First thing that you should do when you are considering a divorce in Jacksonville, Florida is to set up a free divorce consultation with me or another Florida Bar board certified divorce lawyer. There are some things that are the same in a divorce no matter who your lawyer is or even whether you represent yourself (which I do not recommend). A divorce in Jacksonville, Florida (Duval County) usually takes about three to six months, less if it is an uncontested divorce. An uncontested divorce means that you and your spouse agree on every issue in your divorce. If you have children, you must attend the Hope Haven Children First in Divorce Class. You may get registration information here. You both also must file a financial affidavit. You can find the standard Florida Supreme Court version here. There is also a short form. I like to use the long form. You should also know that filing for a divorce is expensive. Unless you are declared indigent, the current filing fee for a divorce is $409.00 plus $10.00 for a summons if you have to serve the other party for a total of $419.00. This does not include any divorce lawyer fees. You do not need to serve your spouse by process server or sheriff if the case is going to be an uncontested divorce. Lastly, you will need to be sure to consider all of the following issues when obtaining your divorce: timesharing, child support and incidentals, health insurance, life insurance, property, debts, alimony, attorney fees, restoration of your former name, and any other issues specific to your divorce case. As you can see, this is not an easy process and not one that you should try to do yourself without at least talking to a Jacksonville board certified divorce lawyer.
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Military families and those with certain retirement or pension benefits also require special care and consideration. Don't try to do your divorce yourself. My office is here to help. Give my office a call today for your free consultation.