How is marital property divided in a Florida divorce?

Florida follows the principle of equitable distribution under Florida Statute § 61.075, which means the marital estate is divided fairly — beginning from a premise of a roughly equal division, but adjusted where the circumstances make an unequal division more equitable. Marital assets and liabilities generally include those acquired during the marriage, while non-marital property — such as assets owned before the marriage or received individually by gift or inheritance — generally remains with the owning spouse, subject to rules about commingling and the enhancement of non-marital assets during the marriage. In a high-asset case, applying these principles is rarely simple: it requires careful identification, characterization, and valuation of every asset and liability. Mediation gives the parties a setting to work through that analysis and craft a division that reflects the real, after-tax value of what they are dividing.