10 Questions Every Floridian Going Through
a Divorce Is Too Afraid to Ask —
Answered Honestly

This is one of the most common questions we receive — and one of the most misunderstood. Dating while your Florida divorce is pending is not illegal. Florida is a no-fault state, which means the reason your marriage ended does not determine whether you get divorced. However, dating during a pending divorce carries real risks that most people do not think about.

A new relationship can affect your credibility with the judge, especially in custody disputes where your fitness as a parent is being evaluated. It can affect alimony — a court may impute income or reduce support if it believes your new partner contributes to your household. It can also trigger conflict that extends your timeline and increases your legal costs significantly.

This question comes from a place of genuine exhaustion — and the answer depends almost entirely on whether your divorce is contested or uncontested.

Uncontested divorce — both spouses agree on everything — can be finalized in Florida in as little as 3 to 8 weeks after filing. Florida does not have a mandatory waiting period for uncontested divorces in most cases.

Contested divorce — where spouses disagree on assets, custody, or support — typically takes 6 months to 2 years depending on the complexity of the issues, how quickly both parties exchange financial documents, and how willing both sides are to negotiate. Florida requires mandatory mediation before most trials, which resolves the majority of contested cases before they ever reach a judge.

This threat is used in almost every contested divorce with children — and it is almost never as powerful as the threatening spouse wants you to believe. Florida courts do not take children away from a parent without significant cause.

Florida law under § 61.13 now presumes that 50/50 time-sharing is in the best interest of the child. To take more than half — or all — of the time-sharing, the other parent must present compelling evidence of abuse, neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse, or another serious issue that makes the 50/50 presumption inappropriate. Being imperfect, having been the less-involved parent historically, or simply being disliked by the other spouse are not grounds to lose custody.

Emotionally, infidelity is devastating. Legally in Florida — it is more complicated than most people realize. Florida is a no-fault divorce state, which means cheating does not determine whether you get divorced or even affect the basic division of assets.

However, infidelity can be legally relevant in specific circumstances. If your spouse spent significant marital money on an affair — hotel rooms, gifts, travel, supporting another person — Florida courts can consider that "dissipation of marital assets" and award you a larger share of what remains. Cheating can also occasionally affect alimony determinations if the affair contributed to the breakdown of the marriage and affected one spouse's financial situation.

This is the question where people most often make costly mistakes. The fact that you both agree does not mean the agreement is fair, complete, or legally sound. What you do not know you are missing is what will hurt you later.

Common things people forget in "agreed" divorces: proper division of retirement accounts (which require a special court order called a QDRO), specific language about the house that protects you if your spouse defaults on the mortgage after you sign over your interest, tax filing status for the year of divorce, life insurance requirements to protect child support, and modification provisions that prevent future disputes.

This situation is more common than most people know — and Florida law gives you powerful tools to address it. Both spouses are required to file a Financial Affidavit under oath. Lying on this document is perjury. But more importantly, Florida's discovery process allows your attorney to subpoena bank records, tax returns, business records, and electronic financial transactions going back years.

Hidden assets are found in many forms: business income paid in cash, cryptocurrency held in undisclosed wallets, undervalued business interests, secret bank accounts, income deferred until after the divorce, and transfers of money to family members for "safekeeping." When a court finds hidden assets, it does not simply add them back into the pot — it can sanction the dishonest spouse and award you a disproportionately larger share as a direct penalty.

This is one of the most feared — and most misunderstood — aspects of Florida divorce. Moving out of the marital home does not automatically mean you lose your financial interest in it. Your name on the deed or mortgage still represents an ownership interest regardless of who is living there.

However — and this is critical — moving out can affect your custody case by establishing a pattern of the other parent being the primary caregiver in the home. It can affect temporary support arrangements. And in rare cases, staying away long enough without protecting your interest through a court order can create complications. The home itself is marital property subject to equitable distribution — but the custody pattern established while the divorce is pending can be very hard to reverse.

Child support in Florida is not a negotiation — it is a formula. Florida uses the Income Shares Model under Florida Statute § 61.30. It takes both parents' net incomes, combines them, then calculates the total support amount from a guideline table based on that combined income and the number of children. Each parent then pays their proportional share based on their percentage of the combined income.

The time-sharing schedule directly affects the calculation. The more time you spend with your children, the lower your support obligation — because you are directly covering more of their daily expenses. Healthcare costs, childcare costs, and certain education expenses are also factored in. Florida courts can deviate from the guideline amount but must make specific written findings to justify it.

This is the question that keeps people from protecting themselves — and it deserves an honest answer. There are options even when money is extremely tight.

First — in Florida, courts can order the higher-earning spouse to pay the other spouse's attorney's fees if there is a significant financial disparity. This is called a fee shifting provision under Florida Statute § 61.16, and it is specifically designed for situations where one spouse controls all the money. Second — many family law attorneys, including Erlinger Family Law, offer free initial consultations so you can understand your options before spending anything. Third — in some circumstances, limited scope representation allows an attorney to help with specific parts of your case (reviewing documents, preparing for mediation, advising on strategy) without full representation.

This is not a legal question — but it is the most human one on this list, and it deserves a real answer. Yes. It does.

At Erlinger Family Law, we have sat across from people who could not imagine getting through the next week. People who were terrified about their children, their homes, their financial future. People who felt like they had failed. And we have watched those same people, on the other side of the legal process, start over — with clarity, with their children still close to them, with a foundation they built themselves.

The legal part of divorce is temporary. The life you build after it is not. Our job is to make sure that when the legal chapter closes, you are standing on the strongest possible ground for everything that comes next.