To file a motion to compel in Florida family law, you confirm the other party missed a discovery deadline under Rule 12.285, 12.340, or a deposition notice; make a documented good-faith attempt to resolve it; then draft a motion under Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.380, file it through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, and set a hearing with the judge’s judicial assistant. The motion asks the court to order compliance by a specific date and to award the fees you spent getting there.
Confirm You Actually Have Grounds
Three deadlines generate almost every motion to compel in a Florida divorce or paternity case.
The first is mandatory disclosure. Rule 12.285 requires both parties to exchange tax returns for the past three years, recent pay stubs, bank statements, a sworn financial affidavit, and other listed items within 45 days of service on the respondent, with no request required.1Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285 – Mandatory Disclosure The second is interrogatories, which must be answered within 30 days of service.2CourtrRules.net. Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.340 – Interrogatories to Parties The third covers requests for production and deposition notices; a failure to produce documents or appear for a deposition independently supports a motion.3The Eighth Judicial Circuit of Florida. Bradford Family Law Division Procedures – Section: Motions to Compel
Evasive or incomplete answers count as noncompliance. A financial affidavit listing income as “unknown,” or bank statements with pages missing, is treated the same as no answer at all under Rule 12.380.4CourtrRules.net. Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.380 – Failure to Make Discovery Sanctions
Temporary Support Hearings Run on a Tighter Clock
If temporary alimony or child support is on the hearing calendar, the party seeking relief must serve the required financial documents with the notice of hearing. The responding party must serve theirs at least two business days before the hearing if delivered directly, or seven days before by mail, and gets no fewer than 12 days to comply unless a judge orders otherwise.1Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285 – Mandatory Disclosure There is almost no cushion, so motions to compel in this posture need to move fast.
Make a Good Faith Contact First
Rule 12.380 requires every motion to compel to include a written certification that you tried to resolve the dispute directly before asking the court to intervene.3The Eighth Judicial Circuit of Florida. Bradford Family Law Division Procedures – Section: Motions to Compel Some circuits will not consider a motion that lacks it.
A good faith effort means actual communication. A phone call or in-person conference where you identify what is missing and give the other side a chance to cure it will qualify. Sending one email and waiting for silence usually will not. If attorneys are involved, counsel typically confer directly. If you are self-represented, document the date, time, and method of every attempt. Without a proper certification a judge can deny the motion and order you to pay the opposing party’s response costs.4CourtrRules.net. Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.380 – Failure to Make Discovery Sanctions
Draft the Motion
Florida does not publish a fill-in-the-blank form for a motion to compel. The state’s self-help forms library covers many family law filings, but discovery motions are not among them.5Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.930(b) You draft it yourself or hire an attorney. Self-help staff can point to resources but cannot write the motion or give legal advice.6Florida State Courts. Family Law Forms
Your motion should contain:
- Case caption with the parties’ names and case number.
- The specific discovery you served, with the exact service dates.
- What you received, or did not: total silence, missing pages, or evasive answers.
- The good faith certification, stating the date and method of your attempt to resolve the dispute.
- The relief you want the judge to order, such as a firm deadline for production, an order to appear for deposition, and reasonable fees and costs.
Attach the original discovery requests and any partial responses as exhibits so the judge can see what was asked, what came back, and what is still outstanding. Include a certificate of service showing you sent a copy to the other side the same day you filed.
File Through the E-Portal and Set a Hearing
Circuit court filings in Florida go through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, the statewide single access point.7Florida Courts E-Filing Authority. Florida Courts E-Filing Portal Once the motion appears on the docket, contact the judge’s judicial assistant to secure a hearing time. Coordinating the time with the other party or their counsel is standard practice. After you have a date, file and serve a formal notice of hearing listing the date, time, and courtroom.
Many Florida circuits hold discovery hearings by video. Check the presiding judge’s procedures and confirm in advance how exhibits should be submitted; some judges want them uploaded ahead of time, others allow screen-sharing during the hearing.8Florida Courts. Best Practices Management of Evidence in Remote Hearings in Civil and Family Cases
Hire a Court Reporter
In Florida family court, parties arrange their own court reporters; the court does not supply one.9Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida. Frequently Asked Questions for Court Reporting Services If you later want to appeal the ruling, the appellate court reviews the hearing transcript. No reporter, no transcript, no appellate record. Attendance fees for family law hearings typically run $65 to $100 per hour.
What the Judge Decides at the Hearing
You walk the judge through what you asked for, when you served it, how the response fell short, and what you did to resolve it informally. The other side gets to explain the delay or argue the request was improper.
If the motion is granted, the order sets a firm deadline for production or testimony. The order will also typically require the noncompliant party to pay the reasonable expenses you incurred in bringing the motion, including attorney fees, unless the judge finds the opposing position was substantially justified or that an expense award would be unjust.4CourtrRules.net. Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.380 – Failure to Make Discovery Sanctions There is no fixed schedule; the amount tracks the time your attorney spent preparing and arguing the motion.
The same rule works the other direction. If the judge denies the motion, you can be ordered to pay the opposing party’s response costs. A premature or poorly supported motion can land you on the wrong side of that award, which is why the good faith contact and the exhibits matter.
If the Court Order Is Then Ignored
The real consequences arrive after a signed order. Continued noncompliance opens the door to sanctions under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380(b), which reaches family law cases through Rule 12.380.10Fastcase. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380 – Failure to Make Discovery Sanctions A judge can treat the disputed facts as established, bar the noncompliant party from supporting or opposing specific claims or introducing designated evidence, strike pleadings, dismiss claims, enter a default, or hold the party in contempt. On top of any other sanction, the court must order payment of the reasonable expenses caused by the failure, including fees, unless the failure was substantially justified.
Judges usually start with fees and escalate from there. In cases involving clear bad faith, such as hidden assets, courts have authority to skip the ladder and move straight to striking pleadings or entering a default.10Fastcase. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380 – Failure to Make Discovery Sanctions
If You Are the One Being Served With the Motion
A motion to compel is not a one-way street. Three defenses are worth knowing before the hearing.
The simplest is that you already complied. Bring your proof of service; misunderstandings about what was produced are common. Second, you can argue the request itself is improper under Florida’s proportionality standard, which weighs the importance of the issues, the amount in controversy, the parties’ resources, and whether the burden of producing the information outweighs its benefit. Boilerplate labels like “overly broad” carry no weight; you need specific reasons tied to the request. Third, you can assert attorney-client privilege or work product, but the assertion requires describing each withheld document in enough detail for the other side to assess the claim. A late or vague privilege assertion can be treated as waived, and the judge may order the documents produced.