Uncontested Divorce With Children Cape Coral FL: $750

An uncontested divorce with children in Cape Coral costs a $750 flat attorney fee at the Law Office of Antonio G. Jimenez (court costs of about $408-$410 and notary are separate). Filed in the 20th Judicial Circuit through the Lee County Clerk of Court, your case requires a parenting plan, child support worksheet, and Marital Settlement Agreement under Florida Statutes Chapter 61.

If you and your spouse agree on everything — how you will share time with your children, child support, property, and debts — Florida law lets you finalize your divorce without a courtroom fight. The key difference when minor children are involved is paperwork: you cannot use the fastest simplified path, and you must submit a parenting plan and a child support guidelines worksheet the judge will review. Below is exactly how an uncontested divorce with children works in Cape Coral, what it costs, and which forms you file.

What Makes a Divorce With Children Uncontested in Florida?

An uncontested divorce means both spouses agree on all issues before filing. When you have minor children, those issues expand to include:

• Time-sharing (the physical schedule for each parent)
• Parental responsibility (how decisions about education, healthcare, and activities are made)
• Child support, calculated under the F.S. 61.30 guidelines
• Division of marital property and debts
• Any alimony, or a mutual waiver of alimony

Florida is a no-fault state under F.S. 61.052 — the only ground is that the marriage is "irretrievably broken." You do not prove adultery, abandonment, or cruelty, and you do not need your spouse's permission. If the two of you can agree on the parenting plan and finances, your case stays uncontested and qualifies for our flat fee. If you cannot agree on even one issue — for example, the time-sharing schedule or the child support amount — the case becomes contested and the flat fee does not apply.

Florida uses the terms "time-sharing" and "parenting plan," not "custody" or "visitation" (F.S. 61.046). Getting this vocabulary right matters because the court will not approve a parenting plan written in the wrong terms.

Can You Use Simplified Dissolution If You Have Children?

No. This is the single most important rule for parents. Florida's simplified dissolution of marriage under F.S. 61.052(2) (Form 12.901(a)) is only available when there are no minor or dependent children, neither spouse seeks alimony, and both spouses appear at the final hearing. Because you have children, you must use the regular uncontested path.

That means you file Form 12.901(b)(2), the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage with Dependent or Minor Child(ren), and resolve your case through a written Marital Settlement Agreement plus a Parenting Plan. The regular path preserves your rights to financial disclosure and a decision on child-related issues that a judge confirms is in the children's best interest.

Simplified vs. Regular Uncontested Dissolution

The fee is the same either way. Having children does not raise our price — it simply adds a parenting plan and child support worksheet to the package.

How Much Does an Uncontested Divorce With Children Cost in Cape Coral?

Our firm prepares a complete uncontested divorce with children in Cape Coral for a $750 flat attorney fee — the same statewide price we charge in all 67 Florida counties. That fee covers preparing and reviewing your petition, Marital Settlement Agreement, parenting plan, and child support worksheet.

Separate costs you pay directly to the court and vendors include:

• Lee County filing fee for a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage: typically about $408-$410, set by the Lee County Clerk of Court
• Notary fees: roughly $50 per signing session for the required sworn signatures
• Optional process server ($40-$75) if your spouse must be formally served rather than signing a waiver

Compared with a traditional retainer of $5,000-$7,500 for a contested family law matter, a flat-fee uncontested divorce keeps the total predictable. You can see a full breakdown in our guide to uncontested divorce cost in Cape Coral. 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 the Lee County Clerk.

Where Do You File an Uncontested Divorce With Children in Cape Coral?

Cape Coral sits in Lee County, which is served by the 20th Judicial Circuit Court. You file your Petition for Dissolution of Marriage with the Lee County Clerk of Court. To file, at least one spouse must have been a Florida resident for at least 6 months before filing (F.S. 61.021), proven by a Florida driver's license, voter registration, or a corroborating witness.

Most filings go through the statewide Florida Courts E-Filing Portal at myflcourtaccess.com, and self-represented parties can find standardized family law forms and self-help resources at flcourts.gov. For a step-by-step walkthrough of the local process, see our guide on how to file an uncontested divorce in Cape Coral and where the Cape Coral divorce court is located.

When minor children are involved, the 20th Circuit typically sets a brief final hearing at which the petitioner testifies to confirm the marriage is irretrievably broken and that the parenting plan serves the children's best interest. The hearing is usually short, but scheduling is controlled by the court, so exact timing varies.

What Is a Parenting Plan and Why Is It Required?

Under F.S. 61.13, every Florida divorce involving minor children requires a parenting plan that the court approves. The plan is not optional and cannot be skipped, even when parents fully agree. A complete parenting plan in Cape Coral must specify:

• The time-sharing schedule, including weekdays, weekends, holidays, and summer breaks
• How parents share or divide parental responsibility for decisions on education, healthcare, and religion
• Which parent's address is used for school-boundary determination
• How the parents will communicate about the children and handle exchanges

Effective July 1, 2023, Florida law presumes that equal (50/50) time-sharing is in the best interest of the child under F.S. 61.13(3). Parents remain free to agree to a different schedule that fits their work and the children's needs; the court reviews the agreed plan against the best-interest factors and approves it if it protects the children. Because a defective parenting plan is the most common reason an otherwise-agreed case gets bounced, having a licensed Florida attorney draft it is where much of the $750 value lies.

How Is Child Support Calculated in an Uncontested Case?

Even when parents agree, Florida does not let them simply name a number. Child support is set by the statutory guidelines in F.S. 61.30, which combine both parents' net incomes, the number of overnights each parent has, health insurance costs, and childcare costs. The parent with the higher guideline obligation pays the difference to the other parent.

You submit a Child Support Guidelines Worksheet (Form 12.902(e)) alongside your settlement. A judge will compare your agreed amount to the guideline figure. Parents may agree to a support amount that deviates from the guideline by more than 5 percent only if they explain the reason in writing and the court finds it is in the children's best interest. If you want to estimate your number before filing, our firm can run the worksheet as part of preparing your uncontested divorce with children in Cape Coral.

What Financial Disclosure Is Required?

Florida Family Law Rule 12.285 requires each spouse to file a Family Law Financial Affidavit — the short form (Form 12.902(b)) if annual gross income is under $50,000, or the long form (Form 12.902(c)) at $50,000 or more — generally within 45 days of service. Because child support is calculated from income, accurate financial affidavits are essential in any case with children.

Spouses in a regular uncontested case may agree to waive filing the financial affidavits by signing Form 12.902(k), the Notice of Joint Verified Waiver of Filing Financial Affidavits. Even when the filing is waived, both parents still need honest income figures to complete the child support worksheet correctly, so the underlying disclosure work does not disappear.

Why Hire an Attorney Instead of an Online Form Service?

Online divorce and document-typing services can fill in blanks, but non-lawyers cannot give legal advice, cannot tell you whether your parenting plan complies with F.S. 61.13, and cannot catch a child support error before a judge does. When children are involved, a mistake in the parenting plan or support worksheet can delay your final judgment or create problems you only discover years later.

With our firm, a licensed Florida attorney prepares and reviews every document, confirms your Marital Settlement Agreement and parenting plan are complete, and answers your legal questions — all for the flat $750 fee. An uncontested divorce is a good fit when both spouses genuinely agree and the finances are straightforward. If there is a dispute over time-sharing, hidden assets, a business to value, or one spouse will not cooperate, the case is likely too complex for the flat-fee track, and we will tell you so honestly. Compare the two approaches in our overview of the Cape Coral uncontested divorce process.

How Long Does an Uncontested Divorce With Children Take?

Florida has no mandatory waiting period after filing (the state's 20-day figure is the respondent's time to answer, not a delay you must serve out). Once the petition is filed, the respondent has 20 days to respond, and financial disclosure is generally due within 45 days. In an uncontested case where your spouse signs a waiver and the settlement is ready, the timeline is driven mostly by how quickly the 20th Circuit schedules your brief final hearing.

Realistically, many uncontested cases with children in Lee County reach final judgment within a couple of months of filing, but the court controls the calendar, so no firm can promise an exact date. Getting the parenting plan and child support worksheet right the first time is the best way to avoid the delays that come from rejected paperwork.

Frequently Asked Questions

See the FAQ section below for detailed answers on the flat fee, parenting plans, time-sharing, and filing in Cape Coral.

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.