Home Β» Spousal Abandonment Laws in Florida. Divorce is always a complicated affair. Despite being a no-fault divorce state, many Florida marriages end in divorce for one or more concrete reasons. This article will break down spousal abandonment laws in Florida and examine how spousal abandonment can affect divorce proceedings.
Spousal abandonment is recognized in three types. Spouses can experience one or all three types of abandonment simultaneously depending on their circumstances.
Actual or physical abandonment occurs when one spouse leaves the marital home and either never returns or never intends to return. Physical abandonment can occur even if the spouse in question leaves their physical possessions behind. This is physical abandonment. Abandonment may also be emotional or constructive in nature rather than physical. This type of abandonment has a broader range of behaviors. This type of behavior could be characterized by shouting, cursing, or emotionally abusing their spouse.
In some cases, a spouse withholding sex, withholding money, or engaging in infidelity or abuse may also be accused of emotional or constructive abandonment. Overall, constructive abandonment includes any behavioral or emotional abandonment of marriage, even if the spouse in question stays living in the marital home.
The third type of abandonment is the most serious. Criminal abandonment also called desertion β see more below occurs when a spouse physically or constructively abandons their children if they have a financial obligation to them. For instance, if one spouse who is the legal caretaker of the children suddenly leaves the marital home, they could be accused of criminal abandonment. Similarly, a father who leaves the marital home, abandoning his children and with no intention of providing financial support, is committing criminal abandonment and could be prosecuted in the future.
