How to Save Time and Money During a Divorce in Florida

Even the most cordially negotiated of divorces, can leave immense devastation for children and immediate family members. Add the misery of the legal ordeal that comes with getting a divorce, and you have a dreadful storm of private and financial hardship that can damage your life for many years to come. And no matter how emotionally and financially draining the divorce process is, things can always get worse. To avoid this, we want to help you to actively pursue a procedure that can keep the cost of divorce from going berserk and allow you to save both time and money while filing for divorce.

A number of distinct factors determine the overall cost of divorce. With each of them, we provide the best guidelines for you to follow to get a fast and affordable divorce in Florida.

1. Whether it is a contested or an uncontested divorce

The more unresolved concerns or matters, the more likely the cost of divorce will increase, especially for the person filing for divorce. Hence, to get an inexpensive divorce, you and your spouse should have consent on most of the significant matters including the grounds for divorce.

While filing for divorce, if both parties agree on every minutia pertaining to the divorce, then the case can move forward as an uncontested divorce. To put it simply, there is no point of contention or concern between the parties as they have arrived at a mutual agreement on the terms of the divorce.

Both participants must agree on the setting that will govern the future interactions between them. This could include spousal support or alimony, child custody, parenting arrangements/visitation, property division, etc.

The divorce process for the uncontested case is generally the shortest in duration because the spouses have direct control over the scheduling, including whether or not to use legal assistance and how to deal with paperwork or any related issues that may arise amid the procedure.

How do you save money in an uncontested divorce?

As difficult as may be in some cases to reach an amicable end to your marriage with your spouse, an uncontested divorce is the cheapest alternative, and therefore, worth the effort. You start saving money right from the very start- as hiring a process server or sheriff to serve the divorce papers to your spouse would not be required. Moreover, such a divorce process can proceed without an attorney. Hence, you avoid expensive lawyer fees, along with an array of other legal costs and trial-related expenses. You also won’t be required to pay for court-mandated mediation.

Apart from extreme cases like domestic violence, substance abuse, and so on, where a mutual agreement is not possible, couples must try to reconcile differences by recognizing the number of fees they would have to spend unnecessarily on the divorce process. You and your spouse must analyze the financial toll that getting a divorce through the process of a trial can take on both of you. Not to mention the emotional toll of a trial which opens up your personal life to strangers creating an embarrassing and humiliating situation.

As you two decide to apply for divorce, try to see things rationally, while keeping your emotions in check. The price of your anger and frustration can end up being your entire life savings.

2. Alimony laws of the local area where you are filing for divorce

Such a life-altering decision requires thorough research. Alimony laws can differ from one state to another, which can affect the speed and cost of the divorce process and paperwork. Currently, in the state of Florida, it is difficult to get an accurate number for how much alimony would be granted by the court while filing for divorce.

The three major factors that judges generally consider with regard to alimony include:

• The length of the marriage: If the length of the marriage is below 5 years, then the court usually doesn’t grant alimony.
• The earning capacity of each spouse and need for alimony: The court contemplates the ability of the party who is requesting alimony to earn a livelihood. Moreover, it examines the need for education/training expenses, such as if a person wants to take college classes because they didn’t have the opportunity to while married.
• The capability of the paying spouse: The court contemplates the earning capacity of the party that is expected to pay alimony.
• Family courts also generally examine the lifestyle of the parties. For instance, if the couple had been married for 15 years or more, enjoying a decent lifestyle, but the wife wasn’t working, then there is a high probability that alimony will be arbitrated so that the wife can continue to live a lifestyle similar to what they have become used to.

 

3. Child support laws for the state

Child support is another factor that significantly regulates the cost of divorce. The state of Florida mandates child support when the children are less than 18 years of age. The state of Florida has a web calculator available to provide an estimate on child support, but it is not always accurate in its calculation, as many factors come into play when evaluating child support, such as:

• Income earned by both parents
• Costs involved in raising the children, including day-care, after school care, education, health costs, and so on.
• If the children have medical insurance or not
• The number of nights spent by children at each of the parent’s houses. If they spend 72 overnights or more at the non-custodial parent’s home, then the assessment for child support will be more in favor of the non-custodial parent.

 

4. Whether it is a manual or online divorce

This is a crucial component in establishing the cost of divorce. To understand the difference between regular and online divorce, one must acknowledge that the majority of the process of filing for divorce involves paperwork. The state of Florida has official family law forms that you can print without any charges from the court website. However, knowing which forms are needed for your particular case can be complicated to figure out, and filling them out without involving a lawyer can be difficult and time-consuming. Plus, making mistakes while filing divorce papers can result in having to start the process over again, costing you more time and money.

This is where online divorce services come in handy. For a much lower cost than hiring an attorney, the online divorce company will take on all the paperwork issues for you. Using the details you provide about your case, the service will select and complete your forms for you without an attorney.
 

How to proceed with an online divorce?

Divorce is an exhausting and time-consuming process. The longer the divorce process is, the more it will usually cost. On the contrary, online divorce provides an easy, fast, and inexpensive option for preparing divorce papers for couples who are ready to move forward with an uncontested divorce.

The online divorce document preparation service will do all the legal paperwork for you, making the whole process quick and stress-free. Even though the filing requirements and divorce forms are unique in the state of Florida, you can be sure that the online service will provide you with proper documents required for your case.

If you can manage to build an understanding with your partner and arrive at an agreement on the terms of your divorce, then there is no easier way for you to apply for divorce than doing it online. The money you save by not hiring lawyers can be used to help build your new life. Instead of drawing out the dissolution of marriage through a costly, stressful trial, you can choose the amicable route and get a cheap, quick, and easy divorce over the internet.