How does contested divorce work in Florida?

Let’s talk about how contested divorce works. If you want a divorce and you’re not sure whether or not your spouse wants one and you’re not able to agree ahead of time, then whoever wants the divorce is what we call the petitioner and they file a petition for dissolution of marriage. Often times, along with the petition we will prepare a financial affidavit and file it with the petition. The petition gets served on the other spouse. Once the spouse is served, they have twenty days to respond to the petition. Once the response is filed then everybody knows what the issues are going to be. In most counties mediation is required before you can go to court on any temporary matters before you can have a trial. Mediation is a process that is designed to help the parties resolve their issues without having to go to court. This is a process that can be very successful an can reduce the cost a divorce quite substantially.

Read more about uncontested divorce.
Read more about contested divorce.