Finishing a Pro Se Divorce That Had Been Stalled for Nearly a Year

Not every case that comes to the firm starts here. In this case, a father had already filed his own uncontested divorce without a lawyer, using a settlement agreement he drafted himself. Both parties signed and notarized it, and both completed the state's required parenting class. On paper, it looked like a case that was close to finished.

It wasn't. The self-drafted settlement agreement included a boilerplate recital stating that the couple had no minor children — even though they had one. That single sentence, left over from a template the father hadn't fully adapted to his own situation, was enough to stop the case cold. Florida law doesn't let parents contract around a court's obligation to decide parental responsibility, time-sharing, and child support for their own child (Fla. Stat. §§ 61.13, 61.30), so a settlement agreement that affirmatively denies a child exists can't be the basis for a parenting plan or a child support order — and without those, a judge has nothing to sign off on. No parenting plan and no child support worksheet had ever been filed. The case sat untouched for eight months.

When the father retained the firm, the first step was filing a notice of appearance to get access to the real court file — not simply starting over with a new case, but stepping into the one that already existed, in the circuit where it had originally been filed rather than the county the firm typically uses. Reviewing the actual filed documents (rather than relying on the intake information alone) is what surfaced the contradiction in the settlement agreement. From there, the fix was substantive, not clerical: a parenting plan and child support worksheet had to be prepared from scratch, reflecting time-sharing and a support arrangement consistent with what the parents actually intended, and filed alongside the other required local paperwork.

Every circuit in Florida has its own uncontested-dissolution procedures, and this one specified exactly how a proposed Final Judgment should be submitted for a judge's review without a hearing. Once the corrected packet was complete and filed, the proposed Final Judgment was submitted directly to the assigned judge under those procedures, along with a certification that the self-represented mother had reviewed and didn't object to it. The judge entered the Final Judgment 13 days later. A case that had been stuck for the better part of a year was finished 30 days after the father hired the firm.

What Slowed This Case Down

The case had originally been filed pro se roughly a year earlier. The father's self-drafted settlement agreement incorrectly stated the couple had no minor children, so no parenting plan or child support worksheet was ever filed — and the case sat inactive for about eight months as a result.

Once retained, the firm filed a notice of appearance, reviewed the real court file, identified the specific defect, and prepared a proper parenting plan and child support worksheet consistent with the parents' actual arrangement. The corrected packet was filed and a proposed Final Judgment was submitted per that circuit's local uncontested-dissolution procedure; the judge entered it 13 days later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a court finalize a divorce if the settlement agreement doesn't address the parties' minor children?

No. Florida courts have an independent obligation to decide parental responsibility, time-sharing, and child support for any minor child of the marriage, and parents can't contract around that obligation (Fla. Stat. §§ 61.13, 61.30). A settlement agreement that omits a child — or, as here, incorrectly states there are none — can't support a parenting plan or child support order, and without those, the court can't enter a Final Judgment in a case involving children.

Can I hire an attorney to finish a divorce I started on my own?

Yes. An attorney can file a notice of appearance in an existing case at any stage, including one filed without a lawyer, and review what's actually on the court's docket rather than starting over. That review is often what surfaces problems with self-prepared paperwork that would otherwise keep a case from moving forward.

Why do uncontested divorce cases sometimes sit inactive for months with no progress?

A case can stall when the filed paperwork is incomplete or internally inconsistent — for example, missing a legally required document like a parenting plan. Without a complete, consistent record, there's nothing for a judge to act on, and the case simply sits until someone identifies the specific gap and files what's missing.

Do all Florida counties handle uncontested divorces the same way?

No. Each judicial circuit sets its own local procedures for how an uncontested dissolution is submitted for the court's review, including what a proposed Final Judgment package should contain and how it's presented to the assigned judge. Following the specific circuit's procedure — not just Florida's general dissolution statutes — is part of what allows a complete, uncontested case to be entered without a hearing.