Where to File for Divorce When You Reside in the Different States?

Divorce is the process to severe the marriage of the couples especially if they are not compatible anymore based on physical, emotional and financial reasons.

The filing of the divorce case is usually grounded on the jurisdiction requirements. Meaning, the court will not have the authority and power to hear a divorce case if it has a lack of jurisdiction to the person of the parties and even the divorce case per se.

If you are in the State of Florida, nobody has to prove that somebody is at fault - Florida is a  “No-Fault State”.

This connotes that one of the parties should not be obligated to show proof by presenting a piece of evidence before the party may be allowed to file a divorce to a particular court.

As a matter of fact, spouses who opt to file a divorce should not in any way required to reside in Florida to file a divorce case. A spouse may even file a divorce case if the other spouse lives outside the state.

To file a divorce in Florida, you should only comply with the two (2) requirements:

A. Jurisdiction

1. Residency requirement when a spouse is out of state – it is only required that one of the spouses resided in Florida at least six (6) months immediately preceding the filing of the case for divorce. To show proof of the previous residency, the spouse may show his or her driver’s license, Florida Identification Card or Florida Voter’s Identification Card.

2. Subject matter jurisdiction when a spouse is out of State  – true, the State of Florida may permit the filing of the case but it does not mean that the court has already acquired a jurisdiction upon the person of the defendant if the latter is residing in the other State.

3. Personal jurisdiction for Divorce if a spouse is out of state – this item will address the precedent issue, that is, on how to acquire jurisdiction to the person of the defendant if he is residing out of state, to wit:
a. When the spouses maintain a home in the State of Florida;
b. When the spouse who lives outside Florida has been served with the Divorce Petition when he is within the State of Florida;
c. When the spouse who lives outside Florida waives his/her rights to contest the issue on lack of jurisdiction.

B. Provision of testimony on the degree of damage to the marriage that it is irrevocably broken – this means that this particular marriage will not be saved through counseling and/or any other means and the spouse testifying does not have to show proof that their marriage is actually irrevocably broken based on the “no-fault state” principle.

The petition for Divorce in Florida is not strictly implemented in terms of the presence of the parties during the litigation. The law of Florida only requires that the petitioning spouse appears during the final Divorce hearing.

Filing a Petition for Divorce is technical in nature and it is actually confusing. To protect your rights and uphold your interest, it is highly recommended to avail of the services of Marquez-Kelly Family Law Attorney.

For your needs about divorce attorney, divorce lawyer, Fort Myers divorce lawyer, cape coral divorce lawyer, Fort Myers family law, cape coral family law, please visit our official website to learn more about the full details at https://www.marquezkellylaw.com/divorce-attorney-lawyer-in-fort-myers-fl/

You may contact us through telephone number 239-214-0403 or you may contact us via our webpage at https://www.marquezkellylaw.com/contact-us/

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