Florida does not publish a single statewide document called the Florida equitable distribution worksheet. What the courts actually require is the Florida Family Law Financial Affidavit — Form 12.902(b) or 12.902(c) — and, in some circuits, a local line-by-line spreadsheet that lists every asset and liability, assigns a value, and allocates each to one spouse. Completing them well comes down to three things: classifying each item correctly as marital or nonmarital, pricing it as of the right date, and reporting net figures you can prove.
Which Financial Affidavit You File
Your gross annual income decides the version:
- Form 12.902(b), the short form, if your gross annual income is under $50,000.
- Form 12.902(c), the long form, if your gross annual income is $50,000 or more.
The financial affidavit is mandatory in any case involving child support, alimony, or equitable distribution, and the parties cannot waive it. You sign it under oath. Whether your circuit also requires a separate equitable distribution worksheet depends on local practice; check with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in your county. The affidavit itself is the document the court will always need.
On either form, every asset line should show gross value minus any associated debt, producing a net figure. A home worth $400,000 with a $250,000 mortgage represents $150,000 in net equity. Those net numbers are what the judge compares when deciding whether a proposed split is close to equal.
Classify Each Item as Marital or Nonmarital First
The court divides only marital property. Nonmarital property goes back to whoever owns it, untouched. Getting this classification right before you type any numbers is the single most consequential step.
Under Section 61.075(6)(a), marital assets and liabilities include everything either spouse acquired during the marriage, whether titled individually or jointly. That covers the house, bank accounts, cars, credit card balances, and mortgages, along with the increase in value of a nonmarital asset when that increase resulted from either spouse’s efforts or from marital funds invested in it.
Section 61.075(6)(b) defines nonmarital assets. They include property either spouse owned before the wedding and anything acquired in exchange for it; property received individually by gift, inheritance, or bequest during the marriage (as long as it was not a gift between spouses); property the parties agreed in writing to keep separate, such as under a prenuptial agreement; and income from nonmarital assets, unless both spouses treated that income as a shared resource.
Gifts between spouses during the marriage are marital property. For real estate specifically, an interspousal gift requires a written instrument meeting Florida’s formal conveyance requirements.
Commingling is where classification often collapses. If you inherited money but deposited it into a joint checking account and used it for household expenses, you may have converted it from nonmarital to marital property. Keeping nonmarital assets in separate accounts, and being able to prove it with bank records, is the only reliable way to protect them.
When Nonmarital Property Became Partially Marital
Nonmarital property that gained value during the marriage rarely stays entirely nonmarital. The statute splits appreciation into active and passive, and each follows a different rule.
Active appreciation — value increases caused by either spouse’s labor or by marital funds invested in the property — is marital. If one spouse owned a rental property before the marriage but both spouses renovated it and managed tenants during the marriage, the resulting increase in value belongs to the marital estate.
Passive appreciation is more mechanical. When marital funds are used to pay down the mortgage on a nonmarital property, the statute uses a coverture fraction to decide how much of the passive appreciation counts as marital. The numerator is the total mortgage principal paid from marital funds during the marriage. The denominator is the property’s value at the time of the marriage or when it was first encumbered by the mortgage being paid with marital funds, whichever is later. Multiply that fraction by the total passive appreciation to get the marital share. The marital portion then equals that calculated share of passive appreciation plus all principal payments made from marital funds plus any active appreciation, capped at the net equity in the property at the valuation date.
This formula frequently applies to the family home when one spouse owned it before the marriage. The court must apply it unless a party proves it would produce an inequitable result.
Documents to Gather Before You Fill Anything In
Pulling together records in advance prevents the gaps and guesses that cause problems later. At a minimum, assemble:
- Deeds, mortgage statements, and recent appraisals or tax assessments for every property either spouse owns.
- The most recent statements for all checking, savings, money market, brokerage, and CD accounts.
- The most recent statements for every 401(k), pension, IRA, and deferred compensation plan, plus the summary plan description for each.
- Titles, loan statements, and current market values for cars, boats, and significant personal property.
- Statements for mortgages, auto loans, student loans, credit cards, and any other debts.
- Declarations pages and most recent statements for life, health, and dental insurance covering either spouse or dependent children.
- Federal and state income tax returns for the past three years with all W-2s, 1099s, and K-1s.
- If either spouse owns a business, corporate or partnership tax returns for the past three years plus profit-and-loss statements.
Digital assets need their own line of thought. Cryptocurrency, NFTs, and digital wallets must be listed at current fair market value. Because those values move sharply, courts and attorneys often use an average over a defined period or bring in a financial expert. Whichever method you use, document how you got to the number. A judge will want to see your work.
Pick the Right Valuation Date
Florida uses two separate dates, and mixing them up is a common error.
The cut-off date for deciding which assets and liabilities are marital is the earliest of three events: when the parties sign a valid separation agreement, a date expressly set in that agreement, or the date someone files the dissolution petition. Anything acquired after this cut-off is generally not marital.
The valuation date — what each item is actually worth — is a separate question. Under Section 61.075(7), the judge has discretion to pick whatever date is “just and equitable under the circumstances,” and different assets can be valued as of different dates. A retirement account might be valued as of the filing date while a house is valued closer to trial if the market has moved. Knowing this gives you room to argue for a date that reflects an asset’s real worth.
Meet the 45-Day Mandatory Disclosure Deadline
Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285 requires both parties to hand over a substantial packet of financial documents within 45 days of service of the initial petition on the respondent. The financial affidavit itself cannot be waived.
Required disclosures include the financial affidavit, three years of tax returns, recent pay stubs, loan applications and financial statements from the past year, deeds from the past three years, three months of checking account statements, twelve months of statements for all other accounts, brokerage statements, retirement plan statements and summary plan descriptions, and insurance documentation. Business owners add corporate or partnership tax returns and financial statements.
The 45-day clock runs from service of the petition on the respondent, not from the filing date. If you are the petitioner, you owe the same disclosures in the same window. Failure to comply can bring sanctions, including the court drawing negative inferences about hidden assets or barring you from introducing financial evidence at trial.
Filing and Serving the Forms
Sign and notarize the completed affidavit, then file it with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Florida requires electronic filing through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal for most filers. First-time users create an account and should select “Self-Represented Litigant” as the filer role if they do not have an attorney.
Filing is only half of what is required. You must also serve the completed documents on the other spouse or their attorney, and proof of service must be filed with the court. If electronic service is not available, physical mail or hand delivery works as a fallback.
You Are Signing Under Oath
The financial affidavit is a sworn document. Omitting an account, undervaluing property, or understating income is perjury. Florida courts have treated financial fraud in divorce as grounds for awarding a larger share of assets to the other spouse, contempt findings, orders to pay the other spouse’s attorney fees and investigation costs, and, in extreme cases, criminal charges.
The exposure does not end with the final judgment. A divorce judgment obtained through fraud can be set aside. If a former spouse discovers years later that you hid a brokerage account or underreported business income, they can petition to reopen the case, and the court can vacate the original distribution and start over. That is far more expensive than disclosing honestly the first time.
Retirement Accounts: Line on the Worksheet Is Not Enough
Retirement accounts are often the second-largest marital asset after the home, and listing them on the affidavit is only part of the job. An ERISA-governed plan — which covers most 401(k)s and pensions — is legally required to pay benefits only according to the plan’s own documents. A divorce decree alone does not override that. You need a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, or QDRO, to authorize the plan administrator to pay a share of the benefits to the non-participant spouse.
Without a valid QDRO, the plan has no obligation to honor the court’s division no matter what the final judgment says. The QDRO must meet both federal ERISA requirements and the specific plan’s rules. Getting it drafted and approved before the divorce is finalized is far easier than fixing it afterward.
IRAs are not ERISA-governed and do not require a QDRO, but they still need to be transferred pursuant to the divorce decree to avoid triggering taxes or early withdrawal penalties. Document the transfer as incident to the divorce.