Grounds for Filing for Divorce in Florida

In order for a couple to file for divorce in Florida, they must meet one of two grounds:

• The marriage is irretrievably broken.  This essentially means that the marriage is broken beyond repair and there is no hope of saving it.  Sometimes the court may require the couple to prove they tried to work through the issues that contributed to the breakdown of their marriage, and/or that they took some type of action to fix their marriage.  The court may also order a couple to attend marriage counseling before it will grant a divorce. This is common when minor children are involved.
• One of the parties is mentally incompetent. The only time a judge will grant a divorce based on mental incompetency is if one of the spouses has been incompetent for at least three years.

In addition to these grounds, a couple must meet some residency requirements before a divorce will be granted.  These requirements include:

• At least one spouse must have lived in Florida for at least six months prior to filing for divorce.
• The state of Florida must have jurisdiction over the other spouse, or that spouse must consent to jurisdiction if they are not a Florida resident.