Florida Legal Separation Agreement

Florida does not have a legal-separation status, so there is no Florida court order that makes a married couple legally separated. In Florida a separation is a practical arrangement: the spouses live apart and set their terms in a written separation agreement, a private contract. A spouse who is not being supported can also apply to the court for alimony and child support without divorce under Fla. Stat. 61.09. The marriage stays intact throughout, and it ends only if the couple later obtains a divorce.

No, not as a legal status. A Florida court cannot enter a decree of legal separation that changes the couple's marital status. What Florida offers instead is a support action without divorce under Fla. Stat. 61.09 and the option of a private written separation agreement. Some states grant a legal-separation decree, but Florida is not one of them, so a couple who wants their arrangement to be enforceable relies on a written agreement or a support order rather than a status change.

Under Fla. Stat. 61.09, if a person who has the ability to support a spouse or minor child fails to do so, the spouse who is not receiving support may apply to the court for alimony and for support for the child without seeking dissolution of marriage, and the court shall enter an order as it deems just and proper. This is alimony and child support unconnected with dissolution. It provides court-ordered support while the couple lives apart, without ending the marriage and without dividing the marital estate.

A Florida separation agreement is a written contract between spouses who are living apart. Because Florida has no legal-separation status, this agreement is how spouses fix their terms: support, who lives where, how expenses and debts are handled, and how they will treat property while separated. A written separation agreement is enforceable as a contract and can later be incorporated into a divorce judgment. Putting the terms in writing matters, because simply living apart does not by itself create enforceable rights.

No. Florida has no legal-separation status, so living apart does not put a couple into a recognized separated status, and by itself it does not create enforceable support or property rights. To make their arrangement enforceable, spouses use a written separation agreement or obtain a court support order under Fla. Stat. 61.09. Until one of those is in place, each spouse's obligations remain governed by the general rules of marriage rather than by separation terms.

A Florida divorce, called a dissolution of marriage, ends the marriage, divides the marital estate through equitable distribution, and leaves both people free to remarry. Separating in Florida does none of that on its own: the couple stays married, no court changes their status, and property is not divided unless they agree or later divorce. A spouse can still get court-ordered support without divorce under Fla. Stat. 61.09, but the marriage continues until a dissolution is granted.

Support while living apart can be set by a written separation agreement or ordered by the court under Fla. Stat. 61.09, and alimony in Florida is governed by Fla. Stat. 61.08. Property and debts are divided through equitable distribution, which Florida applies when a marriage is dissolved. Because dividing the marital estate is the same work done in a divorce, those terms are set out in a Florida marital settlement agreement rather than in the separation agreement, which focuses on support and living arrangements.