An Uncontested Florida Divorce with One Spouse Living Out of State

A common worry people have before calling a divorce attorney is what happens if their spouse doesn't live in Florida anymore. This case is a clean example of why that usually isn't the obstacle people expect it to be.

The wife had remained a Florida resident; her husband had since relocated out of state. The couple had no children together, no marital home, no vehicles titled jointly, and no shared bank or retirement accounts — nothing to negotiate a division of. Both spouses mutually waived alimony, and the wife asked to have her former name restored as part of the judgment, which the court granted along with the divorce itself.

Because the wife met Florida's residency requirement, the case could be filed in Florida even though her husband no longer lived there. Both spouses reviewed and signed the settlement agreement and petition through the same remote process the firm uses for every case: each met separately with an independent, Florida-commissioned online notary over video call, from their own homes in their own states, with no need to coordinate an in-person meeting across state lines.

Once the fully executed, notarized packet was filed, the assigned judge reviewed the file and entered the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage without a hearing. From the day the couple retained the firm to the day the judge signed the Final Judgment took 37 days — most of that time spent gathering the parties' agreement and signatures, not waiting on the court.