How to Complete and File the Florida Family Law Financial Affidavit Short Form

The Florida Family Law Financial Affidavit Short Form, officially Form 12.902(b), is a sworn court document reporting your income, expenses, assets, and debts in a family law case. You use it when your gross annual income is under $50,000. Once complete, it must be signed before a notary public or deputy clerk, filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, and served on the other party within 45 days of the initial pleading being served on the respondent.¹

Who Files the Short Form

Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285 draws a bright line at $50,000 in gross annual income. Below that, you file Form 12.902(b). At or above it, you file the long form, Form 12.902(c). Neither party can waive the affidavit, even if you and your spouse agree on everything. The court needs it anyway.¹

Gross annual income here means everything: wages, Social Security, rental income, business revenue, disability benefits, pensions, and any other recurring money. The form applies in any case involving child support, alimony, equitable distribution of assets or debts, or attorneys’ fees. That covers initial dissolutions, modifications, and supplemental petitions for financial relief.²

Where to Get the Form

The Florida Courts website hosts the current version of Form 12.902(b) as a free download in PDF and RTF. You can also pick up a paper copy from the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where your case was filed. The form comes with a separate instruction sheet. Read it before you start, because several fields require conversions and specific calculation methods that are easy to get wrong on a first pass.³

How to Complete the Form

Every dollar amount on the form must be a monthly figure. If you are paid weekly, multiply by 4.33 (52 weeks divided by 12 months). If you are paid biweekly, multiply by 2.167 (26 pay periods divided by 12). Getting this wrong is one of the most common mistakes, and it throws off every calculation that follows.³

Section I: Monthly Gross Income

Section I runs about 16 line items covering every source of income. Start with gross salary or wages, then bonuses, commissions, overtime, and tips. Business income is gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses, not your personal living costs. Disability, workers’ compensation, and unemployment are reported at the monthly amount you actually receive. Pension, retirement, annuity, and Social Security lines cover only payments you currently receive, not the balance in an account. Alimony received is separated by case. Investment and property income covers interest, dividends, rental income (gross minus ordinary expenses), royalties, trust distributions, and gains from selling property. Reimbursed expenses and in-kind payments count too: if your employer pays a car allowance or provides housing, include it. Add everything on line 17 for total present monthly gross income.³

Monthly Deductions

Lines 18 through 25 list only the deductions Florida law allows under Section 61.30 of the Florida Statutes. Not every deduction on your paycheck counts. The allowed categories are federal, state, and local income tax; FICA or self-employment tax; Medicare; mandatory (not voluntary) union dues and retirement contributions; your portion of health insurance, excluding what you pay to cover the minor children of this case; and court-ordered child support or alimony you are already paying from a different case.

Subtract total deductions (line 26) from gross income (line 17) for your present net monthly income on line 27. That net figure is the court’s starting point for child support and alimony calculations.

Section II: Average Monthly Expenses

List your actual or estimated monthly living costs by category: household (mortgage or rent, property taxes, utilities, food), automobile (gas, repairs, insurance), children’s expenses (daycare, clothing, uninsured medical costs), insurance premiums not already listed, and a general “other” bucket for clothing, entertainment, grooming, and gifts. A final subsection lists payments to creditors, with each creditor’s name and your monthly payment. Total everything on line 28.

Section III: Assets and Liabilities

List all assets at current fair market value: bank accounts, cash on hand, vehicles, real estate, business interests, and personal property of significant value. For liabilities, list each debt with the creditor name and outstanding balance. The court compares this section between both parties when deciding how to divide property and debts.

The Summary

The summary at the bottom brings together your net monthly income (line 27), total monthly expenses (line 28), and the difference between them. That surplus or shortfall is what the judge weighs when deciding whether you can afford support obligations or whether you need them.

Supporting Documents You Must Provide

The affidavit does not stand alone. Rule 12.285 requires a package of supporting documents served alongside it. For an initial or supplemental proceeding, the mandatory list includes:¹

All federal and state income tax returns for the past three years.
W-2s, 1099s, and K-1s for the past year, if you have not yet filed that year’s return.
Pay stubs covering the three months before you serve the affidavit. If your pay stubs do not reflect all income, add a written statement identifying every additional source and amount.
Any loan applications and financial statements prepared or used within the past 12 months.
All deeds from the past three years, promissory notes from the past 12 months, and current leases.
The last three months of checking account statements and the last 12 months of savings, money market, and CD statements, including accounts closed during that period.
Brokerage account statements for any account you held an interest in during the past 12 months.
The most recent statement for every retirement or pension plan, plus the summary plan description.
Declarations pages and the most recent periodic statement for all life insurance policies, plus current health and dental insurance cards covering either party or the children.

Gathering these before you sit down to fill out the affidavit makes the process faster and more accurate, because many of the same numbers feed the form itself.

Signing, Filing, and Serving

After completing every section, sign the affidavit in the presence of a notary public or deputy clerk. Do not sign it beforehand. The whole point is that the notary or clerk witnesses your signature and confirms your identity, which turns the form into sworn testimony.⁴

File the original with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the petition was filed and keep a copy. Florida’s Rules of Judicial Administration require attorneys to file electronically through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. Self-represented litigants may e-file but are not required to, and can file paper copies directly with the clerk.⁵

Filing is only half the requirement. You must also serve a copy on the other party or their attorney. Rule 12.285 sets a firm deadline: all mandatory disclosure documents must be served within 45 days of the initial pleading being served on the respondent.⁶ Missing that window can lead to the court striking your pleadings or imposing monetary sanctions. When you serve, complete the Certificate of Service recording the date and method of delivery.

Protect Sensitive Information

The affidavit asks for financial account numbers, Social Security numbers, and other personal identifiers. Court filings can become part of the public record, so mind what you include. Standard practice in Florida courts is to redact Social Security numbers to the last four digits and financial account numbers to the last four digits. That responsibility falls on you, not the clerk. File an unredacted document and it may sit in the public record with your full account numbers visible.

Your Continuing Duty to Update

Filing does not end your disclosure obligation. You have a continuing duty to promptly provide the other party with any information or documents that change your financial status or make earlier disclosures inaccurate.² If you lose your job, receive an inheritance, take on significant new debt, or see a meaningful change in monthly expenses, file a supplemental affidavit with the new numbers. A judge who later discovers you sat on a material change can vacate earlier orders or hold you in contempt.

Consequences of Inaccurate Reporting

Because you sign under oath, every number carries the weight of courtroom testimony. Deliberately reporting false information is perjury in an official proceeding under Section 837.02 of the Florida Statutes, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.⁷

Even short of criminal prosecution, the consequences inside your family law case can be severe. If the judge discovers hidden assets or underreported income, the court can strike your pleadings, draw adverse inferences about your finances (assume the worst), award a larger share of assets to the other party, or reopen a final judgment that was based on your incomplete disclosure. The financial affidavit is often the single most scrutinized document in a Florida divorce. A careless mistake can undermine your credibility on every other issue in the case, including parenting time. When in doubt, round in the direction that works against you rather than for you, and attach an explanation for anything unusual.

1
Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure – Rule 12.285 Mandatory Disclosure
2
Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.932 – Certificate of Compliance with Mandatory Disclosure
3
Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.902(b) Family Law Financial Affidavit (Short Form)
4
Leon County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.902(b) – Family Law Financial Affidavit (Short Form)
5
Circuit Court of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida. Instructions for Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.902(c), Family Law Financial Affidavit (Long Form)
6
Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Rule 12.285 – Mandatory Disclosure – Section: Disclosure Requirements for Temporary Financial Relief
7
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 837.02 – Perjury in Official Proceedings