How Divorce Works in Florida's 14th Judicial Circuit
By Justin Andersson, Esq. | Justin Andersson, P.A., Panama City
A plain-English guide for Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington Counties
If you’re reading this, something hard is happening in your life. Maybe you’re sitting in a parking lot in Panama City Googling “how does divorce work in Florida.” Maybe you’re at the kitchen table in Marianna, Chipley or Port St. Joe, wondering where to even start.
Take a breath. You’re not the first person to stand here, and you won’t be the last.
Florida calls divorce a “dissolution of marriage,” and every case follows the same basic road. Some of the rules come from Florida statutes and the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure. Others come from our own court, the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, which covers six counties from the beaches to the Alabama line. Those local rules start to apply as soon as a case is filed (and to the other spouse once he or she is served), and they’re the part most online guides never mention.
Where this guide applies
Your case is filed with the Clerk of Court in the right county. Hearings are usually held at that county’s courthouse or by Zoom, but the order or notice setting each hearing says where it will be, and some judges hold certain hearings at another courthouse in the circuit.
| County | County seat | Courthouse |
|---|---|---|
| Bay | Panama City | 300 East 4th Street, Panama City, FL 32401 |
| Calhoun | Blountstown | 20859 East Central Avenue, Blountstown, FL 32424 |
| Gulf | Port St. Joe | 1000 Cecil G. Costin Sr. Blvd., Port St. Joe, FL 32456 |
| Holmes | Bonifay | 201 North Oklahoma Street, Bonifay, FL 32425 |
| Jackson | Marianna | 4445 Lafayette Street, Marianna, FL 32446 |
| Washington | Chipley | 1293 Jackson Avenue, Chipley, FL 32428 |
Which county do you file in? Generally, a divorce is filed in the county where the two of you last lived together as a married couple, or the Florida county where your spouse lives now. If your spouse lives outside Florida, or you last lived together in another state, different rules can apply. If you’ve moved since you separated, settle this with your lawyer before filing.
Step 1: Make sure you can file in Florida
Residency. At least one of you must have lived in Florida for six months before the petition is filed. Where you got married doesn’t matter. The court will want proof, such as a valid Florida driver license, a Florida ID card, a Florida voter registration card, or the testimony or affidavit of someone who knows you’ve lived here.
Grounds. Florida is a no-fault state. In almost every case, the only thing the court has to find is that the marriage is “irretrievably broken.” You don’t have to prove adultery or anything else.
Two honest caveats:
- If you have minor children together, or your spouse files an answer denying the marriage is broken, the judge has the option to order counseling or pause the case for up to three months to give reconciliation a chance.
- "No-fault" doesn't mean behavior never matters. A judge may consider adultery and its economic impact when deciding alimony, and may consider the intentional dissipation, waste, depletion or destruction of marital assets (after filing, or within two years before filing) when dividing property.
Step 2: Figure out what kind of case you have
Uncontested divorce. You agree on everything: property, debts, the house, retirement accounts, alimony (or no alimony), and, if you have kids, a parenting plan and child support. It all goes into a written marital settlement agreement, plus a parenting plan if there are children.
Contested divorce. You disagree about at least one thing. Many contested cases still settle before trial, often at mediation.
Simplified dissolution. This is a narrow, do-it-together option. It’s only available if both of you certify under oath that you have no minor or dependent children together, the wife has no minor or dependent children born during the marriage, the wife is not pregnant, you’ve already agreed on how to divide your property and pay your joint debts, and the other facts stated in the court’s simplified dissolution petition form are true. Both of you must appear before the judge. If you also file a written settlement agreement resolving all financial issues, sworn financial affidavits generally aren’t required, so each of you has to be comfortable with what you already know about the other’s finances.
Pro Tip: “Uncontested” doesn’t mean “simple.” A retirement account may need its own court order to divide it, and a house may need a refinance deadline, a deed and a plan for who pays the mortgage in the meantime. An agreement that skips those details can cost far more to fix later.
Step 3: File the petition with the Clerk
A divorce starts when one spouse (the “petitioner”) files a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the right county.
Filing fees. The Clerk charges a fee to file the petition, plus smaller fees for each summons and for recording the final judgment. The amounts differ from county to county and change from time to time, so check with your county’s Clerk before you file.
When a divorce is filed anywhere in the circuit, the Clerk issues the 14th Circuit’s Standing Family Law Pre-Trial Court Order, and the petitioner must serve a copy on the other spouse along with the summons and petition. The petitioner also files a notice listing any related family cases (an injunction or a child support case, for example) and a notice about mediation and other ways to settle without a trial.
Step 4: Read the standing order (seriously, read it)
The Standing Family Law Pre-Trial Court Order is a real court order, not a suggestion. It binds the petitioner the moment the petition is filed, and it binds the other spouse the moment he or she is served (or accepts service). It stays in place until the final judgment unless the judge changes it. In plain English:
- The kids stay put. Neither parent may permanently move the children from their current home, or change their school or daycare, without the written agreement of both parents or a court order.
- The kids keep in touch with both of you. If you live apart while the case is pending, each parent must help the children stay in contact with the other parent, unless a court order says otherwise.
- The property stays put. Neither spouse may sell, transfer, borrow against, hide or give away property, whether it's in one name or both, without written consent or a court order, except in the ordinary course of business or for normal household expenses. Money spent after separation has to be accounted for.
- No unreasonable new debt. Without written consent or a court order, neither spouse may take on unreasonable debt, including more borrowing against a credit line on the family home or unreasonable credit card use and cash advances.
- Insurance stays in force. Unless you both agree in writing or the court orders otherwise, life, health, dental, auto, homeowners and other policies in place when the case was filed may not be canceled, allowed to lapse, changed or borrowed against, and the premiums keep getting paid.
- Records stay intact. Neither spouse may hide or destroy financial, business or household records.
Break it, and you can face sanctions. My advice is simple: talk to a lawyer before you move money, move out with the kids, change a beneficiary or cancel a policy.
Step 5: Service, and the 20-day clock
Your spouse has to be formally served with the summons, petition and standing order, unless he or she signs papers accepting service. Once served, the responding spouse has 20 days to file a response. That’s usually an answer, and often a counter-petition asking for something in return, like alimony or a different parenting plan. If nobody responds, the petitioner can ask the court for a default.
Pro Tip: If you’ve been served, don’t sit on it. The 20 days run whether or not you’ve hired a lawyer, and the standing order already applies to you.
Step 6: Put your financial cards on the table (mandatory disclosure)
Within 45 days after the petition is served, each spouse must give the other a sworn financial affidavit and a standard set of financial documents. This is called mandatory disclosure. It applies to most uncontested cases too. The main exceptions are simplified dissolutions and uncontested cases where the other spouse was served by publication and never answered, and parts of the requirement can be modified by agreement or court order. The list includes, among other things:
- Federal and state tax returns for the past three years, with W-2s, 1099s and K-1s
- Pay stubs or other proof of income for the past six months
- Twelve months of bank, brokerage and retirement account statements
- Statements for any cryptocurrency or other virtual currency holdings
- Credit card and loan statements, deeds and leases
- Life insurance information and current health and dental insurance cards
- Any prenuptial or postnuptial agreement
- Documents supporting any claim that an asset or debt is nonmarital (owned before the marriage or inherited, for example)
The financial affidavit is a sworn snapshot of your income, expenses, assets and debts. There’s a short form if you earn under $50,000 a year and a long form for everyone else. Our circuit’s standing order also requires each spouse to file the financial affidavit with the Clerk at least 10 days before the first hearing on any financial issue or the first case management conference, whichever comes first. And if your finances change in a big way while the case is pending, you have to update what you provided.
Step 7: The parenting course (if you have minor children)
Florida requires both parents in a divorce with minor children to complete a Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course, at least four hours long and approved by the Department of Children and Families, before the final judgment. The petitioner has 45 days after filing to finish it, and the other parent has 45 days after being served. Each parent files a certificate of completion with the court, and the Clerk can give you a list of approved providers. The court can excuse a parent for good cause, and nothing you say in the course can be used in your case.
Step 8: Case management conferences and temporary relief
Judges in the 14th Circuit hold periodic case management conferences to keep cases moving. Bay County publishes a yearly case management calendar; in the other counties, the assigned judge sets them. When the court sets one, both spouses and their attorneys must attend, unless they file an agreed Stipulated Case Management Plan that the judge accepts beforehand. Either side can also ask for one once 30 days have passed after service.
Some things can’t wait until the end of the case, like a temporary parenting schedule, temporary child support or alimony, who stays in the house, or help paying attorney’s fees. Those are decided at a temporary relief hearing. Under our standing order, the spouse asking for temporary relief must file, with the request, a notice spelling out exactly what’s being requested, and a complete witness list at least 10 days before the hearing; the other spouse’s witness list is due 5 days before. Judges in our circuit typically limit temporary relief hearings to about an hour, so preparation matters.
Step 9: Mediation
Under the 14th Circuit’s administrative orders, mediation is required in family cases before a contested case goes to trial. When the court directs mediation, the first session is supposed to happen within 60 days of that order.
In mediation, a neutral mediator meets with both of you (and your lawyers) and helps you negotiate. The mediator doesn’t decide anything. What’s said in mediation is confidential. Nobody can be forced to settle. If you reach an agreement, it’s put in writing, signed and filed with the court. Treat anything you sign as final: our circuit’s notice calls a signed mediation agreement binding, and under Florida’s family rules, terms that need the judge’s approval, like a parenting plan, become binding when the judge approves them. You can settle the whole case or just some issues.
If there’s a history of domestic violence, tell your lawyer right away. The court can waive mediation or put safeguards in place, and the circuit’s own notice recognizes mediation may not be appropriate in those cases.
Step 10: The final hearing and the final judgment
If your case settles, the judge confirms residency and that the marriage is irretrievably broken, reviews your signed agreement and parenting plan, and enters a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage. In most uncontested cases, that can happen on the signed, sworn paperwork without a court hearing, though the judge may still set a short final hearing. (A simplified dissolution is the exception: both spouses must appear before the judge.) Florida law doesn’t allow a final judgment until at least 20 days after the petition was filed, unless the court finds that waiting would cause an injustice.
If issues remain, the case is set for a final hearing (the divorce trial), often with a brief pretrial conference first, and the judge decides what the two of you couldn’t. Our article on what to expect at a contested divorce hearing in the 14th Circuit walks you through that day.
About general magistrates. Some family matters in our circuit are referred to a general magistrate instead of a judge. A magistrate can hear a matter only if every party consents, and silence counts as consent: if no written objection is filed in time (generally within 10 days after the referral order is served, sooner if the hearing is set sooner), you’re treated as having consented. The magistrate issues a recommended order, the judge reviews it and enters it as an order of the court, and a party may move to vacate that order within 15 days after entry, which generally requires a record of the hearing, usually a transcript. Decide whether to consent with your lawyer as soon as a referral order shows up.
After the final judgment
The final judgment ends the lawsuit, but not always the to-do list. Depending on your case, there may be a retirement division order to prepare, a deed to sign and record, a refinance deadline to meet, insurance and beneficiary designations to update, and a name to restore. If life changes down the road, child support, most alimony and parenting plans can be changed, but only through the court. Some alimony, such as bridge-the-gap alimony, can’t be modified at all, and a parenting plan change requires a substantial and material change in circumstances.
So how long does a divorce take here?
The legal minimum is 20 days from filing. Real cases take longer, because service, the 45-day disclosure deadline, the parenting course, mediation and the court’s calendar all take time. A contested case with discovery, mediation and a trial date commonly takes many months. Anyone who promises you a specific timeline before looking at your situation is guessing.
Frequently asked questions
No. If one spouse wants the divorce, the case can go forward without the other's agreement. The judge decides whether the marriage is irretrievably broken, and if your spouse denies it, the judge can order counseling or a pause of up to three months first. A spouse who won't participate can be served and, if necessary, defaulted.
Not necessarily. If you settle everything, most uncontested divorces can be finalized on the signed, sworn paperwork without a hearing, though the judge may still set a short one. If your case is contested, expect hearings, by Zoom or in person, depending on the judge and the type of hearing.
Florida judges start from the premise that marital assets and debts should be divided equally, then adjust if the evidence justifies an unequal split. Property you owned before the marriage, and certain gifts and inheritances, may be nonmarital and stay with you. Whether a particular asset is marital or nonmarital is often the real fight.
Moving out doesn't by itself give up your ownership interest, but it can affect the day-to-day parenting arrangement and the momentum of the case. Once the standing order applies to you, it restricts moving the children or changing their school without agreement or a court order. Talk to a lawyer before you pack the truck.
Final Thought
Divorce isn’t one form. It’s a process: messy, bureaucratic, emotional, and survivable. The more you understand the road ahead, the more steady you’ll feel while you’re on it.
Nobody controls the storm. But we can build you a stronger boat.
You’ve got this. And I’ve got your back.
Justin Andersson, Esq.
Your 850 Divorce Lawyer
Justin Andersson, P.A. | 435 W. Oak Avenue, Panama City, FL 32401
Serving Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington Counties, in person or by video.
Questions? Call (850) 871-7397 or visit www.850divorcelawyer.com.
This article is provided for general informational and educational purposes about Florida law and 14th Judicial Circuit procedures as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Court procedures vary by county and by judge and change over time, and every case turns on its own facts.
Florida law referenced: Section 47.011 and Chapter 61, Florida Statutes (sections 61.021, 61.052, 61.075, 61.08, 61.13, 61.14, 61.19 and 61.21); Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure 12.105, 12.140, 12.200, 12.285, 12.490 and 12.740; Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Administrative Order 2022-00-07 (Standing Family Law Pre-Trial Court Order).