about your legal rights and responsibilities regarding your particular case.

Marriage and parenthood are two of the most important and most difficult jobs anyone can have. Oddly enough, parenting requires no training or education and you do not have to pass a test to get married or become a parent. Resources are available once you become a spouse or a parent to provide support when you weather difficult times. You are urged to seek out a counselor, a trusted clergy member or other resources in your area for assistance in how to manage and get through those difficult times. Such resources could include self-care, parenting education, handling communication difficulties and conflict resolution. Such resources may also be available for your children as well.

If, despite your and your spouse’s best efforts, you are not able to make the marriage work and decide to proceed with a dissolution of marriage, your life will be affected in many ways you might never have considered. For that reason, before getting married there are four main items you need to consider:

• Your commitment to each other;
• Yourself;
• Any children you may have with your spouse, whether through birth or adoption; and
• Your assets and debts, which include such things as cars, money, bank accounts, retirement accounts, stock, real property, loans, mortgages, and credit card debt.
  
  

The Florida Legislature requires that all persons getting married participate in a premarital course or have received and reviewed information about what it means to be married from a legal perspective. The Legislature instituted this requirement because marriage is a serious legal action that has many consequences regarding your ownership of property, responsibility for debts, and your rights and responsibilities regarding the children. When people talk about what it means to be married, how they will handle things like property and debts, raising children, religious beliefs, roles within their relationship, and other such issues before getting married, they have a greater ability to remain married throughout their lives.

You will save $32.50 on your marriage license fee if you take a premarital education course. In some circumstances, you might have to wait three days for your marriage license to become effective, if you do not take a course. If you decide not to take a premarital education course before getting married, it is not too late to take a course that teaches relationship skills. Those courses have been known to be helpful at any time during a relationship.

Child neglect is a crime and should be treated as such. If you believe a child is the victim of child neglect, you should contact your local law enforcement authorities or Department of Children and Families.

No person has a right to physically hit, push, shove, shake or abuse another person, even if that person is his or her spouse or child. Domestic violence and child abuse are crimes and should be treated as such.

IF YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, or if you believe that you are imminently at risk of becoming such a victim, you should call law enforcement at the first available opportunity when it is safe to do so. You also have the right to go to court and file a petition on your own behalf and/or on behalf of your children requesting an injunction for protection from domestic violence which may include, but is not limited to: provisions which restrain the abuser from further acts of abuse; direct the abuser to leave your household; prevent the abuser from entering your residence, school, business, or place of employment; award you time-sharing of your minor child or children; and direct the abuser to pay support to you and the minor children if the abuser has a legal obligation to do so. The court shall consider the effect of domestic violence on survivors/victims and children when determining time-sharing. You may also ask the state attorney to file a criminal complaint.

You may go to family court pro se (without an attorney) to petition for an injunction to protect yourself or your child against domestic violence or sexual violence. You may retain the services of a Florida family law attorney to represent you in the domestic violence family action if you so choose. You should contact the clerk of court in your local courthouse or a local domestic violence shelter for further information.

Domestic violence proceedings are public proceedings which anyone can attend. Domestic violence court files are public records which anyone can access. In certain circumstances portions of the court file can be sealed and kept private by a judge. Domestic violence hearings are automatically recorded free of charge. You can request a copy of the recording after the hearing from the clerk of court in the circuit in which the hearing was held. The court will charge a fee for a copy of the recording. You should contact the clerk of court for a current fee schedule.

When two people marry, not only do they unify themselves socially and emotionally, but economically as well. In light of the State of Florida’s interest in protecting its citizens and families, laws exist which dictate what will happen to, among other things, a couple’s assets and debts should one of them die or the marital relationship be dissolved.

Parties to a premarital agreement may address any number of issues in the agreement such as the rights and obligations each party will have in any property either or both of them may have or acquire, spousal support (called "alimony" in Florida) to be paid, if at all, and a selection of which state's laws will govern the interpretation and enforcement of the agreement. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the topics. However, there are certain topics that cannot be included in the premarital agreement. For example, ongoing child support cannot be waived in Florida. If you have any questions about premarital agreements, you should consult with a Florida family law attorney. There is even a statute specifically addressing premarital agreements in Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes.

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If a person has adopted a stepchild then that parent is the child’s parent in all respects and will be given the same consideration as if he/she was the child’s natural born parent in the event of the death of the other parent or the dissolution of a marriage.

There are two types of assets and liabilities in Florida: marital and non-marital.

Generally, an asset owned by a person before the marriage, including premarital gifts between the parties, are considered “non-marital assets.” Other non-marital assets may include inheritances and gifts to only one spouse from a third party during the marriage. Non-marital assets are set aside to the party to whom they belong and are not included in the calculation of what is the marital estate. There are certain circumstances when a non-marital asset can become a marital asset in whole or in part intentionally or unintentionally. If you have or acquire non-marital property – particularly money, such as an inheritance, – you should be careful how it is handled. Many times depositing non-marital money into a bank account held jointly in both names may make the asset lose its non-marital character. The determination of whether a non-marital asset may become a marital asset can become a very fact-intensive issue and if you have specific questions on how to protect your non-marital assets during or after a marriage, you should consult with a Florida family law attorney.

In the event a married couple separates, regardless of whether or not they are going to file for a dissolution of marriage, a judge may order one party to pay spousal support (called “alimony” in Florida) to the other. A spouse interested in receiving this support must file a petition for dissolution of marriage or a petition for support unconnected with dissolution in a court of competent jurisdiction. A court may grant alimony to either spouse; the alimony laws are gender-neutral.

For the court to award alimony, the requesting spouse must demonstrate that he/she has a need for alimony and that the other party has the ability to pay. Once the requesting party has established a need and an ability to pay, the court must determine all relevant factors to determine the proper type and amount of alimony to award. A party can request temporary alimony while a divorce is pending. An award of temporary alimony is usually granted towards the beginning of the case to ensure that the financial status quo of the recipient and family is maintained. Temporary alimony is modifiable while the case is pending. A temporary support award does not determine what the ultimate alimony award may or may not be from the court.

For purposes of determining alimony, the court will determine various factors including the length of the marriage and the financial circumstances of both parties. The length of a marriage is the period of time from the date of marriage until the date of filing of an action for dissolution of marriage.

Bridge-the-gap alimony may be awarded to assist a party by providing support to allow the party to make a transition from being married to being single. Bridge-the-gap alimony is designed to assist a party with legitimate identifiable short-term needs. There are limits as to the length and conditions of a bridge-the-gap alimony award.

The court must articulate a specific rehabilitative plan to award alimony so both parties clearly understand the expectations the alimony recipient must meet to rehabilitate him/herself.

Durational alimony may be awarded when permanent periodic alimony is inappropriate. The purpose of durational alimony is to provide a party with economic assistance for a set period of time following a marriage of short or moderate duration or following a marriage of long duration if there is no ongoing need for support on a permanent basis. There are limitations as to the length and modifiability of a durational alimony award.

Permanent alimony may be awarded to provide for the needs and necessities of life as they were established during the marriage of the parties for a party who lacks the financial ability to meet his or her needs and necessities of life following a dissolution of marriage. There are limitations as to when a court may award permanent periodic alimony, particularly for marriages of short or moderate duration.

You have the right to obtain information about your spouse’s income and assets through the use of discovery procedures. Discovery includes exchange of documents and answers to written or oral questions.

Florida law permits the court to restore a former name of a spouse in a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage. A spouse who desires restoration of his/her name must request it, normally within the original petition or a counter-petition for dissolution of marriage. The court can only restore the spouse to a former name. A spouse who wishes to change his/her name to anything other than his/her former name may have to file a petition for name change.

The fees and costs for dissolution of marriage cases vary widely. The more complex and/or the more contested the issues, the more the dissolution will cost. At an initial meeting, your attorney may be able to provide an estimate of the total cost of a dissolution based on the information you provide; however, keep in mind that your attorney has no way to predict the future and estimates are precisely that – estimates. The final cost of your dissolution of marriage will depend on many variables that are unpredictable.

Your attorney will expect you to pay a fee and the costs of litigation in accordance with the agreement you make. Sometimes the court will order your spouse to pay part or all of your fee and costs, but such awards are unpredictable and cannot be relied upon. You are primarily responsible for the payment of your legal fees.

In a dissolution of marriage, it is prohibited for an attorney to work on a contingency fee basis; that is, where the attorney’s fee is based upon a percentage of the amount awarded to the client or on a particular outcome.

In order to dissolve a marriage, a court must enter a final judgment dissolving the marriage. Normally the judgment will address and resolve all issues between the parties including the dissolution of marriage, establishment of a Parenting Plan, the division of assets and debts, alimony, child support, and attorney’s fees and costs. Spouses can obtain this final judgment of dissolution of marriage through contested and uncontested means.

The collaborative practice of law is a voluntary dispute resolution process which the parties can begin at any time before or after a party files a petition for dissolution of marriage with a court. In the collaborative practice of law, both parties and their attorneys sign a collaborative participation agreement that describes the nature and scope of the matter; the parties voluntarily disclose all relevant and material information; the parties use good faith efforts to negotiate; and the parties may engage joint neutral mental health and financial professionals to assist with their negotiations.

The goal of the collaborative process is for the parties to enter into a written settlement agreement which addresses all issues which may include a Parenting Plan, division of their assets and debts, alimony, child support, and attorney's fees and costs. Should the collaborative process be unsuccessful in whole or in part, the parties must discharge the attorneys and other professionals and begin a contested dissolution proceeding through the court.

If you would like more information about the collaborative practice of family law, you should search for a collaboratively trained family law attorney near you.

There are rules governing a dissolution of marriage which require that each spouse automatically produce to the other spouse certain financial documents and information within a certain number of days of when the process server served the petition on the recipient spouse. Each party must complete and file a detailed financial affidavit and a certificate of compliance with mandatory disclosure​.

Reaching an agreement empowers parties to create terms with which they are more likely to comply rather than leaving decisions up to a judge.

The Florida Supreme Court and the clerks of courts in many circuits throughout Florida have standard family law forms that people can use if they would like to represent themselves in family law proceedings. Some local legal organizations offer free forms clinics to assist parties who are representing themselves in family law proceedings. If you would like to find out more about this, you should contact the clerk of the circuit court for your local circuit.

A spouse has certain rights to assets of his or her spouse upon death, unless the parties have a written agreement to the contrary. For example, a spouse may be entitled to a portion of the deceased spouse’s property that is subject to probate administration, an allowance of a certain sum of money, and the use of the family home.

Transfers of property from one spouse to another may receive beneficial tax treatment. Couples who have assets may wish to consult an attorney who is familiar with estate planning for advice that is appropriate for their particular situation.

The laws dealing with marriage, dissolution of marriage, partition (forced sale) of property, enforcement of support, and injunctions for protection against domestic violence are primarily found in chapters 61, 64, and 741 of the Florida Statues. Those statues are available for review at all public libraries and online. Recent legislative changes can be accessed online at http://www.leg.state.fl.us.

Many courthouses have opened self-help clinics that provide access to forms required for dissolution of marriage proceedings. The forms may also be retrieved online as the “family law forms” contained within the rules maintained at http://www.flcourts.org​.

Couples undergoing marital strain are encouraged to seek the assistance of a mental health professional specializing in family counseling. The yellow pages in your local phone book contain a variety of such mental health professionals. Clergy are also available for assistance and/or referrals.

The statewide toll-free hotline to report child abuse is 1-800-96-ABUSE (1-800-962-2873).

The statewide toll-free hotline to obtain assistance to protect yourself or your children from domestic violence is 1-800-500-1119.

Couples who wish to settle their cases with the assistance of a professional mediator can contact their local family court services division, court administrator, or clerk of court for a list of certified family mediators in their area. Many mediators also advertise online or in the yellow pages. The Florida Supreme Court’s Dispute Resolution Center can also provide the names of certified mediators in Florida. The number is 1-800-921-2910.

Parents who are experiencing difficulty raising their children together, whether the parents intend to remain married, separate, or dissolve their marriage, may benefit from the assistance of a parenting coordinator. Parenting coordinators are professionals trained to assist parents in establishing and maintaining a healthy co-parenting relationship. More information about parenting coordination and local parenting coordinators is available online and through most clerks of local circuit courts. You must pay a parenting coordinator for their services.

In most counties, the United Way maintains information on local agencies that provide services for children and families to prevent and reduce the incidents and effects of child abuse and neglect, and spousal abuse.

Referrals to attorneys who can assist in family law matters can be obtained from local bar associations, local legal aid organizations, and from the Florida Bar’s Lawyer Referral Service at 1-800-342-8011.

Attorneys handling family law cases can also be found in the yellow pages of your local phone book. The hiring of an attorney is a serious matter and attention should be given to the attorney’s qualifications and background prior to engagement.