The purpose of a divorce is to terminate a legal relationship that was created upon marriage. Marriage is a joinder of separate legal entities (persons) into a collective entity. So, at a minimum, in your divorce the marriage will be dissolved, resulting in the once-spouses no longer having any obligations toward one another except as specifically set forth, and living as separate legal entities as though a marriage never took place. Other issues that arose during the marriage, though, may also need to be resolved, and can be resolved in a divorce. PEACE is an acronym that you should become familiar with in your Florida divorce. PEACE stands for Parental Responsibility, Equitable Distribution, Alimony, Child Support, and Everything Else. That is typically the order that the court will follow when issues are presented to it in a divorce action. This is because the court cannot determine the latter issues until it has first determined the former issues. P impacts E, A, and C, E impacts A and C, and A impacts C.
Custody and Parenting: If children were born during the marriage, you are entitled to have your legal relationship with those children adjudicated and/or ratified. Parental Responsibility refers to two separate concepts that collectively were once referred to as “custody”. The two concepts are a Parenting Plan and a Timesharing Schedule. You are entitled to have both determined in your divorce, either by agreement or by a judge after litigation.
Equitable Distribution: This refers to the “stuff” that you have acquired during the marriage, both assets and liabilities. During the divorce, the “stuff” will be identified, categorized, given a value, and then distributed among the spouses. When distributing the marital estate, there is a presumption that it will be divided equally between the spouses, but that presumption can be overcome.
Alimony: There is no automatic entitlement to alimony. There is a presumption that in long-term marriages (17 years or longer) permanent alimony is to be awarded, but entitlement to and the amount of alimony is not a given, and the presumption can be overcome.
Child Support: There is a statutory requirement that children be financially supported by their parents. Amount is determined largely based on guidelines, but there are many potential deviations from the guidelines. So, you are entitled to have Child Support determined, but the determination may include no payment from one parent to the other.
Everything Else: This is a somewhat humorous way to complete the acronym. There are undoubtedly issues in most divorces that do not fit another category, which need to be resolved. But as to entitlement, there are no specific awards that one can count on. When there are other issues presented to a court, a litigant can assume that the issues will be resolved in some fashion, but that is not always the case.