Divorce Petition Precedence

by Jay from United Kingdom

Divorce Petition Precedence:
I filed for divorce in the UK prior to my wife filing in Florida. I have been advised in the UK that my papers have precedent.

I do not agree with the details on my wife's paperwork anyway, not least the financial aspect.

How do I establish precedent and have the US proceedings dismissed. There is no indication on the form from the USA to tell me where or by what means (eg what forms or route) I should (or not, since it may be academic) answer.

If it cannot for whatever reason simply be dismissed to allow the earlier application to be processed in the UK, by what means (as above) do I challenge the content of the application? Can I correspond formally by fax with the appropriate legal offices there?

Answer to Florida Court Forms Florida Divorce Question

Dear Jay,

I am not sure from your question whether the filing of a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in Florida was proper at all. I am only familiar with the processes in Florida.

My first question is whether one of you -- either you or your wife -- lived in Florida for 6 months immediately prior to filing the Petition for Dissolution. If neither of you lived in Florida for that time period, then the Florida residence requirement has not been met.

My next question is whether you were properly served with papers for Dissolution of Marriage. In Florida the Respondent (the party that did not file the Petition) must be served by personal service -- by a sheriff or by a a private process server. Being served through the mail is generally not acceptable.

And my last question is, if you were properly served, you should have received a Summons which explains exactly how you can respond to her Petition.

Did you receive the explanation as to how to respond?

In Florida, a party has 20 days from the day after being served with a Petition to file their Answer.

The 20 days are calendar days and include weekends, but not official holidays.

Whether a court would accept a fax or not, would likely depend on the rules of that specific circuit court.

Although faxes are theoretically original documents, they are not always accepted as such.

Clerks of court will accept filings via U.S. Mail, and likely via a courier service such as Federal Express.

Notice: We provide these answers to the general public and our website visitors as a means to further their online legal research. These answers are merely suggestions and should not be regarded as legal advice.

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