Can I Get Divorced in Miami Without Going to Court?
Of all the questions people ask me about divorce, this is the one that comes up most. And it almost always comes with the same look on their face.
It isn’t really a question about money. It’s a question about dignity. Nobody wants to sit in a family courthouse hallway, next to the person they’re divorcing, waiting for their name to be called in front of a room full of strangers.
Here’s the good news. In Miami-Dade County, when a divorce is uncontested, neither spouse has to set foot in a courtroom. Not once.
This isn’t a loophole or a shortcut. It’s a procedure Florida has in place, and it rests on one very specific document. Let me walk you through it.
Before I go further, I want to be clear about who’s writing this. I’m a Notary Public in the state of Florida. I’m not an attorney and I don’t give legal advice. I won’t tell you whether you should get divorced, how to divide your property, or what you’re entitled to. What I do is specific: I prepare your forms, I notarize them, and I stay with you through the court process until the final judgment comes through. This article is general information about a public Florida procedure.
First, something almost nobody explains
A lot of people come to me asking about a “simplified divorce.” It’s the term floating around online, and it sounds like exactly what you want: fast and easy.
But here’s the part nobody mentions. In Miami-Dade, a simplified dissolution requires both spouses to appear together, in person, before a judge. That hearing can’t be waived. It’s built into the procedure.
So the path that sounds simpler is actually the one that forces you into a courtroom.
That’s why I don’t work that route. I work the uncontested dissolution of marriage. The outcome for you is identical: both of you agree, you divide what you already agreed on, and it ends quickly. The difference is that this one can be filed entirely online, and it does allow both spouses to skip the hearing.
It’s backwards from what you’d expect. But that’s how it works here.
Who can use this route
This isn’t for everyone. Here are the real conditions:
Both of you agree to the divorce. This one isn’t flexible. If your spouse won’t sign, this route doesn’t exist for you.
You’ve already agreed on how to divide property and debts. The house, the cars, the accounts, the credit cards. All of it. The court isn’t going to decide for you here. If you’re still arguing about it, settle that first.
One of you has lived in Florida for at least 6 months. Just one. You prove it with a Florida driver’s license, state ID, or voter registration card. If you don’t have any of those, there’s an alternative: a sworn affidavit from someone who knows you’ve lived here more than six months. That affidavit gets signed in front of a Notary Public.
Neither spouse is asking the other for alimony.
If you have minor children together, the process is different and carries additional requirements, including a mandatory parenting course. I’m not covering that here.
Why you don’t have to appear
Here’s the key piece, and it’s the reason I wrote this article.
There’s a form called the Answer, Waiver, and Request for Copy of Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage, Form 12.903(a). The responding spouse signs it, and in doing so does three things: admits the petition, waives in writing the right to be notified of and to appear at the final hearing, and asks for a copy of the final judgment to be sent to them.
That waiver is what opens the door.
And there’s one requirement for it to be valid: it has to be signed in front of a Notary Public. No notarization, no waiver. No waiver, you’re going to a hearing.
So when someone tells me “I just need a few papers notarized,” I tell them it’s actually more than that. The notarization isn’t the last little step. It’s the hinge the whole process hangs on.
What the process actually looks like
Here’s how it goes with my clients.
We check whether your case fits. Before downloading a single form, we confirm you meet the conditions above. If you don’t fit, I tell you upfront instead of letting you find out late.
I pull the official Florida court forms. The ones that match your specific situation, not a generic template off the internet.
I fill them in with your information. Both the petitioner’s side and the respondent’s side.
We notarize them. This is where the waiver of appearance gets signed.
We open your portal account and upload everything. I walk you through registering, uploading the documents, and paying the court’s filing fee.
We stay on top of the court. This is the step almost nobody offers. Court emails arrive in dense legal English with no explanation attached. I go through them with you. If the judge asks for a document that wasn’t in the original packet, we fill it out, I notarize it if needed, and we upload it.
The final judgment gets uploaded with the case number. It’s the last document in the file, and I help you prepare that one too.
The signed judgment arrives. In my experience, 21 to 30 days after that final step.
How long it takes and what it costs
In practice, a well-prepared uncontested divorce in Miami-Dade resolves in a matter of weeks, not months.
And the thing that drives the timeline isn’t the court. It’s whether the paperwork was complete from the start. The most expensive mistake in these cases isn’t a substantive one, it’s a procedural one: an incomplete form, an un-notarized signature, a document nobody realized was missing. That’s what turns three weeks into three months.
The Miami-Dade court filing fee is $409. It’s paid directly to the Clerk of Courts, it’s non-refundable, and it’s separate from any service you hire. What I charge for my work is on my divorce services page.
One thing I want to be honest about
So far, none of my cases has required a hearing. Not in person, not over Zoom.
But I’m not going to promise you it will never happen. A judge has the authority to require an appearance if they think it’s necessary, and you should be skeptical of anyone who guarantees otherwise. What I can tell you is that when a case genuinely qualifies and the paperwork is done right, that isn’t what happens.
I’d rather tell you this now than sell you a promise I don’t control.
How to tell if you’re in good hands
Here’s something most people don’t know that can save you a lot of grief.
In Florida, a nonlawyer who helps you fill out family law forms is required to give you a copy of the Disclosure from Nonlawyer, Form 12.900(a), before they start helping you. They’re also required to put their name, address, and phone number at the bottom of the last page of every form they help you complete.
This isn’t optional. It’s written into the court’s own instructions.
If someone offers you this service and doesn’t do that, they aren’t doing it properly. It’s the fastest way to tell someone who knows this process from someone improvising with your case.
Questions I get all the time
What if my spouse lives in another state or another country?
It can still work, because the residency requirement only applies to one of you. What you do need is for them to sign their documents in front of a Notary Public wherever they are. If they’re outside the United States, we should review the case before filing anything.
Do I need a lawyer?
Florida law doesn’t require one. That said, if you have minor children together, if alimony is in dispute, if there’s a business involved, or if you and your spouse aren’t in agreement, I’d genuinely recommend talking to a family law attorney. That’s not my lane and I’m not going to pretend otherwise to sell you something.
Does owning a home disqualify me?
No. What disqualifies you is not having agreed on what happens to it. If you’ve already decided, you can use this route.
What if English isn’t my first language?
That’s part of why I do this work. The forms and the court’s emails are all in English. I’ll walk you through them in Spanish and stay with you the whole way.
If you read this and think your case fits, reach out. We’ll go through it together before you spend a dollar at the courthouse.
This article is general information about a public procedure in the state of Florida and does not constitute legal advice. I am a Notary Public in the state of Florida; I am not an attorney. I prepare documents, notarize signatures, and guide clients through the process. I do not represent anyone before the court and I do not give legal advice. For legal advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed Florida family law attorney.
