Florida Husband and Wife mutually agree to divorce.

Wife relocates to a neighboring state and leaves Children in Florida with Husband for several months.

Wife returns to Florida. To the marital residence, in fact.

No, it’s not a reconciliation. Wife plans to move to her own place in the general vicinity. When she rebuilds her savings a bit.

But weeks turn into months …

And Husband is anxious to “get it over with already”.

But don’t they have to separate first? Live in separate residences?

To the surprise of some new clients like Husband, no, that is not actually necessary under Florida divorce law.

Assuming Florida has jurisdiction of a marriage, all Florida divorce law requires is that the marriage be “irretrievably broken”.

That can happen even with both spouses living under the same roof.

Truth be told, since the beginning of the recession and the foreclosure crisis, more and more divorcing couples in Florida are continuing to live together in the marital residence throughout their divorce.

Believe it or not, some former couples continue to share a residence even after their divorce is final. Really.

It’s not that either spouse is refusing to accept the breakup. It is really all about their finances.

For better or for worse, Florida divorce law is completely indifferent as to whether a divorcing couple continues to live in the same abode.

Either spouse may proceed with filing for divorce, even if neither spouse has moved out of the marital residence.