How to Complete Florida Form 12.990(a): Simplified Dissolution of Marriage

Florida Form 12.990(a) is the one-page Final Judgment of Simplified Dissolution of Marriage that a circuit judge signs to end your marriage once you and your spouse have filed a joint petition, waited the required period, and appeared together at a final hearing. The form itself is short and mostly pre-printed. The work is everything that gets you to the hearing: confirming you qualify, filing the companion forms correctly, and attaching a clean settlement agreement if you have property or debts to divide.

Do You Qualify to Use This Form

Simplified dissolution is a narrow track. You and your spouse must meet every one of these conditions:¹

No minor or dependent children together, none born during the marriage, and the wife is not pregnant.
You have already agreed on how to divide all assets and debts.
Neither spouse is asking for alimony.
Both of you waive the right to trial and the right to appeal.
Both of you will attend the final hearing at the same time.
Both of you sign the joint petition. There is no “filer” and “served spouse” in this process.

At least one spouse must also have lived in Florida for six months before the petition is filed.² Residency is proved with a Florida driver’s license, a voter registration card, or a corroborating witness affidavit on Form 12.902(i). The court must also find the marriage irretrievably broken.³

If any one of those conditions fails — you share a minor child, one spouse wants alimony, you cannot agree on the split — simplified dissolution is not available and Form 12.990(a) is not the right final judgment. You would file a regular petition for dissolution instead, which uses a different form in the 12.990 series.

The Forms That Must Go With 12.990(a)

Form 12.990(a) is the end of the packet, not the start. Before the judge sees it, the clerk needs the following documents on file:⁴

Civil Cover Sheet (Form 12.928).
Joint Petition for Simplified Dissolution (Form 12.901(a)), signed by both spouses.
Notice of Social Security Number (Form 12.902(j)) from each spouse. These numbers are required by statute but kept confidential under Rule 2.420 of the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration and do not appear in the public file.⁵
Notice of Related Cases (Form 12.900(h)).
Designation of Current Address and Email (Form 12.915) from each spouse.
Proof of Florida residency: Form 12.902(i) with a corroborating witness, or a Florida driver’s license.
Vital Statistics Form (DH-513), used by the Florida Department of Health to record the dissolution.

If any property or debt is being divided in writing, add a Marital Settlement Agreement on Form 12.902(f)(3). Every form is downloadable for free from the Florida Courts website in PDF and RTF, or you can collect paper copies from the Clerk of the Circuit Court.⁶

Filling In Form 12.990(a)

The form is a proposed order. You fill in a few blanks, check the correct boxes, and bring it to the hearing for the judge’s signature. Some circuits prepare the form at the hearing themselves rather than taking a pre-filled copy from the parties, so check with the clerk or the judicial assistant before you print and sign anything.¹

Caption and Pre-Printed Findings

At the top, enter the judicial circuit, county, case number, and division from the joint petition. List the petitioner and respondent exactly as they appear on the petition; mismatched names between forms are a common reason judges decline to sign at the hearing.

Sections 1 through 4 are pre-printed findings: that the court has jurisdiction, that at least one party has lived in Florida for more than six months, that there are no minor or dependent children and the wife is not pregnant, and that the marriage is irretrievably broken. Nothing is written in these sections. They become findings of fact when the judge signs the form.

Section 5: Marital Settlement

Section 5 handles property and debt and gives you two mutually exclusive options:

Option (a): The parties have signed a Marital Settlement Agreement, each has filed a financial affidavit, and the agreement is attached as Exhibit A and incorporated into the judgment.
Option (b): There is no marital property or debt left to divide because the parties have already divided everything. Each spouse keeps what they currently possess and is responsible for debts in their own name.

Check only one. Most couples with any shared asset — a home, a joint account, a vehicle, a retirement plan — will check (a) and attach the agreement. Option (b) fits only couples who informally split everything before filing and have nothing left for the judgment to allocate. Form 12.990(a) itself has no line-by-line asset or debt schedule; the specifics live inside the settlement agreement.

Section 6: Former Name

If the wife wants a former name restored, check “yes” and print the full legal name in the blank. It has to be a name she actually used before; this section cannot be used to adopt a brand new name.⁷ At the hearing, spell it clearly for the record. Skipping this and changing your mind later means filing a separate name-change petition with its own fees.

Section 7 and Signature

Section 7 reserves the court’s jurisdiction to enforce the settlement agreement. Below it is the dated signature line for the judge, which is what converts the document from a proposal into an enforceable order. A “copies to” line at the bottom indicates who should receive certified copies.

The Settlement Agreement Attached as Exhibit A

If you checked Option (a), the Marital Settlement Agreement is where the real work sits. Florida provides Form 12.902(f)(3) for simplified dissolutions. List every asset and every debt, and name which spouse takes each.

Be specific. Describe real estate by its legal description, identify financial accounts by the last four digits, and list vehicles by year, make, and VIN. Vague entries invite enforcement problems later. For debts — mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, personal loans — assign responsibility clearly, and understand that the agreement binds you and your spouse but not your creditors. If your spouse is supposed to pay a joint credit card and stops, the card issuer can still come after you. Discuss that risk before signing.

Retirement accounts and pensions usually need a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, a separate court order directing the plan administrator to transfer the designated share.⁸ A QDRO permits a tax-free rollover into the receiving spouse’s own retirement account; without one, the plan has no legal authority to split the funds.

Filing, the Waiting Period, and the Hearing

File through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, a free statewide system that lets you submit from home, or in person at the Clerk of the Circuit Court.⁹ Filing fees usually run about $408 to $412, with slight variation by county. If you cannot afford the fee, submit an Application for Determination of Civil Indigent Status to request a waiver.

After the joint petition is filed, the court cannot hold the final hearing for at least 20 days. Use that window to confirm every companion form is on file and your proposed Form 12.990(a) is ready if your circuit expects you to bring one.

Both spouses must attend the hearing at the same time.¹ If one spouse does not appear, the judge will not sign. The hearing is short. The judge confirms that both of you understand the terms and agreed voluntarily, verifies residency, confirms the marriage is irretrievably broken, and verifies a name restoration if one was requested. With the paperwork in order, the judge signs Form 12.990(a) at the bench and the marriage is dissolved.

Many circuits now permit remote appearances by video or phone, but policies vary by judge. Call the judicial assistant to confirm whether remote attendance is available for your hearing.

After the Judge Signs

Once the judgment is signed, you are divorced and the clerk enters it in the public record. Order certified copies — two or three at a minimum — because you will need them to update a driver’s license, change Social Security records, retitle vehicles, and record a quitclaim deed if real property is transferring. Certified copies cost $1.00 per page plus $2.00 for the certification stamp, and you should pick them up at least 24 hours after the hearing to allow processing time.⁷

If the agreement calls for a vehicle title transfer or a quitclaim deed, handle it promptly. The judgment is enforceable, but the actual deed still has to be recorded with the county and the title still has to go through the DMV. Delays become painful if the relationship cools after the divorce.

For a retirement division, submit the QDRO to the plan administrator as soon as possible. The administrator will review it and reject it if it asks for a benefit the plan does not offer.⁸ A spouse who receives retirement funds under a QDRO reports those payments as their own income for tax purposes.

If Something Was Missed or Hidden

Leaving an asset or debt out of the settlement agreement does not erase it. Florida Family Law Rule 12.540 lets a party ask the court for relief from a final judgment on grounds that include mistake, newly discovered evidence, and fraud or misrepresentation in the financial disclosures. Courts have granted relief where a spouse concealed assets or filed misleading financials. Motions based on fraud on the court have no fixed time limit; motions on other grounds must be filed within a reasonable time.

Because simplified dissolution requires both spouses to waive the right to appeal, the usual 30-day appeal window under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.110 is largely academic here. The waiver covers the terms you voluntarily agreed to. It does not necessarily foreclose a challenge based on fraud or on a claim that the agreement was signed under duress. If you suspect the judgment was obtained through deception, talk to a family law attorney promptly rather than assume the waiver blocks every remedy.

1
Florida Courts. Joint Petition for Simplified Dissolution of Marriage – Form 12.901(a)
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.021 – Residence Requirements
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.052 – Dissolution of Marriage
4
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. Simplified Dissolution of Marriage Packet
5
Florida Courts. Instructions for Form 12.902(j) – Notice of Social Security Number
6
Florida Courts. Final Judgment of Simplified Dissolution of Marriage
7
15th Judicial Circuit. Post Dissolution Name Change Information
8
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – QDRO: Qualified Domestic Relations Order
9
Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. Florida Courts E-Filing Authority