In order to get a divorce in Florida, one of the parties to the marriage must reside six months in Florida before the petition is filed. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to spend every day, or even every week or month in Florida for the six month period before filing in order to be considered as residing in Florida.
Some people who are divorcing in Florida may not be in Florida full-time. They may consider themselves to be residents of Florida, but may have a temporary job assignment out of state, or could be temporarily living with a family member in another state. Under Florida law, in order to be eligible to get a divorce in Florida, you must be a Florida resident.
Whether or not you are considered a Florida resident will be decided by the judge. If you are simply temporarily in another area, but you still have a home in Florida, most likely you will be considered a Florida resident and will be able to divorce. However, if the judge finds that you are permanently living somewhere else and you simply travel to Florida from time to time, you will probably not be considered a Florida resident, and may have to divorce in another state.
If you do not meet the residency requirements to get a divorce, and you wish to proceed with the divorce, you have several options. You can establish residency in Florida. You can ask your spouse to file the divorce action in Florida if he or she meets the residency requirements. You can also choose another state in which you will meet the residency requirements in order to file for divorce.