Divorce Checklist for Florida

Under Florida Statutes § 61.021, at least one spouse must have resided in Florida for a minimum of six months immediately before filing the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. You must be able to prove residency through a valid Florida driver's license, Florida identification card, or voter registration card with an issue date at least six months prior to filing, or through the testimony or sworn affidavit of a corroborating witness using Form 12.902(i). Military personnel stationed in Florida may also satisfy this requirement. If neither spouse meets the six-month residency threshold, the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case. Begin gathering residency documentation early, as the clerk will verify this at the time of filing. Residency is verified in the county where you or your spouse currently reside, or where you last lived together as a married couple.

Before filing your petition, collect all essential personal and marriage records that the court will require throughout your dissolution proceedings. You will need a certified copy of your marriage certificate, which you can obtain from the Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, or from the county where you were married. If you married outside Florida, contact the vital records office in the state or country where the ceremony took place. You will also need birth certificates for any minor children born during the marriage, as custody and child support determinations under Florida Statutes § 61.13 require verification of each child's age and parentage. Gather Social Security numbers for both spouses and all minor children, as these are required on financial affidavit forms. A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, if one exists, must be disclosed to the court under Rule 12.285.

Florida is an equitable distribution state under Florida Statutes § 61.075, meaning the court divides marital property fairly — though not necessarily equally. Before filing, create a comprehensive inventory of all marital assets and liabilities to prepare for the mandatory financial disclosure required by Rule 12.285 of the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure. List all real property (homes, land, rental properties), vehicles, bank accounts, retirement accounts (401(k), IRA, pension), investment portfolios, business interests, and personal property of significant value. Separately identify all debts including mortgages, car loans, credit cards, student loans, and tax obligations. Distinguish marital property from non-marital property — assets acquired before the marriage or by gift or inheritance may be classified as non-marital under § 61.075(7). Document the approximate value of each asset and the current balance of each debt.

Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285 requires both parties to provide comprehensive financial disclosure within 45 days of service of the initial petition. Begin assembling these documents before filing to avoid delays. You must produce the last three years of federal and state tax returns, including all W-2s, 1099s, and K-1 schedules. Gather pay stubs from the last three months to verify current income. Collect 12 months of statements for all financial accounts — checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, brokerage, and retirement accounts. Under the 2021 amendments to Rule 12.285, you must also produce 24 months of any loan applications, financial statements, credit reports, or financial aid forms, and three years of property deeds. Failure to comply with mandatory disclosure can result in sanctions, including the court striking your pleadings or awarding attorney's fees to the other party.

Florida offers four versions of the dissolution petition, and choosing the correct one is critical to properly initiating your case. Form 12.901(a) is the Joint Petition for Simplified Dissolution, available only when both spouses agree on all issues, neither seeks alimony, there are no minor or dependent children, the wife is not pregnant, and both parties can attend the final hearing together. Form 12.901(b)(1) is used when the couple has dependent or minor children. Form 12.901(b)(2) applies when there are marital assets or liabilities but no minor children. Form 12.901(b)(3) covers cases with no children, no property, and no alimony. Download your appropriate form from the Florida Courts website at https://www.flcourts.gov/Services/Family-Courts/domestic-relations-court-resources/family-law-forms. All forms must be typed or printed in black ink and signed before a notary public or deputy clerk.

If you are experiencing domestic violence or fear for your safety during the divorce process, take immediate steps to protect yourself and your children before filing. Under Florida Statutes § 741.30, you may petition for an Injunction for Protection Against Domestic Violence (restraining order) separately from or simultaneously with your dissolution petition. Contact the Florida Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-500-1119, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, operated by the Florida Partnership to End Domestic Violence (FPEDV). Local shelters can be found at https://www.fpedv.org/get-help/. If children are involved, the court may grant temporary exclusive use of the marital home and temporary time-sharing under § 61.071. Inform your attorney or the court clerk about safety concerns — courts can implement measures to protect your address and contact information from disclosure in public filings.

File your completed Petition for Dissolution of Marriage with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where you or your spouse resides, or in the county where you last lived together. Under Florida Statutes § 61.043, proper venue is the circuit court of the county where the respondent resides, or if the respondent is a nonresident, the county where the petitioner resides. The filing fee is $295.00, plus additional statutory surcharges of approximately $97.50 (including $55 for the Domestic Violence Trust Fund, $37.50 for General Revenue, and $5 for the Child Welfare Training Trust Fund per § 28.241). If you cannot afford the filing fee, file an Application for Determination of Civil Indigent Status with the clerk. You may file electronically through Florida's statewide e-filing portal at https://www.myflcourtaccess.com/ or file paper originals in person. The petition must be signed before a notary public or deputy clerk under oath.

Every party in a Florida dissolution of marriage must file a Family Law Financial Affidavit, as required by Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285. Use Form 12.902(b), the Short Form, if your individual gross annual income is under $50,000. Use Form 12.902(c), the Long Form, if your individual gross income is $50,000 or more per year. The financial affidavit must be completed using monthly income and expense amounts — if you are paid biweekly or weekly, you must convert those figures to monthly equivalents. The affidavit must be notarized and filed within 45 days of service of the petition. Under Rule 12.540, a court may set aside a final judgment based on a fraudulent financial affidavit at any time without any statute of limitations. Include all sources of income: salary, wages, bonuses, commissions, self-employment income, rental income, Social Security benefits, disability, pension, and investment returns.

After filing the petition, you must obtain a Summons: Personal Service on an Individual, Form 12.910(a), from the clerk of court. The summons officially notifies your spouse that a dissolution action has been filed and that they have 20 days to file a written response. Complete the Process Service Memorandum, Form 12.910(b), which provides the sheriff or certified process server with instructions for locating and serving your spouse, including their home address, work address, physical description, and best times for service. You cannot personally serve your spouse — service must be performed by the county sheriff's department or a certified private process server under Florida Statutes § 48.021 and § 48.031. If your spouse lives in a different county, you must arrange for the sheriff in that county to complete service. Service fees vary by county but typically range from $40 to $70 for sheriff service.

Under Florida Statutes § 61.21, all parties to a dissolution of marriage involving minor or dependent children must complete a Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course approved by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF). This is a minimum four-hour course designed to educate divorcing parents about the impact of divorce on children and effective co-parenting strategies. The petitioner must complete the course within 45 days of filing the petition, and the respondent must complete the course within 45 days of being served. A Certificate of Completion must be filed with the clerk of court before the judge can enter a final judgment. Online and in-person options are available — a list of DCF-approved providers can be found at https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/child-family/child-and-family-well-being/parent-education-and-family-stabilization. Course fees typically range from $20 to $60 and are the responsibility of each party. The court may excuse a party for good cause.

After obtaining the summons from the clerk, you must arrange for personal service on your spouse through the sheriff's department or a certified private process server. Under Florida law, the respondent must be personally handed a copy of the petition, summons, and all filed documents — service by mail is not permitted for the initial petition. Once service is completed, the process server will file a Return of Service or Affidavit of Service with the court, establishing the date your spouse was officially served. This date is critical because it triggers the 20-day response deadline and the 45-day mandatory disclosure deadline under Rule 12.285. If you cannot locate your spouse after diligent search, you may request constructive service by publication using Form 12.913(a) and an Affidavit of Diligent Search and Inquiry, Form 12.913(b). Note that constructive service limits the relief the court can grant — it cannot award alimony or child support when service is by publication.

After being personally served, the respondent has exactly 20 days to file a written response with the court, as required by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. The response may be an Answer (Form 12.903(a) or (b)) or an Answer and Counterpetition (Form 12.903(c)(1) or (c)(2)), which allows the respondent to raise their own claims for relief, such as alimony, child support, or a different property distribution. If the respondent fails to file any response within 20 days, you may file a Motion for Default, Form 12.922(a), with the clerk. A default allows you to proceed with the case and set a final hearing even without the respondent's participation — however, the court still must make independent determinations regarding children's best interests under § 61.13. During this waiting period, continue gathering your mandatory disclosure documents, as the 45-day disclosure deadline runs concurrently from the date of service.

Within 45 days of service of the initial petition, both parties must complete mandatory financial disclosure under Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285. This requires serving on the opposing party: your Financial Affidavit (Form 12.902(b) or (c)), three years of tax returns with all schedules and W-2s, three months of pay stubs, 12 months of statements for all financial accounts (checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, retirement, brokerage), 24 months of any loan applications or financial statements, and three years of property deeds. After serving all required documents, file a Certificate of Compliance, Form 12.932, with the court certifying that disclosure is complete. The financial affidavit itself cannot be waived, but both parties may agree to waive other disclosure requirements by filing a joint Waiver of Mandatory Disclosure. Failure to comply may result in sanctions including striking of pleadings, exclusion of evidence, and attorney's fee awards.

Under Florida Statutes § 61.13, every dissolution case involving minor children must include a Parenting Plan that addresses time-sharing, parental responsibility, and how the parents will make decisions regarding the child's education, healthcare, and extracurricular activities. Use Form 12.995(a) for a standard Parenting Plan or Form 12.995(b) for a Safety-Focused Parenting Plan when domestic violence or substance abuse is a concern. The plan must describe in adequate detail how the parents will share and be responsible for the daily tasks associated with raising their child, the time-sharing schedule, and a designation of who will be responsible for healthcare, school-related matters, and other activities. Both parents may agree to shared parental responsibility (the preferred presumption under Florida law) or one parent may seek sole parental responsibility by demonstrating that shared responsibility would be detrimental to the child under § 61.13(2)(c)(2). If the parents agree on the plan, both must sign and notarize it.

Under Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.740, all contested family matters may be referred to mediation, and most judicial circuits require mediation before a case can proceed to trial. Mediation is a process where a neutral, Florida Supreme Court-certified family mediator assists both parties in negotiating a resolution on disputed issues such as property division, alimony, child custody, and child support. Mediation must be completed within 75 days of the first mediation conference unless the court orders otherwise. The court will typically refer the case to mediation after the respondent files an answer and contested issues are identified. If either party alleges domestic violence, the court may excuse mediation under Rule 12.740(f). Mediation costs vary — courts must ensure parties have financial ability to pay before referring to a fee-based mediator under § 44.108. If mediation fails, the mediator reports impasse to the court without recommending outcomes, and the case proceeds to trial.

If you and your spouse reach agreement on all issues — whether through direct negotiation, attorney negotiations, or mediation — you must memorialize the agreement in a written Marital Settlement Agreement. Use Form 12.902(f)(1) if you have dependent or minor children, or Form 12.902(f)(2) if you have property but no minor children. The agreement must address the division of all marital assets and liabilities under Florida Statutes § 61.075, including real property, retirement accounts, vehicles, bank accounts, and debts. If children are involved, the agreement must incorporate a complete parenting plan and child support calculations consistent with the Florida Child Support Guidelines under § 61.30. Both parties must sign the agreement in the presence of a notary public or deputy clerk. Once signed, file the original with the clerk of the circuit court. If you used the simplified dissolution process (Form 12.901(a)), file the Marital Settlement Agreement for Simplified Dissolution, Form 12.902(f)(3).

After the mandatory 20-day waiting period under Florida Statutes § 61.19 has elapsed, all mandatory disclosure is complete, and either a settlement agreement is reached or the case is ready for trial, you may request a final hearing. Contact the clerk, family law intake staff, or judicial assistant to schedule the hearing. At the final hearing, the petitioner must testify under oath to establish jurisdiction (residency), confirm that the marriage is irretrievably broken, and present the settlement agreement or proposed terms for the court's approval. If children are involved, the judge will independently evaluate the parenting plan under the best interests of the child standard in § 61.13. The judge will also verify that both parties completed the Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course as required by § 61.21 and that Certificates of Completion have been filed. If the case is contested and mediation was unsuccessful, the court will conduct a trial on all disputed issues.

After the court enters the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage, obtain certified copies from the clerk of court. You will need certified copies to update your name (if applicable), transfer property titles, update beneficiary designations on insurance policies and retirement accounts, and close joint bank accounts. If the judgment includes a real property transfer, record a certified copy of the final judgment or a quitclaim deed with the county recorder's office in the county where the property is located. If a QDRO (Qualified Domestic Relations Order) is needed to divide retirement accounts, you must prepare and submit it to the plan administrator separately — the final judgment alone does not effectuate retirement account transfers. Update your estate planning documents including your will, trust, power of attorney, healthcare surrogate, and beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts. Under Florida Statutes § 732.507, a divorce automatically revokes provisions in a will that favor the former spouse.