What Is a Wife Entitled To In a Divorce Settlement in Florida?
Florida divorce law is gender neutral. The statutes do not favor wives over husbands or husbands over wives. Divorce settlements and court rulings are based on the specific facts of the marriage, including each spouse’s role, needs, income, and available resources, not gender.
What Is a Wife Entitled To in a Divorce Settlement in Florida?
In general, a wife may be entitled to the same categories of relief available to either spouse in a Florida divorce. What a wife receives depends on whether property is marital or nonmarital, the financial circumstances of both spouses, and what is fair under Florida’s equitable distribution laws.
What Is a Wife Entitled To in a Divorce Settlement in Florida Under State Law?
Under Florida law, divorce outcomes are guided by equitable principles rather than automatic formulas. Courts look at the overall financial picture of the marriage and make decisions intended to place both spouses on workable footing after the marriage ends.
Core Entitlements Both Spouses Share
Equitable distribution of marital assets and debts
Florida follows an equitable distribution system when dividing marital assets and debts. Courts typically begin with a fifty-fifty framework and may adjust that division when evidence supports a different result.
Child-related orders
When children are involved, the court issues orders addressing time sharing, decision making, and child support. These decisions focus on the child’s best interests and the financial realities of each parent.
Alimony
Alimony in Florida is needs based and depends on one spouse’s ability to pay and the other spouse’s demonstrated financial need. The length of the marriage and the appropriate type and duration of alimony are also key considerations.
Attorney’s fees and costs
In some cases, the spouse with greater financial resources may be required to contribute to the other spouse’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs so that both parties have meaningful access to legal representation.
Why a Spouse May Still Pay Child Support With 50/50 Time Sharing
Child support is considered the child’s right. Even when parents share time equally, support may still be ordered due to income differences, health insurance costs, childcare expenses, and other financial factors. Equal time sharing does not always result in equal financial capacity.
Practical Guidance for Spouses Who Stepped Out of the Workforce
- Collect documentation showing your contributions to the household and your spouse’s earning capacity.
- Outline your current monthly expenses and a reasonable post-divorce budget.
- Consider education or training plans that may support a request for rehabilitative alimony.
The Takeaway
In Florida, divorce settlements are based on fairness and financial realities rather than labels. Understanding how equitable distribution, alimony, and child-related orders work can help spouses pursue outcomes that support long-term stability.
Sean Smallwood is an Orlando divorce attorney for the law firm Sean Smallwood, Orlando Divorce & Family Law P.A. where he represents clients in all areas of family law and divorce. 100% of the practice is devoted to family law. As an attorney in Orlando, he has helped many families with a wide variety of family law cases including Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support, and many other issues.