Meghann Cuniff is a legal affairs journalist who is a veteran of daily newspapers and has deep experience reporting on complex civil litigation, including mass torts and class actions, securities cases, patent disputes and high-stakes litigation involving major tech companies. She's based in Southern California.
Meghann Cuniff
Meghann Cuniff is a legal affairs journalist who is a veteran of daily newspapers and has deep experience reporting on complex civil litigation, including mass torts and class actions, securities cases, patent disputes and high-stakes litigation involving major tech companies. She's based in Southern California.
Adam has resided at the intersection of legal and journalism for two decades. An award-winning journalist and legal strategist, he’s covered high-profile trials in Florida.
After law school, Adam and spent two years clerking for a U.S. District Court judge. He researched and wrote legal precedent in published opinions on behalf of the Court.
He has been an editor, columnist and journalist at the Miami Herald, The Dallas Morning News, The Oregonian, Golf Digest, FindLaw.com and other media outlets.
He lived in Colombia and Argentina teaching legal English to attorneys and law students. He is also a Spanish-language subject matter expert.
An avid waterman, he surfs and scuba dives frequently.
Reviewed
Adam Ramirez, J.D.
Adam has resided at the intersection of legal and journalism for two decades. An award-winning journalist and legal strategist, he’s covered high-profile trials in Florida.
After law school, Adam and spent two years clerking for a U.S. District Court judge. He researched and wrote legal precedent in published opinions on behalf of the Court.
He has been an editor, columnist and journalist at the Miami Herald, The Dallas Morning News, The Oregonian, Golf Digest, FindLaw.com and other media outlets.
He lived in Colombia and Argentina teaching legal English to attorneys and law students. He is also a Spanish-language subject matter expert.
An avid waterman, he surfs and scuba dives frequently.
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
Jacksonville has approximately 971,000 residents, making it the most populous city in the Southeastern United States and the largest in the South outside Texas. The metro area has more than 1.7 million people, which is the fourth largest in Florida and supports an economy that includes a thriving legal community.
The family law community includes longtime practitioners who specialize in contentious divorces and divorces involving complex assets as well as lawyers who take on more routine dissolutions and divorces. If you’re looking for a divorce lawyer in Jacksonville, you have many options.
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Best Divorce Attorneys in Jacksonville
Compare Top Divorce Attorneys in Jacksonville
How to Get Divorced in Florida
Knowing the basics about the divorce process can help you navigate an already emotional and stressful process. Here are a few things to know.
Contested Divorces v. Uncontested Divorces
There are two basic types of divorces in Florida: contested and uncontested. If you and your spouse agree on the issues such as how to divide your property and other assets and how to handle custody of your children, you can file for an uncontested divorce by signing a petition for dissolution of marriage. Your spouse then files an answer agreeing to what you asked for. A hearing is set and your divorce is finalized.
The divorce is also uncontested if you file and your spouse does not answer within the timeframe set by the court.
If your spouse responds and disagrees with any of the issues in the divorce, you need to go through the contested divorce process.
Simplified Dissolution of Marriage
If a couple agrees they want a divorce, agree on how to split their assets, don’t have any children and are not asking for alimony, then they qualify for a simplified dissolution of marriage that’s typically finalized within 30 days. The process eliminates any right to a trial or appeal and can easily be done without a lawyer.
Reasons for Getting a Divorce
Florida is a no-fault divorce state, which means a couple can divorce without one spouse blaming the other for the split. Both spouses must agree that their marriage is irretrievably broken or one spouse must have been mentally incapacitated for at least three years prior to the divorce. The reason for the breakdown in the marriage isn’t generally considered in the divorce process in Florida, but it may be if it relates to the division of property, custody of children or calculation of alimony payments.
Residency Requirement
Florida requires one to have lived in the state for at least six months before they can file for a divorce or dissolution of marriage.There also is a 20-day waiting period from the time of a divorce filing to when the divorce can be finalized.
Filing Fees
How much you’ll pay in filing fees for your divorce in Florida depends on which county you live in. Jacksonville is in Duval County, which charges $409 for a dissolution of marriage and $295 for a counter petition. You may also have to pay for the summons to be served on your spouse.
Why You Need a Divorce Lawyer
Representing yourself can work if all you need is a simplified marriage dissolution, but if you and your spouse can’t agree on how to split your assets or how to resolve custody, an experienced divorce lawyer in Jacksonville is much better positioned to negotiate a good outcome for you than you are. The best Jacksonville divorce lawyers know how the local court system works and how to ensure you get a fair agreement with your soon-to-be former spouse.
Keeping Emotion Out of Negotiations
If you’re going through a divorce, you’re likely experiencing a range of emotions. Hiring a lawyer to represent you will help ensure your emotions don’t affect the formal court process or influence negotiations with your spouse.
Negotiating with Opposing Counsel
Your spouse is likely represented by a lawyer, and it will be easier to negotiate a good outcome for your divorce if you hire a lawyer who knows how the opposing counsel operates. The best divorce lawyers in Jacksonville know what the other side may want, and they know how to navigate the process to ensure your interests are protected.
Tracking Deadlines and Managing Litigation
The court process has deadlines, and the consequences for missing those deadlines can be great. The best divorce lawyers in Jacksonville have systems in place to track court deadlines, from filing dates to statute of limitations details and they know how to make sure nothing is overlooked in the filing process.
How to Find the Best Divorce Lawyer in Jacksonville, FL
Some divorce lawyers focus on different types of divorce than others. The best divorce lawyers in Jacksonville have experience with a variety of types of divorces. Here are some things to look for when you’re searching for the best divorce lawyer in Jacksonville.
- Experience: An experienced divorce lawyer has handled divorces exclusively for many years. Find out what kinds of cases they handle most often and how that experience fits with the specifics of your case.
- Money: The cost of an attorney depends on the complexity of your divorce and how many hours your lawyer spends working. Most divorce lawyers in Jacksonville may charge an hourly rate. Ask about rates before getting too far in the hiring process with your potential divorce lawyer.
- Speciality: Some divorce lawyers in Jacksonville specialize in high-end divorces involving large real estate holdings and huge amounts of financial assets. Others specialize in divorces involving contentious arguments over child custody or spousal support issues. Consider your potential divorce attorney’s speciality when considering who to hire.
- Reputation: Reputation matters in the legal community. Consider references when looking for the best divorce lawyer in Jacksonville, and don’t be afraid to ask around.
Methodology
To come up with the Best Divorce Lawyers in Jacksonville in 2024, Forbes Advisor considered many factors. Forbes Advisor’s mathematical analysis considers and weighs the information collected to calculate a specific rating and reviews these results to find the best attorneys in a given practice area.
Within the model, we take into account factors that legal professionals and consumers value in an attorney’s qualifications. After assigning weighted scores to hundreds of data points, we narrowed the field down to our top choices based on:
- Legal experience
- Special licenses and certifications
- Ethics and bar disciplinary measures
- Legal thought leadership
- Education and employment background
- Scholarly lectures and writings
- Awards and honors
Forbes Advisor collects public data from a variety of sources, including state bar associations, court records and other published sources on the internet. This information should not be considered comprehensive, however. It might not include additional relevant information on an attorney’s legal skills and experience.
Each lawyer listed here has their own merits. Bear in mind that our list relates to these lawyers’ legal backgrounds but does not evaluate their personalities or their knowledge of the law. One attorney may be more suitable than another for your specific legal situation.
One thing that can’t be quantified, though, is the rapport you establish with your attorney. Personality goes a long way when teaming up with an attorney, especially when going through a potentially difficult legal situation. These rankings should serve as a reference and potential starting point in your search for the right lawyer for you and your legal concerns.
As Hard As Divorce Might Be, An Online Divorce Service Can Make It Easy
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How much does it cost to get a divorce?
Getting a divorce can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousands dollars, depending on if your divorce is contested and who you hire as a lawyer. Filing fees and other costs could be your only court expense if you represent yourself in a dissolution of marriage. But if your divorce is contested, the best divorce attorneys in Florida could cost several thousand dollars, at a minimum.
Who pays attorney fees for a divorce in Florida?
It’s possible that the court could order your spouse to pay your attorney fees for your divorce in Florida. It’s also possible that you could be ordered to pay your spouse’s attorney fees. Absent a court order, you may be able to negotiate attorney fee payment as part of your divorce agreement.
How long do you have to be separated to get a divorce?
You or your spouse must have lived in Florida for at least six months to get a divorce in the state. The state also has a 20-day waiting period from the time of a divorce filing to when the divorce can be finalized.
