There is no state sanctions guidelines, or a specific formula or method of calculating who pays for the cost of a divorce in Florida. The Courts, for the most part, attempt to make sure the divorce case is or was played on a level legal and financial playing field when deciding to award temporary suit fees or award attorney’s fees at the conclusion of the case.

For example if one spouse is the sole breadwinner of the family while the other spouse is a home-maker; then the court may consider the financial resources of both spouses and order one spouse to pay a reasonable attorney’s fees or temporary suit monies to the other spouse. This is a way of leveling the field and allowing both parties to use funds of the marriage to obtain legal counsel.

In a hearing seeking the award of attorney’s fees, the court will weigh the following factors in determining the need of one spouse against the ability to pay of the other spouse in deciding whether to award attorney’s fees to a spouse.

• The complexity and number of issues in the case; i.e. Parental Responsibility, Child Support, Alimony, Asset and/or business valuation.
• The length of the marriage.
• The relationship of the Parties.
• The relative incomes or assets of each party in the marriage.

In the instant example, where one spouse is the sole breadwinner while the other spouse cares for the children and takes care of the home, the court may likely award fees to the non-working spouse.

Consistent with the principle of leveling the playing field, the court will likely not award attorneys’ fees to either spouse when the spouses earn the same, or similar, incomes. A level playing field does not demand the court award attorneys’ fees to either party.