Divorce in Florida: Costs, Laws, and Calculators (2026)

Everything you need to understand the financial reality of divorce in Florida. State-specific costs, formulas, and free calculators.

Our estimate, uncontested
$1,500 - $5,000
Our estimate, contested
$13,000 - $45,000
Estimated timeline
3 - 14 months
DCE State Score
67 / 100

Florida divorces typically cost 30% less than the national average of $12,900.

Florida overhauled its alimony law in 2023 and now presumes equal parenting time by default.

Two law changes transformed Florida family law in 2023, and they were two separate bills rather than one. Senate Bill 1416, enacted as chapter 2023-315, rewrote section 61.08 of the Florida Statutes: it eliminated permanent alimony, capped duration as a share of the length of the marriage, and capped the amount of durational alimony at 35 percent of the difference between the two net incomes or the recipient's reasonable need, whichever is less. House Bill 1301, enacted as chapter 2023-301, is the one that established a presumption of equal time-sharing as the starting point for custody decisions. Florida is an equitable distribution state, meaning property is divided fairly but not necessarily equally. The state sees a high volume of contested divorces involving real estate, retirement accounts, and business interests, particularly in South Florida markets.

What this section says about Florida's parenting-time presumption and property system is a characterisation this site carries rather than a finding. That is our own record rather than Florida's own law.

Key Fact

Florida is one of only five states we record as starting custody from an equal parenting presumption, and its 2023 alimony reform capped both the amount and the duration of a durational award. The figures are in the law change below, read out of Fla. Stat. § 61.08 itself.

Recent Development

Florida SB 1416, enacted as chapter 2023-315, rewrote section 61.08 of the Florida Statutes. It eliminated permanent alimony and capped duration by marriage length: an award of durational alimony may not exceed 50 percent of the length of a short-term marriage (under 10 years), 60 percent of a moderate-term marriage (10 to 20 years), or 75 percent of a long-term marriage (20 years or longer). The same subsection also capped the amount, which is the half most summaries leave out: durational alimony is the recipient's reasonable need or 35 percent of the difference between the parties' net incomes, whichever is less.

Florida Divorce Quick Facts

State law, attorney rates, and procedural rules for Florida.

Property division system, in our record
Equitable Distribution (judicial discretion)
How alimony is decided, in our record
Formula with judicial discretion
Child support formula
Income Shares Model
Mandatory waiting period
20 days
Residency requirement
180 days
Mediation required, in our record
Yes
Equal parenting presumption, in our record
Yes - 50/50 default
Fault divorce available, in our record
No
Collaborative divorce available
Yes, and our record says the same for all fifty states
Filing fee range
$400 - $410
Attorney hourly rates, our estimate
$250 - $500/hour
Filing fee last checked
Not independently verified

Where these Florida figures come from, since it is fair to ask. The court filing fee is the one we have gone back to, and even there we are recording what a fee schedule says rather than citing a document we have opened. Everything else on this page that is a cost or a length of time - attorney rates, the mediator's per-session rate, QDRO preparation, the average totals, the typical number of months - came into our data when the site was first built, and nobody has checked any of it against a published source since. Our own value distributions give the game away: attorney rates across all fifty states take seven distinct values at the low end, every one of them a multiple of 25, which is what a set of estimates looks like rather than fifty separate readings. We think they are in the right neighbourhood. We are not going to call them Florida averages. For a real number, a Florida family law attorney will quote you their own rate, and the clerk of court in your county will tell you the filing fee to the dollar.

The waiting period and the residency requirement in that table are in the same position, and they matter more, because a wrong number there is a filing in the wrong place rather than a bad estimate. Both came into our data at the original build and nobody here has read Florida's dissolution statute. Confirm both with the clerk of court in the county where you will file, and ask specifically whether the wait runs from the day you file or from a separation date, because states do it both ways and our records hold one number for both cases.

DCE State Score Breakdown

Our proprietary index ranks every state on cost, complexity, and timeline. Higher is more favorable.

Overall DCE State Score

67/ 100

A score of 67 means Florida is roughly average in terms of divorce cost and complexity.

Cost Score

26/ 40

Based on filing fees, attorney rates, and total typical costs in Florida.

Complexity Score

29/ 30

Reflects judicial discretion, mandatory mediation, and procedural hurdles.

Timeline Score

12/ 30

Driven by waiting periods and average case duration from filing to decree.

Divorce Calculators for Florida

All 15 calculators preconfigured for Florida.

Florida Divorce Laws Overview

Property Division

Our record has Florida as an equitable distribution state. That is our own record rather than Florida's own property division law. Equitable does not mean equal, it means fair, based on the circumstances. Judges consider factors including each spouse's income and earning capacity, contributions to the marriage, length of the marriage, and the economic circumstances of each spouse. Outcomes can vary significantly from case to case.

Spousal Support (Alimony)

Florida gives courts a calculation to work from and then lets them adjust it on the facts, and that is checked against the state's own rendered instrument rather than inherited from our record. What this project has read of Florida's law is Fla. Stat. § 61.08(8)(c) and Fla. Stat. § 61.08(8)(b), with the bands defined at § 61.08(5). The statutory factors our record carries are: length of the marriage, standard of living during the marriage, each spouse's earning capacity, age and health of each spouse, financial resources of each spouse, history of domestic violence. The factor list is a separate question and it has not been checked, so it remains our own.

Child Support

Florida uses the Income Shares Model for child support, and we have read the guideline that says so. In that model both parents' incomes are combined, a total support obligation is set from that combined figure and the number of children, and each parent's share is proportional to their share of the combined income. The paying parent pays their share to the receiving parent. The figure Florida's own guideline works from is combined monthly net income, under Fla. Stat. § 61.30(5) and (6).

Custody and Parenting Time

Our record puts Florida among the states presuming equal parenting time (50/50) as the default starting point, where a court needs a documented reason such as domestic violence, substance abuse or evidence of harm to depart from it. That is our own record rather than Florida's own custody law. Where it holds, it makes custody outcomes more predictable than in a state that leaves the question to the judge.

Other Notable Factors

  • Our records flag Florida as a state where courts can consider domestic violence when dividing marital property, which would allow an unequal division in cases involving abuse. That is our own record rather than Florida's own property division law. Nobody here has read Florida's code to confirm it. Only three of our 50 rows carry that flag, so read its absence elsewhere as a gap in our data rather than as a finding about the other states.
  • Our records show Florida requires mediation before a contested divorce case can proceed to trial, from our own state data rather than from a reading of its court rules. Where that holds it adds cost and time, and it often results in settlement without a court hearing.

This estimate is for planning purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Consult a licensed family law attorney in your state for guidance specific to your situation.

Recent Law Changes in Florida

All state updates

Notable updates to Florida family law that affect divorce outcomes and costs.

Florida Eliminates Permanent Alimony and Caps the Amount

Major

Effective July 2023

Anyone divorcing in Florida after July 2023 will receive or pay time-limited alimony only, and the monthly figure has a ceiling as well as an end date. Recipients who expected permanent alimony in long marriages will receive less total support than under prior law. The section applies to petitions pending or filed on or after July 1, 2023, so the date that matters is the filing date rather than the date the divorce is final.

Florida Adopts Equal Time-Sharing Presumption

Major

Effective July 2023

Parents divorcing in Florida now start from an equal parenting time baseline. If you want more than 50 percent parenting time, you need documented evidence of why equal time is not appropriate for your child.

The link goes to the legislature's page for the bill rather than to the enacted text. A bill page carries the same title, synopsis and effective date whether the bill passed or died, so it is not on its own evidence that this became law.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a divorce cost in Florida?
Our working estimate is $1,500 - $5,000 for an uncontested Florida divorce and $13,000 - $45,000 for a contested one, with the spread depending on attorney involvement, custody disputes, and the complexity of the marital estate. Court filing fees alone are $400 - $410. Both totals are ours rather than measured averages: they came into our data when this site was built and no survey stands behind them.
How long does a divorce take in Florida?
Our records put Florida's mandatory wait at 20 days, an uncontested case at roughly 3 months, and a contested one at about 14. Treat all three as ours rather than as findings: we have not read Florida's dissolution statute or its court caseload statistics. The clerk of court in the county where you will file can confirm the wait, and whether it runs from filing or from a separation date, which differs by state.
How is property divided in Florida?
Our record has Florida as an equitable distribution state. That is our own record rather than Florida's own property division law. Equitable does not mean equal, it means fair, based on the circumstances. Judges consider factors including each spouse's income and earning capacity, contributions to the marriage, length of the marriage, and the economic circumstances of each spouse. Outcomes can vary significantly from case to case.
How is child support calculated in Florida?
Florida uses the Income Shares Model for child support, and we have read the guideline that says so. In that model both parents' incomes are combined, a total support obligation is set from that combined figure and the number of children, and each parent's share is proportional to their share of the combined income. The paying parent pays their share to the receiving parent. The figure Florida's own guideline works from is combined monthly net income, under Fla. Stat. § 61.30(5) and (6).
How is alimony determined in Florida?
Florida gives courts a calculation to work from and then lets them adjust it on the facts, and that is checked against the state's own rendered instrument rather than inherited from our record. What this project has read of Florida's law is Fla. Stat. § 61.08(8)(c) and Fla. Stat. § 61.08(8)(b), with the bands defined at § 61.08(5). The statutory factors our record carries are: length of the marriage, standard of living during the marriage, each spouse's earning capacity, age and health of each spouse, financial resources of each spouse, history of domestic violence. The factor list is a separate question and it has not been checked, so it remains our own.

Divorce Costs in Nearby States

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