Florida is an equitable distribution state. Under Fla. Stat. § 61.075, marital assets and liabilities are presumed to be divided equally between spouses unless one or more of seven statutory factors justifies a different split. The court will start with a 50/50 baseline and adjust from there based on the specific facts of the marriage.
You do not need a judge to do that math. In mediation, two spouses work through the same statutory framework together. They identify marital versus non-marital property, value the assets, and agree on how to divide them. Most Florida divorces resolve asset division in mediation rather than in court. Charles Geller has been a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator for 20 years and has led more than 2,500 mediations across Florida, including the asset-division portion of those settlements.
Mediation is billed hourly. Most 2-hour cases run about $2,600 in total session and document fees. Longer cases cost more. Most sessions run by Zoom so you can join from home; Florida’s Supreme Court supports virtual mediation under current state guidelines, and Charles serves clients in all 67 Florida counties this way. In-person sessions at the Orlando office are available for couples who prefer that format.
What does Florida law mean by “equitable distribution”?
“Equitable” does not mean “equal,” though equal is where the court starts. Fla. Stat. § 61.075 provides that “the court shall set apart to each spouse that spouse’s nonmarital assets and liabilities, and in distributing the marital assets and liabilities between the parties, the court must begin with the premise that the distribution should be equal, unless there is a justification for an unequal distribution based on all relevant factors.”
The statute then lists seven specific factors the court considers when deciding whether to depart from the 50/50 starting point:
- The contribution to the marriage by each spouse, including contributions to the care and education of the children and services as homemaker.
- The economic circumstances of the parties.
- The duration of the marriage.
- Any interruption of personal careers or educational opportunities of either party.
- The contribution of one spouse to the personal career or educational opportunity of the other spouse.
- The desirability of retaining any asset, including an interest in a business, corporation, or professional practice, intact and free from any claim or interference by the other party.
- The contribution of each spouse to the acquisition, enhancement, and production of income or the improvement of, or the incurring of liabilities to, both the marital assets and the nonmarital assets of the parties.
The statute also includes catch-all factors: the intentional dissipation, waste, depletion, or destruction of marital assets after the filing of the petition; and any other factor necessary to do equity and justice between the parties.
In mediation, both spouses look at the same seven factors together and decide how, if at all, they apply to the marriage. Most couples conclude that 50/50 is the right starting point and stay there. Others negotiate adjustments based on specific facts: one spouse made career sacrifices to raise the children; one spouse brought significant non-marital property into the marriage that was later commingled; one spouse dissipated marital funds during the separation. The conversation produces a settlement that reflects the actual marriage, not what a judge would guess at after a few hours of trial.
What is marital vs. non-marital property in Florida?
The single most important classification in any asset division is which property is marital and which is non-marital. Under Fla. Stat. § 61.075(6), marital assets and liabilities include:
- Assets acquired and liabilities incurred during the marriage, individually by either spouse or jointly by them
- The enhancement in value and appreciation of non-marital assets resulting from the efforts of either party during the marriage, or from contributions to or expenditure of marital funds or assets
- Interspousal gifts during the marriage
- All vested and non-vested benefits, rights, and funds accrued during the marriage in retirement, pension, profit-sharing, annuity, deferred compensation, and insurance plans and programs
Non-marital assets and liabilities include:
- Assets acquired and liabilities incurred by either party before the marriage
- Assets acquired separately by either party by non-interspousal gift, bequest, devise, or descent (an inheritance, for example)
- All income derived from non-marital assets during the marriage, unless treated, used, or relied on as a marital asset
- Assets and liabilities excluded from marital assets by valid written agreement (such as a prenup or postnup)
- Any liability incurred by forgery or unauthorized signature of one spouse signing the name of the other
The classification gets complicated quickly. A non-marital asset can become marital, or partially marital, through commingling, joint titling, or marital-funds contribution to its enhancement. A 401(k) opened before the marriage but contributed to during the marriage has both marital and non-marital components. A house owned by one spouse before the marriage that was refinanced jointly during the marriage has shifted classification. The home one spouse inherited but lived in jointly may have appreciated due to joint marital efforts.
Charles walks through the classification analysis for each asset in the mediation. For straightforward cases, this is a 30-minute conversation. For couples with longer marriages, blended finances, family-business interests, or significant non-marital tracing, it can take longer. Those cases may benefit from outside expertise (a forensic accountant, a business valuator) before mediation begins.
How does mediation handle the seven statutory factors?
The seven factors are the lever the court would use to depart from 50/50. In mediation, the same lever exists, but you and your co-spouse decide whether to pull it.
Mediation surfaces the factors explicitly. Charles asks the questions the statute embeds: how long was the marriage; what were each spouse’s economic contributions; were there career interruptions; what is each spouse’s economic situation now. The answers shape the negotiation. A long marriage with one spouse out of the workforce raising children tends to produce different settlements than a short marriage between two equally established professionals. A marriage that involved one spouse building the other’s business is different from a marriage with parallel careers. These differences show up in the settlement.
What mediation produces is a settlement reflecting the marriage that actually existed, not a judge’s reconstruction. The University of Virginia 12-year follow-up of randomly assigned families found that mediation produces higher settlement rates, faster resolution, greater parent satisfaction, and lasting improvements in coparenting compared to adversarial divorce (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005). The same dynamic shows up in financial outcomes: settlements that both spouses helped design produce better long-term financial cooperation than settlements one spouse felt forced into.
What about retirement accounts, real estate, and business interests?
These are the three asset categories that take the most time in mediation. Each has specific Florida-law and tax considerations.
Retirement accounts. All vested and non-vested benefits accrued during the marriage in retirement, pension, profit-sharing, annuity, deferred compensation, and insurance plans are marital under Fla. Stat. § 61.075(6). Dividing a 401(k), 403(b), or pension between spouses without triggering early-withdrawal penalties and tax consequences requires a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO), a separate court order that instructs the plan administrator to split the account. Mediation handles the agreement on how the account gets divided; a QDRO is then drafted and submitted along with the final judgment. IRAs are divided by a different mechanism (a “transfer incident to divorce”) that does not require a QDRO. Charles flags the QDRO requirement for any retirement account that needs one and connects clients with QDRO drafters when needed.
Real estate. The marital home is often the largest single asset in the divorce. There are three common options: sell and split the proceeds; one spouse buys out the other’s interest (typically through refinancing); or maintain joint ownership for a defined period (sometimes used when minor children are still in school). Each has tax implications under Internal Revenue Code § 121 (the principal residence exclusion) and § 1041 (transfers incident to divorce). Mortgages add another wrinkle. Refinancing into one spouse’s name requires that spouse to qualify on their own income. Mediation produces the agreement; closing logistics are handled separately by the parties.
Business interests. A closely held business or professional practice held by one or both spouses is marital to the extent of its growth and value during the marriage. Valuing the business is usually a precondition for the asset-division conversation. Common valuation methods include income-based (capitalized earnings, discounted cash flow), market-based (comparable transactions), and asset-based (book value or adjusted net asset value). Mediation does not perform the valuation itself; couples typically retain a business valuator before mediation, and the valuation report becomes an input to the negotiation. Charles has handled business-asset divisions in many of the 2,500+ mediations he has run.
What about debt?
Marital debt is treated symmetrically with marital assets. Both are divided between the spouses. Common categories include: mortgages on jointly titled real estate, credit card balances accrued during the marriage, personal loans, vehicle loans, tax liabilities, and student loans (more complex; student loans incurred during the marriage are usually marital).
The settlement specifies which spouse takes responsibility for which debts. Two notes: first, the agreement between you and your co-spouse does not bind your creditors. If both names are on a credit card and your settlement assigns the balance to your spouse, the credit card company can still come after you if your spouse defaults. The remedy is to close joint accounts, refinance joint debts into one name, or include indemnification language in the Marital Settlement Agreement. Second, dissipation (intentional waste of marital assets during the separation) is one of the factors the court considers under Fla. Stat. § 61.075. Significant unexplained spending in the months leading up to filing can be argued as dissipation and may be charged against the spending spouse’s share.
Will I lose half my pension?
The clean answer is that the marital portion of any retirement account is presumed to be divided equally under Florida’s equitable distribution framework. “Marital portion” means the part that accrued during the marriage. If you began contributing to your 401(k) before the marriage, the pre-marital balance plus its passive appreciation is non-marital. The contributions during the marriage and their growth are marital.
For a defined-benefit pension, the marital portion is typically calculated using a coverture fraction: years of marriage during which the pension accrued, divided by total years of service. The result is the marital share of the future benefit; that share is then divided per the settlement.
Equitable distribution does not require that you give up half of your pension specifically. Many settlements trade asset categories: one spouse keeps the retirement account in full, the other keeps the home in full, with adjustment payments to balance the trade. The point of mediation is to find the trade structure that works for both spouses, not to mechanically split every account.
Why Charles Geller for your asset-division mediation?
Charles Geller is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator in Family, Civil, and Appellate Mediation. That puts him among a small number of Florida mediators certified in all three areas. He has been mediating Florida divorces for 20 years and has led more than 2,500 mediations across Florida. Asset-division mediation pulls on the civil-mediation skill set as much as the family-mediation skill set, because negotiating economic outcomes between two parties with competing interests is what civil mediators are trained for. Charles is also a Diplomate of the Florida Academy of Professional Mediators (FAPM), the organization’s top credential.
Frequently asked questions
How does Florida split assets in a divorce?
Florida is an equitable distribution state. Under Fla. Stat. § 61.075, the court starts with the premise that marital assets and liabilities should be divided equally and adjusts based on seven statutory factors. In mediation, you and your co-spouse work through the same framework yourselves. Most cases settle close to 50/50; some negotiate adjustments based on specific facts of the marriage.
What is marital property vs. separate property in Florida?
Marital property includes assets acquired and liabilities incurred during the marriage, the appreciation of non-marital assets resulting from marital efforts or funds, interspousal gifts, and all vested and non-vested retirement benefits accrued during the marriage. Non-marital property includes assets owned before the marriage, inheritances and non-interspousal gifts received during the marriage, income from non-marital assets that was kept separate, and assets excluded by a valid prenup or postnup.
What about debt: does my spouse’s debt become mine?
Debt incurred during the marriage is generally marital and is divided between the spouses in the settlement. Debt incurred by one spouse before the marriage or after the date of filing is non-marital. Two important notes: the agreement between you and your co-spouse does not bind creditors; if you are both on a joint debt, your name stays on it until the debt is paid or refinanced. Significant unexplained spending in the months leading to filing can be argued as dissipation and may be charged against the spending spouse’s share.
How do retirement accounts get divided?
The marital portion of any retirement account (401(k), 403(b), pension, IRA, deferred compensation) is presumed to be divided equally. 401(k) and pension accounts typically require a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO), a separate court order instructing the plan administrator to split the account. IRAs use a “transfer incident to divorce” mechanism that does not require a QDRO. The marital portion is the part that accrued during the marriage; pre-marital balances and their passive appreciation remain non-marital.
What about real estate: who keeps the house?
Three common options: sell and split the proceeds; one spouse buys out the other’s interest (often by refinancing the mortgage into a single name); or maintain joint ownership for a defined period, often used when minor children are still in school. Each option has tax implications and mortgage considerations. Mediation produces the agreement; closing logistics are handled separately.
What about a business one or both of us owns?
A closely held business or professional practice is marital to the extent of its growth and value during the marriage. Valuing the business is usually a precondition for the negotiation. Couples typically retain a business valuator before mediation; the valuation report becomes an input. Mediation then handles the agreement on how the business value is allocated, usually through a buyout, a continuing income share, or trading other assets to offset.
Will I lose half my pension?
The marital portion of any retirement account is presumed to be divided equally. “Marital portion” means the part that accrued during the marriage. Many settlements trade asset categories rather than splitting every account individually: one spouse keeps the retirement in full, the other keeps the home in full, with adjusting payments to balance. The point of mediation is to find the trade structure that works for both spouses.
What if my spouse is hiding assets?
Florida law requires both spouses to file mandatory financial disclosure in any dissolution. The disclosure includes income, assets, debts, and expenses, supported by documentation. In mediation, both spouses share the same disclosure. If you suspect your spouse is hiding assets, mediation is the wrong path until the disclosure is honest. Litigation provides discovery tools (depositions, subpoenas, forensic accounting) that mediation does not. The free 30-minute consultation can help you decide whether mediation makes sense in your specific situation.
What happens if we cannot agree on values for assets?
The most common gap is in valuing a closely held business or a complex piece of real estate. The solution is usually to retain a third-party expert (business valuator, real estate appraiser) before continuing the mediation. Once both spouses have an independent valuation, the negotiation resumes from a shared factual baseline. For straightforward assets (bank accounts, brokerage accounts, vehicles with Kelley Blue Book values), values are typically not in dispute.
Can we agree to an unequal split if we want to?
Yes. Mediation lets you settle on any division both spouses agree to, as long as the agreement is a product of voluntary negotiation with full financial disclosure. A Florida judge reviewing an uncontested Marital Settlement Agreement is asked to confirm that the agreement is reasonable on its face and was entered into voluntarily — not to second-guess every term. Most departures from 50/50 in mediation reflect either a specific statutory factor (long marriage with one spouse out of the workforce; significant non-marital tracing) or a trade between asset categories.
How does the date of separation affect the asset division?
Florida does not require a formal date of separation. The “cut-off” date for what counts as marital is typically the date the petition for dissolution is filed, though the court has some discretion. Assets acquired and debts incurred after that date are usually non-marital. This matters for couples who separated months or years before filing, because significant changes in either spouse’s finances between separation and filing may need to be addressed in the negotiation.
What about alimony: is that part of the asset-division conversation?
Alimony is a separate analysis from equitable distribution, though the two interact. Florida alimony reform in 2023 (CS/SB 1416) eliminated permanent alimony and set new categories (temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, durational). The amount and duration depend on factors including length of marriage, both parties’ financial resources, contributions to the marriage, and the standard of living established. Mediation handles the alimony conversation alongside the asset division.
Related services
- Divorce Mediation. the full divorce mediation process in Florida
- Parenting Plans. Florida parenting plans, time-sharing, and child support
- Family Agreements. prenuptial, postnuptial, and separation agreements
- How It Works. the step-by-step process
- Pricing. full pricing breakdown
Asset division is the math your marriage produced. Mediation gets to the answer. Book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation to talk through your situation.