61.011 Dissolution in chancery. -- Proceedings under this chapter are in chancery.

61.021 Residence requirements. -- To obtain a dissolution of marriage, one of the parties to the marriage must reside 6 months in the state before the filing of the petition.

61.031 Dissolution of marriage to be a vinculo. -- No dissolution of marriage is from bed and board, but is from bonds of matrimony.

61.043 Commencement of a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for alimony and child support; dissolution questionnaire. --

(1) A proceeding for dissolution of marriage or a proceeding under s. 61.09 shall be commenced by filing in the circuit court a petition entitled "In re the marriage of _____, husband, and _____, wife." A copy of the petition together with a copy of a summons shall be served upon the other party to the marriage in the same manner as service of papers in civil actions generally.

(2) Upon filing for dissolution of marriage, the petitioner must complete and file with the clerk of the circuit court an unsigned anonymous informational questionnaire. For purposes of anonymity, completed questionnaires must be kept in a separate file for later distribution by the clerk to researchers from the Florida State University Center for Marriage and Family. These questionnaires must be made available to researchers from the Florida State University Center for Marriage and Family at their request. The actual questionnaire shall be formulated by researchers from Florida State University who shall distribute them to the clerk of the circuit court in each county.

61.046 Definitions. -- As used in this chapter:

(1) "Business day" means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

(2) "Clerk of Court Child Support Collection System" or "CLERC System" means the automated system established pursuant to s. 61.181(2)(b)1., integrating all clerks of court and depositories and through which payment data and State Case Registry data is transmitted to the department's automated child support enforcement system.

(3) "Custodial parent" or "primary residential parent" means the parent with whom the child maintains his or her primary residence.

(4) "Department" means the Department of Revenue.

(5) "Depository" means the central governmental depository established pursuant to s. 61.181, created by special act of the Legislature or other entity established before June 1, 1985, to perform depository functions and to receive, record, report, disburse, monitor, and otherwise handle alimony and child support payments not otherwise required to be processed by the State Disbursement Unit.

(6) "Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders" means the automated registry of support order abstracts and other information established and maintained by the United States Department of Health and Human Services as provided by 42 U.S.C. s. 653(h).

(7) "Income" means any form of payment to an individual, regardless of source, including, but not limited to: wages, salary, commissions and bonuses, compensation as an independent contractor, worker's compensation, disability benefits, annuity and retirement benefits, pensions, dividends, interest, royalties, trusts, and any other payments, made by any person, private entity, federal or state government, or any unit of local government. United States Department of Veterans Affairs disability benefits and unemployment compensation, as defined in chapter 443, are excluded from this definition of income except for purposes of establishing an amount of support.

(8) "IV-D" means services provided pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. ss. 651 et seq.

(9) "Local officer" means an elected or appointed constitutional or charter government official including, but not limited to, the state attorney and clerk of the circuit court.

(10) "National medical support notice" means the notice required under 42 U.S.C. s. 666(a)(19).

(11) "Noncustodial parent" means the parent with whom the child does not maintain his or her primary residence.

(12) "Obligee" means the person to whom payments are made pursuant to an order establishing, enforcing, or modifying an obligation for alimony, for child support, or for alimony and child support.

(13) "Obligor" means a person responsible for making payments pursuant to an order establishing, enforcing, or modifying an obligation for alimony, for child support, or for alimony and child support.

(14) "Payor" means an employer or former employer or any other person or agency providing or administering income to the obligor.

(15) "Shared parental responsibility" means a court-ordered relationship in which both parents retain full parental rights and responsibilities with respect to their child and in which both parents confer with each other so that major decisions affecting the welfare of the child will be determined jointly.

(16) "Sole parental responsibility" means a court-ordered relationship in which one parent makes decisions regarding the minor child.

(17) "State Case Registry" means the automated registry maintained by the Title IV-D agency, containing records of each Title IV-D case and of each support order established or modified in the state on or after October 1, 1998. Such records shall consist of data elements as required by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(18) "State Disbursement Unit" means the unit established and operated by the Title IV-D agency to provide one central address for collection and disbursement of child support payments made in cases enforced by the department pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act and in cases not being enforced by the department in which the support order was initially issued in this state on or after January 1, 1994, and in which the obligor's child support obligation is being paid through income deduction order.

(19) "Support order" means a judgment, decree, or order, whether temporary or final, issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or administrative agency for the support and maintenance of a child which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, or past support. When the child support obligation is being enforced by the Department of Revenue, the term "support order" also means a judgment, decree, or order, whether temporary or final, issued by a court of competent jurisdiction for the support and maintenance of a child and the spouse or former spouse of the obligor with whom the child is living which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, or past support.

(20) "Support," unless otherwise specified, means:

(a) Child support and, when the child support obligation is being enforced by the Department of Revenue, spousal support or alimony for the spouse or former spouse of the obligor with whom the child is living.

(b) Child support only in cases not being enforced by the Department of Revenue.