Do you have to agree to a divorce in Florida?
A divorce myth we’d like to address is whether or not two people have to agree to a divorce in order for it to proceed. The answer is ‘not in Florida’. In Florida, only one spouse needs to want a divorce in order for it to be granted. If the other #spouse does not want the divorce, it doesn’t matter.
In some states, there has to be infidelity or other reasons for divorce but in Florida, it just needs to be stated that the marriage is beyond repair.
There are some instances that a divorce can be put on hold if both people decide that they want to try counseling or other means to work things out between them. If it can’t be worked out then the divorce will proceed.
Show Transcript
Hi, welcome. Thank you for joining me, I’m attorney A.J. Grossman with Leap Frog Divorce. I’m also a Florida Supreme Court certified family mediator and dispute resolution specialist.
This is my second video in my divorce myth series. And this one is about, it takes two people to get a divorce in Florida. This is a myth that some people believe. And I’m going to cut right to the chase. In Florida, it only takes one person to get a divorce. The other person doesn’t have to agree. The other person can be pulled along kicking and screaming, so to speak. But really, it only takes one person to file for divorce and to get a divorce.
The key concept in Florida is that the marriage is irretrievably broken, which means it can’t be saved, nothing can be done to save it. And it only takes one person to make that statement. I’ve had clients over the years who have not wanted to divorce but their spouse for whatever reason decided that they want a divorce and my client says “but I don’t want the divorce.” And sometimes what we can do and what I’ve done for my clients is actually put a divorce that has started on hold.
If the husband and wife or wife and wife or husband and husband, whatever the situation may be, would like to try counseling, we can do that. We can put a divorce on pause and give the spouses time to try and reconcile and work things out. But at the end of the day, if you can’t work out your differences, then the divorce is going to proceed. And again, it only takes one.
So there’s really no way for you to fight the divorce. You can try. You can spend a lot of money and a lot of time to try and fight it. Try and argue that the divorce is not irretrievably broken. But again in Florida, that’s all it takes. Unlike some other states that require some kind of infidelity or some kind of fault on the part of one spouse, Florida doesn’t have that requirement. It just takes one spouse to decide “I don’t want to be married anymore.”
So I hope that this information has busted the myth that it takes two people to get a divorce in Florida. It does not. If you found this video helpful please like and please consider subscribing to my channel. I’m releasing regular videos with helpful free information all the time. Thank you for being here. Thank you for joining me, be well.
