Divorcing without minor children removes the hardest part of most divorces — but it doesn’t make the process automatic, and it doesn’t make it safe to wing. Couples without children still divide everything they own and owe, still face alimony questions, and still make decisions that are difficult to undo. Here is how a no-children divorce works in Florida, and where the traps are, from The Law Office of John Vernon Moore, P.A. in Melbourne.
Your Procedural Options Open Up
Without minor or dependent children, every path is available. If you also agree on all property issues and neither spouse seeks alimony, you may qualify for Florida’s fastest procedure, the simplified dissolution — roughly 30 days start to finish. If you agree on everything but want to preserve alimony or appeal rights (or one spouse won’t attend the hearing), an uncontested divorce typically wraps in one to three months. And if you don’t agree, the case follows the standard contested process — just without parenting plans, parenting courses, or child support.
The Case Becomes Entirely Financial
With no children, a Florida divorce reduces to two questions: how to divide the marital estate, and whether alimony applies. That focus cuts both ways. Cases move faster — but every dollar of attention lands on equitable distribution: the house and its equity, retirement accounts and pensions, vehicles, debts, and anything acquired during the marriage regardless of title. Non-marital property — what you brought into the marriage, inheritances, and gifts kept separate — stays yours, but only if it stayed separate. Commingling (depositing an inheritance into the joint account, retitling premarital property jointly) converts separate property into marital property more often than people believe.
Alimony Without Children
Alimony does not require children — it turns on one spouse’s need and the other’s ability to pay, filtered through Florida’s 2023 reform: bridge-the-gap (max 2 years), rehabilitative (max 5 years), or durational alimony capped by marriage length, with no durational award at all for marriages under 3 years absent exceptional circumstances. Childless marriages where one spouse supported the other’s career, or where a long marriage ends with a wide income gap, still produce meaningful alimony cases. If you’re waiving alimony to qualify for simplified dissolution, understand that the waiver is permanent.
Watch the Beneficiaries and the Paperwork
The quiet mistakes in no-children divorces are administrative. Retirement accounts divided without a proper QDRO. A settlement that awards the house without a deadline to refinance the mortgage out of your name — leaving your credit chained to an ex’s payment history. Life insurance and retirement beneficiary designations never updated. An estate plan that still names your former spouse. We close every case with a checklist that covers deeds, QDROs, refinance deadlines, titles, and a referral into our estate planning practice to update wills and designations — because the divorce isn’t finished until the paperwork is.
Pets, By the Way
Florida law treats pets as property, not family members — courts do not order pet time-sharing. If the dog matters to you (it usually does), address it in the settlement agreement, where you can agree to any arrangement you like.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast can we finish if we agree on everything?
Simplified dissolution: about 30 days. Uncontested: commonly 4-10 weeks in Brevard County, driven mostly by hearing availability. Preparation before filing is what makes those numbers real.
We were only married two years. Do we really need lawyers?
Short marriages are usually simple — but “usually” is doing work in that sentence. One consultation to review the agreement costs little; an unfair waiver or a missed retirement claim is forever. Durational alimony is generally unavailable under 3 years, which itself surprises people on both sides.
Who keeps the house?
Whoever the agreement or court says — but the practical question is who can afford it alone, and whether the keeping spouse can refinance. Selling and splitting proceeds is often the cleanest outcome when neither can.
Are adult children ever relevant?
Legally, almost never — no support or time-sharing. Practically, long-marriage divorces with adult children are gray divorces, with retirement-division stakes all their own.
Simple Doesn’t Mean Unimportant
Our team’s 89+ years of combined experience includes hundreds of efficient, low-conflict divorces — we make the simple ones cheap and the important ones airtight. Call (321) 529-7777 or contact us online for a free 30-minute consultation.