Port St. Lucie Divorce Court: Where to File in 2026

If you live in Port St. Lucie, your divorce is filed in the 19th Judicial Circuit through the St. Lucie County Clerk of Court, with the family courthouse in Fort Pierce and e-filing through myflcourtaccess.com. The county filing fee runs about $408-$410 (set by the clerk, paid separately). Our firm prepares uncontested divorces for a $750 flat attorney fee statewide.

Which Court Handles a Port St. Lucie Divorce Court Filing?

Port St. Lucie sits in St. Lucie County, which is served by Florida's 19th Judicial Circuit. Divorce in Florida is a circuit-court matter, so even though Port St. Lucie is the county's largest city, your Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is filed with the St. Lucie County Clerk of the Circuit Court, not a city court. The main courthouse is the St. Lucie County Courthouse at 218 South Second Street, Fort Pierce, FL 34950, roughly 12 miles north of central Port St. Lucie.

Under Florida Statute 61.021, at least one spouse must have lived in Florida for six months before filing. Under the venue rules, you file in the county where either spouse resides, so Port St. Lucie residents file in St. Lucie County. The 19th Judicial Circuit also covers Indian River, Martin, and Okeechobee counties, but each county keeps its own clerk and case files, so your case stays in St. Lucie County from filing to final judgment.

Florida is a no-fault state. Under F.S. 61.052, the only ground for divorce is that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" — you do not prove adultery, cruelty, or abandonment, and you do not need your spouse's permission to proceed.

Where Is the Port St. Lucie Clerk of Court for Divorce?

The St. Lucie County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller is the office that accepts and stores every dissolution case. Family-law filings are handled at the Fort Pierce courthouse, and the clerk also operates a St. Lucie West service location for certain in-person clerk services. For a divorce, though, almost everything now moves electronically, so you rarely need to travel to the courthouse to file.

What the St. Lucie clerk of court divorce office does:

• Accepts your Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and assigns a case number
• Collects the filing fee (about $408-$410)
• Maintains the official court file and docket
• Issues certified copies of the Final Judgment of Dissolution once entered
• Processes summonses when the other spouse must be formally served

Most self-represented and attorney filers submit documents through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal at myflcourtaccess.com rather than walking paper into the courthouse. The St. Lucie County Clerk also publishes family-law self-help information and points filers to the standardized forms hosted at flcourts.gov. If you want a walkthrough of the mechanics, see our guide on how to file an uncontested divorce in Port St. Lucie.

How Do You File at the Port St. Lucie Courthouse for Divorce?

Filing a Port St. Lucie courthouse divorce is now overwhelmingly an online process. Here is the practical sequence for an uncontested case:

Florida has no mandatory statewide waiting period between filing and final judgment, though the responding spouse has 20 days to answer after being served under the rules. Uncontested cases in the 19th Judicial Circuit typically conclude within a few weeks to a couple of months, depending on the court's calendar and whether a brief final hearing is set.

Does the 19th Judicial Circuit Require a Final Hearing?

Most uncontested Florida divorces still involve a short final hearing where the judge confirms the marriage is irretrievably broken and approves the settlement. The format varies by judge and division within the 19th Judicial Circuit:

• Simplified dissolution (Form 12.901(a)) under F.S. 61.052(2) requires both spouses to appear at the final hearing. This is a firm rule of the simplified process, not a local preference.
• Regular uncontested cases may be finalized after a brief hearing, and in some situations by an uncontested final judgment package submitted for the judge's signature. Whether a hearing is set, and whether it is in person or by Zoom, depends on the assigned judge.

Because hearing practice is judge-specific, confirm the current procedure with the division your case is assigned to after filing. A Florida attorney who prepares the paperwork will know how to package the file so the hearing, if any, is short and the judgment is signed the first time. For the full local picture, our Port St. Lucie uncontested divorce overview walks through the timeline start to finish.

What Does It Cost to File for Divorce in Port St. Lucie?

There are two separate money questions: what the court charges, and what a lawyer charges. Keeping them separate is the single most useful thing to understand before you file.

Court costs are set by the St. Lucie County Clerk. The filing fee for a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is about $408-$410, and card payments add a statutory convenience fee. If you cannot afford the fee, you may file a Motion to Defer Filing Fees (Form 12.902(a)). Optional costs include a process server ($40-$75) if your spouse must be formally served, and notary fees for signatures on the settlement and affidavits.

Attorney fees are separate. Our firm prepares an uncontested Florida divorce for a $750 flat attorney fee — the same price in all 67 counties, including St. Lucie. Court costs (about $408-$410) and notary fees are not included in that $750; you pay those to the clerk and notary directly. Older third-party pages sometimes quote a different price, so the current flat attorney fee is $750.

Court filing fees are set by each county clerk and are separate from our flat attorney fee. As of August 2026, verify the current amount with your local clerk.

Court Costs vs. Attorney Fee in St. Lucie County

For a deeper cost breakdown, see our Port St. Lucie uncontested divorce cost guide.

Simplified Dissolution vs. Regular Uncontested Divorce

Both paths run through the same St. Lucie court, but they suit different situations. Choosing wrong can cost you weeks.

Simplified dissolution is fast but narrow: it requires no minor or dependent children, no alimony, a signed property and debt agreement, and both spouses at the final hearing. A regular uncontested dissolution is more flexible and is the right route whenever children, alimony, or an absent spouse are involved. The centerpiece of that route is the Marital Settlement Agreement (Form 12.902(f)(3) for simplified cases), which must resolve property, debts, time-sharing, child support, and alimony.

What the Marital Settlement Agreement Must Cover

An uncontested divorce is only uncontested if both spouses truly agree on everything. Under Chapter 61, your Marital Settlement Agreement should address:

• Property division under F.S. 61.075. Florida uses equitable distribution — marital assets and debts are divided fairly, though not automatically 50/50. Separate property owned before marriage, or received by gift or inheritance and kept separate, generally stays with that spouse.
• Alimony under F.S. 61.08. Since the 2023 reform (SB 1416), permanent alimony no longer exists; only bridge-the-gap (up to 2 years), rehabilitative (up to 5 years), and durational alimony remain. Spouses may agree in the MSA to waive alimony entirely.
• Time-sharing and parental responsibility under F.S. 61.13. Florida uses "time-sharing" and a written Parenting Plan, not "custody," and applies a presumption of equal time-sharing effective July 1, 2023.
• Child support under the F.S. 61.30 guidelines, with a supporting child support guidelines worksheet.

If you and your spouse cannot reach agreement on even one of these, the case is contested, must go through the mediation and litigation track, and the $750 flat fee does not apply.

Attorney-Prepared vs. Online Form Services

A St. Lucie court will accept correctly completed forms regardless of who typed them, so the real question is who catches the mistakes. Non-lawyer document-preparation and "online divorce" typing services can fill in fields, but by law they cannot give legal advice, cannot tell you whether simplified or regular dissolution fits your facts, and cannot review whether your settlement or parenting plan is actually complete under Chapter 61. A defective agreement or the wrong petition often surfaces at the hearing, sending you back to refile.

With our firm, a licensed Florida attorney prepares and reviews your documents, confirms your case genuinely qualifies as uncontested, and answers your legal questions — for the same flat $750 fee. That is full representation, not just paperwork. When a case is too complex to be truly uncontested, we say so rather than push you down the wrong path. You can compare options with our Port St. Lucie uncontested divorce lawyer overview.

A note on experience: I have practiced Florida family law since 2006 and am a former prosecutor, and I have seen how a small drafting error in a settlement agreement can undo an otherwise simple case. The value of an attorney-prepared uncontested divorce is that those errors get caught before they reach the judge.

Legal Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Florida divorce law and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique. The Law Office of Antonio G. Jimenez can prepare your uncontested divorce for a $750 flat attorney fee (court costs and notary separate); contact our office to confirm whether your case qualifies as uncontested.