What happens at a Final Judgment hearing in a divorce. 

When the parties have agreed to the divorce and signed a Marital Settlement Agreement detailing their agreement to be divorced, the attorney can request a hearing in front of a judge to legally end the marriage.  This hearing is known as the Final Judgment hearing. 

For something that is such a big deal in people's lives, the hearing itself is nothing exciting.  Because the parties have agreed to the divorce and have signed an agreement detailing how they will deal with their assets and liabilities, alimony, the marital residence, attorneys fees, child support and what used to be known as custody, the Judge will simply instruct the attorney to ask the client any questions the attorney may have or more commonly the judge will ask questions about the agreement.  The process usually lasts around 5-10 minutes and ends with the judge signing the Order making it official that the parties are no longer married. 

These hearings usually take place in the mornings on a Monday through Thursday.  Each Judge generally chooses just one day to deal with his/her UCD calendar (uncontested divorce calendar).  Up to a couple hundered people could be there to get divorced.  Clients with attorneys are generally heard first and then people without an attorney (known as pro se litigants) go after all the attorneys.  The waiting time with an attorney can be an hour or more and pro se litgants can be there for hours. 

Things that you need to bring with you regardless of whether you decide to use an attorney or are pro se are a valid driver's license or voter card showing that you have been a resident of Florida for at least 6 months prior to filing for divorce (if you don't have either then you can bring a witness that can testify to that fact) and $20  in cash as most courts have a Court reporter that charges approximately $15 dollars before you enter the courtroom.