Florida Marital Settlement Agreement
A Florida marital settlement agreement lets divorcing spouses divide their marital property and debts, set alimony, and address custody and child support, then have those terms incorporated into the final judgment of dissolution. Attorney review available.
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Introduction
Florida is an equitable distribution state where the court begins from the premise that marital assets and liabilities should be divided equally unless there is justification for an unequal split (Fla. Stat. 61.075), and a marital settlement agreement is the written contract divorcing spouses use to settle how their property, debts, spousal support, and (by reference) custody and child support will be handled, so the terms can be incorporated into the judgment that ends the marriage. Florida is an equitable distribution state: the court sets apart to each spouse the nonmarital assets and liabilities, then divides the marital assets and liabilities beginning with the premise that the distribution should be equal, unless there is a justification for an unequal distribution (Fla. Stat. 61.075). Equitable means fair, not automatically a 50/50 split, and a Florida marital settlement agreement is where you set the division yourselves instead of leaving it to the court. Florida has no statewide alimony formula. After the 2023 alimony reform, the court may grant only temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, or durational alimony, and permanent alimony is no longer available; the court must first find that the party seeking support has an actual need and the other party has the ability to pay (Fla. Stat. 61.08). Child support follows the statewide guideline, which presumptively sets the amount (Fla. Stat. 61.30); custody and child support stay subject to court approval and remain modifiable, so an agreement cannot bargain them away. Once approved, the agreement is ratified and incorporated into the final judgment of dissolution, and no final judgment may be entered until at least 20 days have passed from filing the petition (Fla. Stat. 61.19). DocDraft builds your Florida marital settlement agreement from your facts, with attorney review available before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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In Florida, where the 2023 alimony reform ended permanent alimony and leaves only temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, or durational awards (Fla. Stat. 61.08), a marital settlement agreement is the written contract divorcing spouses use to settle property and debt division, spousal support, and by reference custody and child support, so those terms can be incorporated into the judgment that ends the marriage.
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Florida is an equitable distribution state: the court first sets apart the nonmarital assets and liabilities of each spouse, then divides the marital estate beginning with the premise that the distribution should be equal, unless there is a justification for an unequal distribution (Fla. Stat. 61.075).
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Equitable distribution means fair, not necessarily an exact 50/50 split. A Florida marital settlement agreement lets the spouses agree on how to divide the marital assets and debts themselves, rather than leaving the split to a judge weighing the statutory factors.
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Florida has no statewide alimony formula. After the 2023 alimony reform, the court may grant only temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, or durational alimony; permanent alimony is no longer available (Fla. Stat. 61.08).
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Before awarding any alimony, a Florida court must first find that the party seeking support has an actual need for it and that the other party has the ability to pay, and the party seeking support carries that burden (Fla. Stat. 61.08).
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Child support follows Florida's statewide child support guideline, which presumptively establishes the amount the court must order (Fla. Stat. 61.30). Custody and child support stay subject to court approval and remain modifiable and cannot be bargained away.
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Once approved, a Florida marital settlement agreement is ratified and incorporated into the final judgment of dissolution, giving its terms the force of a court order. No final judgment may be entered until at least 20 days have passed from filing the petition (Fla. Stat. 61.19).
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Marital Settlement Agreement in Florida, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Marital Settlement Agreement guide walks through them.
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Florida Requirements for Marital Settlement Agreement
Florida is an equitable distribution state. The court divides the marital assets and liabilities beginning with the premise that the distribution should be equal, unless there is a justification for an unequal distribution (Fla. Stat. 61.075). Equitable means fair, not automatically a 50/50 split.
Before dividing anything, a Florida court sets apart to each spouse the nonmarital assets and liabilities of that spouse (Fla. Stat. 61.075). A Florida marital settlement agreement lets the spouses agree on how to divide the marital estate themselves rather than leaving it to a judge.
Florida has no statewide alimony formula. After the 2023 reform the court may grant only temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, or durational alimony, and permanent alimony is no longer available (Fla. Stat. 61.08).
Before awarding any alimony a Florida court must first find that the party seeking support has an actual need and that the other party has the ability to pay, and the party seeking support carries that burden (Fla. Stat. 61.08).
Child support follows Florida statewide child support guideline, which presumptively establishes the amount the court must order (Fla. Stat. 61.30). Parents may agree on an amount only subject to court approval, and child support cannot be bargained away.
Time-sharing and child support terms in a Florida marital settlement agreement remain subject to court approval and can be modified later in the best interests of the children. These terms are never fixed the way a property division can be.
A Florida marital settlement agreement must be in writing and signed by both spouses. No statute requires notarizing the agreement itself, but signing before a notary is common practice, and the mandatory financial affidavit each spouse files must be sworn and notarized.
Once approved, the agreement is ratified and incorporated into the final judgment of dissolution and given the force of a court order. No final judgment may be entered until at least 20 days have passed from filing the petition (Fla. Stat. 61.19).
Frequently Asked Questions
A marital settlement agreement in Florida is the written contract divorcing spouses use to settle property and debt division, alimony, and by reference custody and child support. It records what you have agreed so the terms can be ratified and incorporated into the final judgment that ends the marriage. Florida divides marital property by equitable distribution, beginning with the premise of an equal division unless there is a justification for an unequal one (Fla. Stat. 61.075), and this agreement is where you set those terms yourselves.
A Florida marital settlement agreement is the private contract the spouses negotiate and sign; the final judgment of dissolution is the court order that ends the marriage. The two are connected: once the court reviews and approves the agreement, it is ratified and incorporated into the final judgment, giving its terms the force of a court order. The agreement states the deal, and the judgment enforces it. A court must still review and approve the judgment, and no final judgment may be entered until at least 20 days have passed from filing the petition (Fla. Stat. 61.19).
Florida is an equitable distribution state, not a community property state. The court first sets apart the nonmarital assets and liabilities of each spouse, then divides the marital assets and liabilities beginning with the premise that the distribution should be equal, unless there is a justification for an unequal distribution based on the statutory factors (Fla. Stat. 61.075). Equitable means fair, not automatically a 50/50 split. A Florida marital settlement agreement lets you agree on the division yourselves, for example one spouse keeping the home while the other keeps retirement funds of similar value, instead of leaving it to a judge.
Florida has no statewide alimony formula. After the 2023 alimony reform, a Florida court may grant only temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, or durational alimony, and permanent alimony is no longer available (Fla. Stat. 61.08). Before awarding any alimony the court must first find that the party seeking support has an actual need and that the other party has the ability to pay, and it then weighs statutory factors such as the length of the marriage, the standard of living, and each party's resources. In your Florida marital settlement agreement you can set alimony terms you both accept, subject to the court's review.
You can address custody, called time-sharing, and child support in a Florida marital settlement agreement, but you cannot bargain them away. Child support follows Florida's statewide child support guideline, which presumptively establishes the amount the court must order (Fla. Stat. 61.30). Parents may agree on an amount, but only subject to the court's approval, and a variance of more than 5 percent from the guideline requires written findings. Custody and child support terms remain subject to court approval and can be modified later if circumstances change, because these decisions center on the best interests of the children.
A Florida marital settlement agreement must be in writing and signed by both spouses. No Florida statute requires the agreement itself to be notarized, but signing before a notary is common practice and helps prove the signatures are genuine. Separately, the mandatory financial affidavit each spouse must file in a Florida dissolution case must be sworn and notarized under the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure. Signing your Florida marital settlement agreement before a notary is a sensible step even where it is not strictly required.
After both spouses sign, the Florida marital settlement agreement is submitted to the court, which reviews it and, if it approves, ratifies and incorporates the agreement into the final judgment of dissolution. Property division, alimony, time-sharing, and child support can each be ordered as set forth in the agreement. Incorporation is what turns your private agreement into enforceable court orders, though the court must still review and approve the judgment before it is entered.
Even with a complete Florida marital settlement agreement, no final judgment of dissolution may be entered until at least 20 days have elapsed from the date the original petition was filed, and a court may enter judgment earlier only on a showing that injustice would result from the delay (Fla. Stat. 61.19). Filing also requires that one spouse has resided in Florida for 6 months before the petition (Fla. Stat. 61.021). Settling early with a marital settlement agreement can reduce disputes and paperwork but cannot shorten the 20-day minimum.