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Mark Abzug

Marriage and divorce trends in Florida

On Behalf of | Jul 31, 2015 | High Asset Divorce

By keeping track of the marriages and divorces that take place every year, the state of Florida is able to see patterns that happen over the course of one year as well as those that occur over decades. According to the Florida Vital Statistics Annual Report for 2014, the declining divorce rate continued in the state, although the number of marriages increased from 2013. In 2013, there were 137,127 marriages performed in the state of Florida, but that increased to 145,250 in 2014.

In 2013, 80,619 Florida couples divorced, but this declined to 79,432 in 2014. The divorce rate in Florida has been on a downward trend since 2011. The statistics report further categorized the number of divorces into how many years the couples had been married at the time of the filing. According to the report, couples were most likely to divorce after being married five to nine years, with the group married 10 to 14 years coming in second.

Unsurprisingly, the number of divorces per group was inversely proportional to how long the couple had been married, meaning those that had been married the longest had fewer divorces. However, there were still 1,713 divorces in 2014 in which the couples had been married 35 years or longer.

Couples who have been married for most of their lives have often built up significant assets, including real estate property and retirement accounts. High asset divorces can take longer and can be more challenging to settle if the couple disagrees over the division of the assets or does not have a prenup, and these cases often frequently involve significant amounts of alimony. A family law attorney who deals with high asset divorces on a regular basis can help you make sure you are fully aware of your family’s finances and assets and protect your rights when negotiating a settlement.

Source: Florida Department of Health, “Florida Vital Statistics Annual Report 2014,” accessed July 31, 2015

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