Question: In which county in Florida should I file my divorce case?
As long as both parties agree, a divorce case can be filed in any county in Florida.
However, this is not usually the way it works out. There is usually not an agreement between the parties on where to file their divorce case. In this situation, the general rule is that you file your divorce case in the county where the Husband and Wife last lived together as Husband and Wife.
For example, if a Husband and Wife lived together in Jacksonville, split up and later want to divorced, no matter who files the case, they should file in Duval County as long as at least one of them still lives in Duval County.
If both parties have left the county where they last lived together as Husband and Wife, then the spouse who files the case should file in the county where the other spouse now lives.
The last scenario is if one person remains in Florida and the other spouse has left Florida, the spouse remaining in Florida can file where they live even though that might not be where the parties last lived together as Husband and Wife.
For example, if the parties last lived together as Husband and Wife is Duval County, and the Wife moves to Georgia, and then the Husband moves to Orlando, then he can file the divorce case in Orange County.
It is important to remember that if you think your spouse has filed your case in the wrong county, you need to bring that issue to the court’s attention in your initial response to the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. If you don’t raise it at that time, the court will assume that you have agreed to use that county.
