RESIDENCY IS REQUIRED
FOR A DIVORCE
By K. Dean Kantaras and Zane M. Thompson
I n a petition for dissolution of a
marriage, a trial court must follow
the residency requirements set forth
in Florida Statute §61.021, which
provides that “to obtain a dissolution of
marriage, one of the parties to the marriage
must reside six months in the state before
the filing of the petition.” If the six-month
residency requirement is not met and
proved, the court will lack jurisdiction,
and cannot enter a final judgment of
dissolution. Mikulec v. Mikulec, 47 So. 3d
851, 852 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010).
Furthermore, pursuant to Florida
Statute § 61. 052 (2), residency must
be corroborated. Corroboration of the
residency requirement may include a
valid Florida driver’s license, a Florida
registration card, or the testimony or
affidavit of a third party. In most family law
cases regarding a petition for dissolution, a
party will meet the residency requirement
by providing the court with a valid driver’s
license. However, an issue may arise if
the driver’s license presented to the
court was issued less than six months of
the filing of the petition for dissolution.
In this circumstance, the party must prove
the residency requirement by either a
Florida registration card, or the testimony
or affidavit of a third party.
In 2018, the Fifth District Court of
Appeal of Florida found that the residency
LAARWT
K. Dean Kantaras, Esq.
126 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
The residency requirement is essential
to all dissolution of marriage cases,
and attorneys can overlook the resident
requirement. One suggestion to help
identify if there is a residency requirement
issue in the early stages of a case is to make
a photo copy of the client’s driver’s license.
If the driver’s license does not meet the sixmonth
residency requirement, the attorney
should be aware of a potential residency
issue and take the appropriate steps to try
and establish the residency requirement
by either a Florida registration card, or the
testimony or affidavit of a third party. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: K. Dean Kantaras is
the managing partner of K. Dean Kantaras,
P.A., a firm handling cases in family law and
immigration. Mr. Kantaras is board certified
in marital and family law by the Florida Bar.
He has been practicing for over 25 years and
is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Zane
M. Thompson is a graduate of Florida State
University and Florida State University
College of Law who was admitted to the
Florida Bar in 2015. He joined the firm in
December 2018. Their offices are located at
3531 Alternate 19, Palm Harbor, 34683,
(727) 781-0000 and 1930 East Bay Drive,
Largo, 33771, kantaraslaw.com.
requirement may not be established by
the uncorroborated testimony of one
party. McNeil v. Jenkins-McNeil, 252
So. 3d 354 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018). In McNeil
v. Jenkins-McNeil, the former wife alleged
in her counter-petition that the former
husband had been a Florida resident
for at least six months prior to filing his
petition for dissolution of marriage but
did not separately allege that she was
a resident of Florida. Thus, the former
wife had the burden at trial of proving
former husband’s residency in Florida.
The former husband did not attend trial,
and the former wife failed to establish the
husband’s residency in Florida with any
of the necessary corroborative evidence
such as a valid Florida driver’s license, a
Florida registration card, or the testimony
or affidavit of a third party. Thus, the lower
court lacked jurisdiction to enter the final
judgment of dissolution of marriage.
/kantaraslaw.com