To file a motion in family court in Florida, you prepare a written request on the correct Supreme Court approved form, attach a financial affidavit if money is at issue, strip out sensitive personal information, serve the other party by email or mail, and submit the motion to the Clerk of Court in the county where your case is pending — usually through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. After it’s filed, you schedule the hearing yourself by contacting the judge’s assistant.
The steps below walk through each piece in order, plus what to do if you need emergency relief or want to challenge the judge’s ruling.
Pick the Right Form and Draft the Motion
Start with the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms, which cover the common requests: temporary support, custody modifications, enforcement of existing orders, and more. Each form comes with its own instruction packet. You can download them from the Florida Courts website.1Florida State Courts System. Family Law Forms If you aren’t sure which form fits, the Self-Help Information page organizes guidance by issue type, including dissolution, child support, time-sharing, paternity, and adoption.2Florida State Courts. Self-Help Information
Before you fill anything in, gather your existing case number, the full legal names of the petitioner and respondent, and a precise idea of what you want the judge to order. That last part matters most. “I want the court to increase child support to $X per month based on the respondent’s new income” gives a judge something to rule on. A general complaint about unfairness does not.
Every motion opens with the case caption: court name, case number, division, and party names. The body lays out the facts that support your request and explains why the judge should grant it. Keep it factual and organized. Close with a clear statement of exactly what order you’re asking the court to enter, then sign and date the signature block.
Add a Financial Affidavit if Money Is Involved
If your motion touches money — temporary alimony, child support, modification of support, or division of assets — you’ll almost certainly need to file a financial affidavit with it. Florida courts generally won’t hear motions for temporary financial relief until both parties have completed mandatory disclosure, and the affidavit is part of that.
Which affidavit you use depends on your gross annual income. If your individual gross income is under $50,000, use the short-form affidavit, Form 12.902(b).3Florida State Courts System. Family Law Financial Affidavit (Short Form) 12.902(b) At $50,000 or more, use the long form, 12.902(c). Both require detailed information about income, expenses, assets, and debts, and both are sworn under oath. Misrepresenting your finances can have serious consequences.
A few case types are exempt from mandatory disclosure: simplified dissolutions where both parties waive the affidavit, pure enforcement or contempt proceedings, injunctions, and adoptions. If your motion has nothing to do with finances, you likely don’t need one — but when in doubt, filing an affidavit prevents delays.
Strip Sensitive Information Before You File
Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.425 puts the burden on you to minimize sensitive personal information in anything you file. The clerk’s office will not review your documents for compliance.4Florida State Courts System. Rule 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of Sensitive Information
The rule is stricter than people assume. Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and debit card numbers must be left out entirely, not redacted to the last four digits. For taxpayer ID numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, phone numbers, and financial account numbers, include only the last four digits. Use the birth year alone for anyone’s date of birth, and refer to minors by their initials. Email addresses, usernames, passwords, and PINs should appear only in truncated form.4Florida State Courts System. Rule 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of Sensitive Information
Once a document is filed, it becomes part of the court record. Getting sensitive information removed later is far harder than keeping it out in the first place.
Serve the Other Party
Before the court will consider your motion, you must give the other side a copy. This step is called “service,” and it’s separate from the original service of process that opened the case.
Email is the default. Under Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516, documents filed after the initial petition are served by email unless a party hasn’t designated an email address. If the other side has an attorney, service goes to the attorney’s designated email. When you file through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, the portal’s e-service system can handle email notification automatically for parties registered in the case.5Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. E-Service User Guide
If the other party is unrepresented and hasn’t provided an email address, serve them by regular U.S. mail to their last known address or by hand delivery. Mail adds days to your timeline.
Each filing must come with a certification that you served it. Many approved family law forms include a built-in certificate of service above the signature line. If yours doesn’t, use Form 12.914, the standalone Certificate of Service, and note the date served, method used, and name and address of the person served.6Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.914 – Certificate of Service
File With the Clerk of Court
Once the motion is complete, signed, and served, submit it to the Clerk of Court in the county where your case is pending.
E-Filing Through the Portal
The Florida Courts E-Filing Portal is the primary filing channel. Attorneys must use it. Self-represented parties can choose to e-file or file on paper, but once you start e-filing in a case, you can’t switch back to paper without the court’s permission.7Florida State Courts System. Filing Your Forms First-time users register and select “Self-Represented Litigant” as the filer role. To file, log in, pull up your case by number, and upload your motion, certificate of service, and any supporting documents as PDFs. The portal confirms submission.
Filing in Person
You can also walk your documents into the Clerk of Court’s office. Bring the signed originals plus copies for each party and one for yourself. The clerk will stamp your copies with the filing date.
Filing Fees
Most motions filed in a case that’s already open don’t trigger an additional fee. But if you’re reopening a case — filing at least 90 days after a final order or judgment was entered — the clerk can charge a reopen fee of up to $50.8Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 28.241 – Filing Fees for Trial and Appellate Proceedings A court’s reservation of jurisdiction does not keep the case “open” for fee purposes, so even if the judge retained authority to modify the order, the fee may still apply.
Several filings are exempt: motions solely to enforce child support orders, motions for contempt, rehearing motions filed within 10 days, and attorney fee motions filed within 30 days of the judgment.8Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 28.241 – Filing Fees for Trial and Appellate Proceedings If you’re unsure whether yours qualifies, ask the clerk before filing.
Schedule the Hearing and Expect a Response
Filing does not automatically put you on the court’s calendar. In most Florida family courts, the party who filed the motion is responsible for scheduling the hearing. Contact the judicial assistant for the judge assigned to your case, usually by phone or email, and coordinate a date that works for the court and for the other party or their attorney.
The other side has the right to file a written response. Response windows depend on the type of motion, the hearing date, and local court rules; initial petitions and counterpetitions carry a 20-day window, and motions on specific issues often track a similar timeline.9Florida State Courts System. The Process – What Happens in Court At the hearing, the judge considers your motion, any written response, and whatever evidence or argument the parties present. If financial issues are in play, both sides’ financial affidavits must be on file before the court will address temporary alimony or suit money.10The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.071 – Alimony Pendente Lite; Suit Money
When You Need an Emergency Motion
Standard motions follow the process above: file, serve, schedule, wait. When a genuine crisis threatens the safety of a child or a party, Florida allows emergency motions that can be heard on a faster track and, in narrow circumstances, without advance notice to the other side.
Florida’s emergency motion, Form 12.945(a), is designed as a last resort for a genuine crisis directly affecting the welfare of a party or child. The form must be verified, meaning you sign it under oath and have it notarized. The judge decides whether the situation actually qualifies, and if it doesn’t, the court can deny the motion without holding a hearing.11The Florida Bar. Proposed New Family Law Form 12.945(a) – Verified Motion for Emergency Relief
An ex parte order, entered without the other party present, is an even higher bar. For custody emergencies, the court can take temporary emergency jurisdiction under Florida Statute 61.517 when a child is in Florida and has been abandoned or faces mistreatment or abuse. Expect a quick follow-up hearing so the other side can be heard. For domestic violence injunctions, a temporary ex parte injunction can issue when there’s an immediate and present danger, but it lasts no more than 15 days before a full hearing must occur.
Courts take abuse of emergency filings seriously. Repeated emergency motions without new facts, exaggerated circumstances, or tactical use of the process can draw sanctions, including contempt.11The Florida Bar. Proposed New Family Law Form 12.945(a) – Verified Motion for Emergency Relief Stick to facts. Attach police reports, medical records, photos, or messages that document the danger. A sworn, factual affidavit answering who, what, where, and when will do more for your case than an emotional narrative about the other party’s character.
If You Want to Challenge the Ruling
When the judge issues a final order you believe contains errors — factual mistakes, missing findings, or a misapplication of the law — you can file a motion for rehearing under Florida Family Law Rule 12.530. The motion must be served within 15 days after the final judgment or order is filed.12The Florida Bar. Rule 12.530 – Motions for New Trial and Rehearing; Amendments of Judgments That window is firm, and missing it typically waives rehearing.
A rehearing motion can only challenge a final judgment or final order, not interim rulings along the way. If granted, the judge can reopen the judgment, take additional testimony, and enter a new judgment. You can amend the motion to add new grounds any time before the court rules on it, as long as the judge allows it. If your motion relies on affidavits, serve them with the motion; the other party then has 10 days to file opposing affidavits.12The Florida Bar. Rule 12.530 – Motions for New Trial and Rehearing; Amendments of Judgments
A rehearing motion filed within 10 days of the final order is exempt from the reopen fee, which matters if your case has technically closed.8Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 28.241 – Filing Fees for Trial and Appellate Proceedings If rehearing is denied and you still believe the order is wrong, the next step is an appeal to the District Court of Appeal, with its own deadlines and rules.