Not every Florida divorce has to take months and cost tens of thousands of dollars. When both parties agree on all the terms, including property division, debt allocation, any child-related issues, and spousal support (or its absence), the divorce can move through the system as an uncontested matter. It is the fastest, cheapest, and least destructive way to end a marriage.
Here is what the uncontested path actually requires.
The baseline requirements
Every Florida divorce, contested or not, requires:
- At least one spouse to have been a Florida resident for six months before filing
- Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage (no fault needed)
- A petition for dissolution of marriage filed with the circuit court in the county of residence
- Service of process or a signed waiver from the other spouse
- A 20-day waiting period between filing and the final hearing
- A final hearing (sometimes brief and uncontested, sometimes full-day) where a judge enters the final judgment
On the uncontested track, every item except the 20-day waiting period and the final hearing can be compressed dramatically.
Simplified Dissolution: the fastest track
Florida Rules of Family Law Procedure 12.105 provides a Simplified Dissolution track that is the fastest possible path to a Florida divorce. It requires that:
- Both parties agree to the dissolution
- There are no minor or dependent children of the marriage
- Neither party is pregnant
- At least one party has been a Florida resident for six months
- Neither party is seeking alimony
- The parties have agreed on property and debt division
- Both parties appear at the final hearing
When all of these boxes are checked, the divorce can be finalized in as little as 30 days from filing. The paperwork is relatively minimal and the final hearing is typically a short confirmation that both parties still want the dissolution to proceed.
Uncontested (non-simplified): the common path
Most Florida uncontested divorces use the standard track rather than Simplified Dissolution, usually because children are involved or because one party is not in a position to appear at the hearing. The standard uncontested path includes:
- A full petition for dissolution
- Financial affidavits from both parties (mandatory disclosure)
- A marital settlement agreement signed by both parties covering property, debts, and spousal support
- A parenting plan if minor children are involved, including time- sharing and decision-making provisions
- Child support calculation under Florida’s guidelines if applicable
- Waiver of service signed by the respondent (or formal service if not)
- A final hearing, often held in person but sometimes via Zoom
The timeline for standard uncontested divorces is typically 30 to 90 days from filing, depending on the court’s docket and how quickly the parties execute the paperwork.
Where “uncontested” becomes “contested” quickly
An uncontested divorce depends on both parties actually agreeing on every term. The most common ways a seemingly cooperative divorce becomes contested are:
- The parties disagree about a parenting plan they thought they’d already settled
- A financial asset surfaces that one party didn’t know about
- A valuation dispute (the house, a business, retirement accounts)
- One party changes their mind about alimony or property division
- A party hires aggressive counsel mid-process
Some of these are resolvable; some send the case back to the contested track. A good family law attorney spots the risk points early and addresses them in the settlement draft rather than leaving them for the judge.
What hiring counsel actually costs for an uncontested divorce
Uncontested divorce fees vary by firm and by complexity. For a genuinely simple case with no children, limited assets, and both parties cooperating, a flat fee arrangement is common and the total is typically a small fraction of a contested case. When children or substantial assets are involved, the fee scales with the work required to draft a sound settlement and parenting plan.
The biggest source of unnecessary cost in Florida divorces is not the filing fees or the attorney time. It is the second pass through the documents after an early agreement falls apart. Getting the settlement right the first time is cheaper than getting it right the third time.
When to start the conversation
If you and your spouse are considering dissolution and you think agreement on terms is achievable, the most valuable thing you can do is talk to a family law attorney before either of you signs anything. Preserving optionality, rather than committing to a path you may regret, is what the first conversation is for. Call us at 813-962-3176 and we’ll walk through what an uncontested Florida divorce could look like for your situation.
