Starting a family law & divorce matter in Jacksonville, Florida: property timeline, court movement, and before the local story sets

Divorce and custody cases from anywhere in Jacksonville run through the Family Law Division of the Fourth Judicial Circuit at the Duval County Courthouse on West Adams Street, where general and family magistrates carry much of the docket and a self-help center serves the many residents who appear without lawyers. Florida is an equitable-distribution state under Fla. Stat. §61.075, not a community-property state, so marital assets and debts are split fairly — presumed equal unless the facts justify otherwise — while property owned before the marriage or received by individual gift or inheritance stays with its owner if it was kept separate. The state uses no-fault dissolution: the ordinary ground is that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" under Fla. Stat. §61.052, and at least one spouse must have lived in Florida for six months before filing (Fla. Stat. §61.021). What gives a Jacksonville family case its distinctive texture is the Navy — with NAS Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport anchoring one of the country's largest fleet concentrations, deployments, permanent-change-of-station moves, and the division of military retirement and benefits surface constantly, and a competent local practitioner has to work fluently at the seam where Florida law meets federal military-family protections.

Florida rewrote its alimony law in 2023, and the change matters in a city full of long Navy marriages and single-income military households. Senate Bill 1416 eliminated permanent alimony and reorganized the remaining forms under Fla. Stat. §61.08 — temporary support during the case, bridge-the-gap (up to two years) to ease the move to single life, rehabilitative (up to five years) tied to a concrete retraining plan, and durational for a set term. Durational alimony is now capped in duration by the length of the marriage (its term cannot exceed 50 percent of a short-term marriage under 10 years, 60 percent of a moderate-term marriage of 10 to 20 years, or 75 percent of a long-term marriage over 20 years) and capped in amount at the recipient's reasonable need or 35 percent of the difference in the parties' net incomes, whichever is less. The reform also built a pathway to modify or end alimony when the paying spouse reaches retirement age. Military retired pay is carved up under the federal Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act, and the "10/10 rule" (10 years of marriage overlapping 10 years of service) controls whether the Defense Finance and Accounting Service pays the former spouse directly — a recurring pivot point in Jacksonville dissolutions, alongside the Survivor Benefit Plan and TRICARE's 20/20/20 rule.

Florida frames custody as "parental responsibility" and "time-sharing" rather than custody and visitation, decided under the best-interests factors of Fla. Stat. §61.13. Shared parental responsibility — both parents keeping a voice in major decisions — is the strong default unless it would harm the child, and a 2023 amendment added a rebuttable presumption that equal 50/50 time-sharing serves the child's best interest, shifting negotiations to start from an even split. For Jacksonville's service families, the military-parent statute (Fla. Stat. §61.13002) is essential: it forbids using a parent's deployment against them, allows a temporary schedule change during the absence that automatically reverts on return, and lets a deploying sailor delegate time-sharing to a stepparent or grandparent so the child keeps that side of the family. Relocating a child more than 50 miles for 60 or more days requires the other parent's written agreement or a court order under Florida's strict relocation statute (Fla. Stat. §61.13001) — a frequent flashpoint when PCS orders send a Mayport or NAS family across the country. Interstate and overseas disputes fall under the UCCJEA.

Protection from domestic violence in Jacksonville runs through the same courthouse and a strong local support network. Petitions for injunctions against domestic, repeat, dating, sexual, and stalking violence (Fla. Stat. §741.30 and §784.046) are filed with no filing fee and free help from the Clerk's self-help staff, and a judge can grant a temporary ex parte injunction the same day on a showing of immediate danger, with a full hearing set within about 15 days for a final injunction. Hubbard House — Duval County's certified domestic-violence center, reachable on its 24-hour hotline at 904-354-3114 — runs emergency shelter, counseling, and courtroom advocacy for survivors regardless of income or immigration status. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office enforces injunctions across the consolidated county, and any violation is a fresh crime. Immigrant survivors keep independent federal remedies (VAWA self-petitions, U visas with law-enforcement certification, and T visas) whatever an abuser's status, and for service families the Navy's Family Advocacy Program and the base Fleet and Family Support Centers coordinate with civilian services and can trigger command consequences.

Child support in Florida uses the income-shares model of Fla. Stat. §61.30, combining both parents' net incomes, the number of children, health-insurance and childcare costs, and the overnight schedule to produce a guideline figure, with a substantial adjustment once a parent exercises at least 20 percent of overnights — a threshold more cases now cross under the equal-time-sharing presumption. Military compensation is generally counted in full, including base pay plus BAH and BAS allowances and special pays, which can lift the guideline number meaningfully in Jacksonville cases. The Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Program (1-850-488-KIDS) establishes and enforces support for many families using income-deduction orders — including withholding from military pay through DFAS — license suspension, tax-refund interception, and contempt, while contested and higher-asset matters proceed through the Fourth Circuit, often before a magistrate. Support generally runs until 18 (or 19 if the child is still finishing high school). Modifications require a substantial change in circumstances and never happen automatically, so a promotion, a PCS move, or a separation from service must be brought back to court promptly, since arrears keep accruing until an order changes. Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (904-356-8371) helps income-qualifying families, and the Jacksonville Bar Association (904-399-4486) refers to family specialists; mediation is generally required before a contested final hearing.