We are often asked “can I do an uncontested divorce myself?” The short answer is yes, but there are caveats. The forms for an uncontested divorce are widely available, sometimes for a fee. The Supreme Court of Florida’s website (www.flcourts.org) has them available at no charge, and many of the forms (which are approved by the Florida Supreme Court) can be filled out online before printing. There are also instructions for the forms, which are reasonably understandable, including a listing of which forms you should use for particular types of actions. If you use the forms, know that you will be held responsible for filing the forms and paying the filing fees, as applicable. You will also be responsible for filing all of the forms that are applicable to your case.
If you use the forms, know that it is frowned upon to deviate from them by, for example, ignoring certain sections and inserting your own custom language. I suggest that if the forms, as written, do not apply to your situation, or you feel the need to significantly alter them, then they are not right for your situation and you should probably seek legal representation. Included in the available forms are marital settlement agreements that are customizable as circumstances require.
Generally when children are involved in the case, you should not use the uncontested forms to finalize your own divorce. Children issues are often very difficult to “push into a box” created by the forms. The minimum requirements of resolving child-related issues are in the forms, but you should seek legal representation if you believe that the way things are to be handled in your situation deviate significantly from the forms.
From start to finish an uncontested divorce can take as little as 30 days. Of course, there would need to be full cooperation from both parties to finish the case in that timeframe. In uncontested matters the most time consuming part of the process is the settlement agreement itself. Both parties need to be satisfied with the agreed-upon terms, so disagreements can take time to work through.
The cost (filing fee) of an uncontested case will vary from circuit to circuit, but it is generally around $450 as of mid-2016. Typically there would not be a cost associated with service of process because both parties will be filing something (the initiating party will file the petition and accompanying paperwork, while the responding party will file an acknowledgment of service and an Answer to the petition that admits its allegations) right from the get go, but if the Petition must be served on a party there is an additional cost to the sheriff or a private process server associated with that. Some circuits have procedures where a court appearance will not even be required in an uncontested divorce, but you should make yourself aware of how your circuit handles such things.
Generally, the issues in a divorce follow the acronym, PEACE, and if all of those issues are uncontested (agreed-upon) then an uncontested divorce is for you. The acronym stands for Parental responsibility (which encompasses two concepts that we used to collectively refer to as “custody” – a parenting plan and a timesharing schedule), Equitable distribution (which deals with the “stuff” you have acquired, both assets and debts, during the marriage), Alimony, Child support, and Everything else (somewhat of a joke, as most every case has some unique facet that should be resolved so the family never has to be concerned about that facet ever again – real estate, taxes, attorney fees, etc.). If your marital settlement agreement covers PEACE then it will likely be adequate to resolve everything.