County of Residence

[FloridaGirl722]

I live in Palm Beach County, FL and when I file for divorce and custody I will need to go to Pasco County, FL (4 hours away) and stay with my mom until I can get my stuff together and find work.
I will need to file for divorce in Pasco County because that is where I will be living. We have no friends or family in Palm Beach, so it would be much easier for my husband to stay with his family or friends and go to court dates in Pasco County then for me to go to Palm Beach where there is nobody I can stay with and 8 hours for a round trip is a lot of gas money and a lot of driving.
If I have to file in the last place we lived as a couple it would be very difficult for me.
My question is... How long do I need to live in Pasco County before I can file for divorce or custody there? If it is a set amount of time... How do I still let my husband see his son (1 year old) and not worry about him taking him from me until we can get custody settled?
Thank you for your help.

[Attorney Cheri Hobbs]

You need to reside in the state of Florida for at least 6 months in order to file in Florida for divorce. For counties, most courts will require that you file in the county where you last lived together as husband and wife. If your spouse will agree to you filing in Pasco county then you may be able to do so. You do not want the court to think that you are "forum shopping" for a 'better' county to file in but as you do have some concerns you may want to speak to one of our Pasco county attorneys.