If you’re planning to get a divorce in Florida, your main challenge is not going through a divorce process. It’s the paperwork.
Everyone who has ever dealt with the court system knows it takes a lot of forms every step of the way. Finding, completing, filing, serving - these things you’ll be doing many times before getting a divorce decree.
You’ve probably tried looking for the Florida divorce forms online but have no idea if all of them suit your circumstances. So, here’s a complete list of divorce documents you’ll need to file for divorce in Florida and explanations about when you need each of them.
Where divorce isn’t harder than it has to be
Our platform streamlines the divorce process, guiding you to a desired outcome with minimal stress.
A petition for Dissolution is a primary form you should complete and file with the circuit court. With it, you ask the court to grant your divorce and provide initial information about yourself, the other party, grounds for divorce, etc.
This specific Petition (Form 12.901(a)) is used for simplified cases. For example, your divorce qualifies as simplified if you don’t have minor or dependent children and divided property (assets and liabilities) by agreement.
Other requirements include confirmed residency (six months before filing), not seeking alimony, and giving up the right to trial or appeal. Both spouses must also be present at the final hearing.
The Petition for Simplified Dissolution requires both spouses’ signatures, addresses, and phone numbers.
You should use this form if you filed a Petition for Simplified Dissolution and agreed on all issues with your spouse, including property division and alimony. Both you and your spouse must sign this agreement form before a notary public or deputy clerk.
File this form with the circuit court clerk in the county where you live and already filed other paperwork. You don’t have to file this form with your Petition and can bring it to court later.
You need to complete and take this form to the final hearing, or the judge will prepare it during the hearing. It only has a few checkboxes and blanks to fill out since the detailed divorce terms are collected in the Settlement Agreement.
This document is signed by the judge and signifies the end of your marriage. The copies will be distributed to the parties indicated at the end of the paper (petitioner, respondent, or their attorneys).
The purpose of this form is to disclose judicial workload data. Your task is to indicate the type of lawsuit (initial action or reopened case) and the type of your case. Choose a regular or simplified dissolution, depending on your situation. You must file this form with your Petition and other initial papers.
Each Petitioner must complete and file this form under the Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.545(d). It lets the court know whether you have any related pending or closed cases when filing for divorce. Related cases involve the same parties, children, or issues as your divorce.
If you don’t have any pending or closed related cases, check the appropriate box at the beginning of a document. You must also serve the respondent and a judge assigned to your case with a copy of this document.
It is a primary document that you file in every divorce case. Choose one of the following forms that best describes your situation. If you plan to file for a simplified dissolution, use Form 12.901(a) instead.
This form aims to verify that one or both spouses have lived in Florida for six months before filing for divorce. This requirement is mandatory for all divorce cases. A third person who knows you or your spouse must fill out the affidavit and sign it before a notary public. Then, file this form with the court and serve a copy on your spouse.
If you can corroborate residency by other means (valid Florida driver’s license, ID, or voter’s registration card), skip this form.
This form is mandatory for all dissolution cases, with or without children. You’ll need to provide your full name, date of birth, and social security number, and do the same for any minor or dependent children. Remember to notarize and deliver a copy of the Notice to your spouse.
Summons is a form to notify the other party of divorce and request personal service. It means that your spouse will receive copies of all documents in one of the court-approved ways.
Note that you cannot give the papers to the other spouse yourself. Instead, you must request help from the sheriff’s department or use a private process service. In addition, you must file a Summons along with a Petition for Dissolution and a Process Service Memorandum.
If your spouse lives in the same county, ask the clerk to forward these forms to the sheriff for service. Otherwise, you will need to take them to the appropriate sheriff’s office in the county where your spouse lives.
File this form with a Summons to ask the sheriff’s department to perform personal service of divorce papers on your spouse. You should provide your spouse’s full name and home/work address and specify the best times for the delivery. You can also attach a map to this form so that a sheriff can easily find the other party.
Florida laws require that copies of all papers filed in a lawsuit must be served on the other party. Most forms already have a section where you certify that you deliver a copy to the other party. However, when you file a document without certification, you must use a separate Certificate of Service (Form 12.914).
This form aims to determine whether one spouse is in the military. If you do not know this information for sure, use this Memorandum to contact military branches and public health service. You should attach a check to cover the service fees.
Use this form to inform the court of the military status of your spouse in a divorce case. In particular, file it when you want a default divorce, and the other party was served (received copies of all papers) but did not file an answer or an appearance.
Notarize this form and file it with the clerk. You might also need verifications from each military branch about the respondent’s military status (Form 12.912(a)).
A final judgment is a document that dissolves your marriage for good. Choose one of the forms below that best suits your situation. However, if you filed for a simplified dissolution, use Form 12.990(a) instead.
Complete and file this form with the clerk when your case is over. First, type the names of both parties and the judge who issued the final orders. Then, put an “X” in a checkbox that describes a method of disposition made in your case (e.g., by a judge, jury, etc.). Finally, send a copy to the other party.
If you are a respondent in a dissolution case, you will need to fill out and file this form if:
Sign this document in front of a notary public and take it to the circuit court clerk where your spouse filed a Petition. You also need to serve a copy on the petitioner.
Fill out and file this form after you have set the court hearing date. Fill in the information about the date, time, and place of the hearing. This data should be provided to you by the court. Then, send a copy to the other party by mail or hand delivery.
This form aims to provide information about all minor and dependent children and establish the need for child custody and time-sharing. You should file this document even if you and your spouse agree on child-related issues. Remember to sign and notarize this affidavit before filing it with the court.
A Parenting Plan outlines each parent’s rights and responsibilities regarding their minor children after divorce. This paper contains recommendations for the court and may be approved or rejected.
All couples with minor children must complete this worksheet and file it with the clerk. It must also come with financial affidavits from both spouses. After you’ve filed the worksheet, make sure to serve a copy to your spouse.
This form contains tables where you must enter monthly income, basic total and individual obligations, additional support payments, etc. In addition, you must use the most recent child support guidelines chart to determine financial obligation.
Where divorce isn’t harder than it has to be
Our platform streamlines the divorce process, guiding you to a desired outcome with minimal stress.
As you can see, you’ll need to complete quite a few forms, most of which consist of two to seven pages, not to mention the amount of information you must fill out.
In other words, it means many hours of work and a lot of room for mistakes.
If you want to be 100% sure that your paperwork is done correctly, consider using Divorce.com. With our prompt help, your divorce papers will be ready to file in a blink of an eye and comply with your state standards.
So, why not make your life easier by letting us help you?
Reduce time, cost, and conflict.
Learn about divorce online with Divorce.com
