Your guide to Florida divorce forms

There are numerous Florida divorce forms that are approved by the Florida Supreme Court for use throughout the state. In Florida, a divorce is called a dissolution of marriage, the party filing the case is called the Petitioner, and the other party is the Respondent.

Simplified procedure

You may be able to use a special simplified divorce procedure if your spouse will cooperate with signing necessary documents and appearing in court, you both have resided in Florida for at least six months, there are no minor or dependent children and the wife is not pregnant, you and your spouse have agreed on the division of property and debts, neither wants alimony, and you both give up the right to a trial and appeal.

The following Florida State Courts System simple divorce forms are used for this procedure, and are filed at the same time:

• Petition for Simplified Dissolution of Marriage (form 12.901(a)). this form is a joint petition for simplified dissolution of marriage, as it is signed by both parties, so no process server is needed.
• Family law financial affidavit. The Florida Family Law Financial Affidavit forms are explained below under the All Cases heading.
• Marital settlement agreement for simplified dissolution of marriage (Form 12.902(f)(3)). This form sets forth the property and debt division agreement of the parties.
• Notice of Social Security number. This form is explained below under the All Cases heading.
• Final judgment of simplified dissolution of marriage (Form 12.990(a)). This is the final order of the court, granting the dissolution and approving the marital settlement agreement.

All cases

The following forms are common to all dissolution cases, unless otherwise noted:

• Civil cover sheet (Form 12.928). The cover sheet gives basic information about your case for statistical reporting purposes by the court clerk.
• Petition for dissolution of marriage. This form is filed by the Petitioner to begin the divorce. It asks the court to grant a dissolution, and may also request the division of property and debts, determination of alimony, and the custody and support of dependent or minor children. There are separate forms for the simplified procedure (Form 12.901(a), above), and for cases with dependent or minor children (Form 12.901(b)(1)), with property but no children (Form 12.901(b)(2)), and with no property or children (Form 12.901(b)(3)).
• Family law financial affidavit. This form (Long Form, Form 12.902(c)) must be filed by the Petitioner. One also will be filed by the Respondent, except in a default case. It outlines the party's assets and debts, and income and expenses. This is used for dividing property and debts, and determining alimony and child support, if applicable. There is a shorter version (Short Form, Form 12.902(b)) for use if your annual gross income is less than $50,000.
• Affidavit of corroborating witness (Form 12.902(i)). This form is signed by someone who knows you to verify that you have been a Florida resident for at least the six-month period before filing.
• Notice of Social Security number (Form 12.902(j)). This provides your Social Security number and date of birth. If there are minor children, their dates of birth and Social Security numbers also must be provided.
• Service forms. These forms relate to the Respondent's being officially notified that the dissolution has been filed. They include a Summons (Form 12.910(a)) (telling the Respondent he or she has 30 days to file an answer or a default may be entered), and a Process Service Memorandum (Form 12.910(b)) (giving information to the process server). There is also a Certificate of Service (Form 12.914) that is filed whenever various forms are delivered to the other party. These forms are not used in the simplified procedure.
• Final judgment of dissolution of marriage. This is the final order of the court, signed by the judge. It grants the dissolution, and states the court's orders regarding property and debt division, alimony, child custody and visitation, and child support. In an uncontested divorce, it approves the Marital Settlement Agreement. There are separate forms for the simplified procedure (Form 12.990(a), above), and for cases with minor dependent children (Uncontested, Form 12.990(b)(1); Contested, Form 12.990(c)(1)), with property but no children (Uncontested, Form 12.990(b)(2); Contested, Form 12.990(c)(2)), and with no property or children (Uncontested, Form 12.990(b)(3)).
• Final disposition. The Final Disposition Form (Form 12.999) provides basic information about how your case was concluded, as required for statistical reporting.

Uncontested cases

In an uncontested divorce, the following forms also are commonly used:

• Marital settlement agreement for dissolution of marriage. Setting forth the agreement of the parties, there are separate forms for cases with dependent or minor children (Form 12.902(f)(1)), with property but no children (Form 12.902(f)(2)), and with no property or children (Form 12.902(f)(3), above).
• Answer, waiver, and request for copy of final judgment of dissolution of marriage (Form 12.903(a)). Where the Respondent is in agreement with the dissolution, he or she can sign this form, which avoids the need for service by a process server.

Cases with children

The following additional forms are commonly used when there are minor or dependent children:

• Uniform child custody jurisdiction and enforcement affidavit (Form 902(d)). This form provides information about the minor children.
• Parenting plan (Form 12.995(a)). This provides the details of custody and visitation, either as proposed by each party, or as agreed upon. There also are specialized parenting plan forms if supervised visitation is requested (Form 12.995(b)), and if the parents will live some distance apart (Form 12.995(c)).
• Child support guidelines worksheet (Form 12.902(e)). This worksheet calculates the amount of child support, according to the Florida guidelines.
• Income deduction forms. Where child support is to be deducted from the payor's paycheck, there are several documents that must be used. These are the Income Deduction Order (Form 12.996(a)), Notice to Payor (Form 12.996(b)), Notice of Filing Return Receipt (Form 12.996(c)), Florida Addendum to Income Withholding Order (Form 12.996(d)), and federal Income Withholding for Support (IWO) (Form OMB 0970-0154).

The forms listed above, as well as numerous other forms, often can be obtained from your local court clerk, or from the Florida State Courts System website. You may decide to seek more assistance through an online service provider that can help you sort out which forms you'll need to handle your individual situation.