Florida Divorce & Georgia Resident

by Anonymous from Georgia

Florida Divorce & Georgia Resident:
I am trying to file for divorce (simplified). I was married in Florida. I now live in Georgia, my wife lives in Florida.

What forms/procedure must I follow? With the exception of the "lived in Florida for 6 months", we would qualify for the simplified procedure as we have no dependent children, or disputed property. Thank you.

Answer to Florida Court Forms Florida Divorce Question

Dear Anonymous,

In order to qualify for Florida residency one of you needs to have lived in Florida for the six months immediately prior to filing for divorce. The regular Petition for Dissolution of Marriage with No Minor Child(ren) and No Property, Form 12.901(a) is much easier to manage if one of the parties is out of state or long distance.

Have a look at our web-powered instructions page for this form. This process does not require that both of the parties appear at the final hearing. Your wife needs to file the petition since she is the one currently living in Florida.

Then she must have you served by civil process in Georgia. If there are no surprises and she is not suddenly asking for property that you thought was not in dispute; and not suddenly requesting alimony -- you can do one of two things.

You can simply ignore the paperwork, and then she must file a Motion for Default. The Motion for Default states that the Respondent (that would be you) did not respond, therefore the Petitioner (that would be your wife) is requesting that the court grant a dissolution of marriage anyway.

Or, you can respond by using the Florida Supreme Court Form, 12.903(a) Answer, Waiver, and Request for Copy of Final Judgment.

This will speed the process along somewhat, because she will not need to wait the 20 days after you were served in order to file a Motion for Default, and request a hearing.

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.

If you need legal advice, we recommend LagalMatch's free Lawyer Referral Service. Many lawyers offer free initial consultations. Get the legal advice you deserve.
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Fully Interactive & Complete Forms Packet for Divorce with No Children or Property. All forms are interactive and properly formatted in PDF and includes resources and filing procedures with easy to follow checklists, and much more.
Divorce No Children

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