How to File an Uncontested Divorce in Florida With Children

To file an uncontested divorce in Florida with children, you and your spouse must agree on every issue — property, debts, alimony, a parenting plan, and child support — and submit that agreement to the court along with the standard dissolution package. Because minor children are involved, you cannot use Florida’s simplified dissolution shortcut. You file a regular Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, attach a signed marital settlement agreement and parenting plan, complete a state-approved parenting course, and wait at least 20 days before a judge can enter the final judgment.

The sections below walk through the eligibility rules, the forms you’ll prepare, the parenting course, the filing mechanics, the final hearing, and a short list of items that commonly cause trouble after the divorce is final if you don’t handle them in the agreement.

Who Qualifies as Uncontested

At least one spouse must have lived in Florida for six months before the petition is filed.¹ You prove it with a Florida driver’s license, voter registration card, or sworn testimony from someone who can confirm where you live. Without the six months, the court has no authority to hear the case.

The petition states that the marriage is “irretrievably broken,” Florida’s no-fault standard. Neither spouse has to prove wrongdoing. The only other ground is a prior judicial finding of mental incapacity lasting at least three years, which is rarely used.²

A divorce is “uncontested” when both spouses agree on every issue before filing. If you have minor children, that agreement must include a complete parenting plan and child support terms the judge is willing to approve. You file using Form 12.901(b)(1), the regular petition. The simplified dissolution process is reserved for couples with no dependent children, so parents go through the full procedure even when nothing is in dispute.

If either spouse is on active military duty and service genuinely prevents participation, that spouse can request a stay of at least 90 days under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.³ The request needs a statement from the servicemember and a letter from a commanding officer confirming that leave is unavailable.

The Documents You Will Prepare

An uncontested case with children runs on paperwork. The judge will not sign the final judgment until this package is in the file and consistent with itself.

Marital Settlement Agreement

Filed on Form 12.902(f)(1), the settlement agreement records every decision you’ve reached about property, debts, alimony, child support, and the parenting plan.⁴ Once the judge approves it, it becomes a binding court order.

Florida presumes marital property should be divided equally, but you can agree to a different split.⁵ Anything acquired during the marriage is presumed marital unless one spouse can show otherwise. The parenting plan and child support terms are either written into the agreement directly or attached as exhibits.

Parenting Plan

Every Florida divorce with minor children requires a parenting plan filed on Form 12.995(a).⁶ By statute, the plan governs the parents’ decisions about their children, including time-sharing, education, healthcare, and the child’s social and emotional well-being.⁷

At a minimum, your plan has to address:

A specific time-sharing calendar for weekdays, weekends, and summer.
Rotation of holidays, school breaks, each parent’s birthday, and the child’s birthday.
Decision-making authority for major issues like education and healthcare.
How the parents will communicate with each other, and how the child stays in contact with the other parent during time-sharing.
Day-to-day responsibilities such as homework, meals, transportation, and extracurricular activities.

For decision-making, the form offers three choices: shared parental responsibility where both parents must agree, shared responsibility with one parent designated as tiebreaker on specific issues, or sole parental responsibility for one parent. Sole responsibility is uncommon and requires a finding that shared responsibility would harm the child.

Even in an uncontested case, the judge independently reviews whether the plan serves the child’s best interests. Florida law lists more than a dozen factors, including each parent’s willingness to encourage a relationship with the other parent, the stability of the current living situation, the child’s school and community ties, and any history of domestic violence.⁸ Judges rarely override agreed plans, but a plan that obviously shortchanges the child will be sent back for revision. Both parents sign before it’s filed, and the plan is attached as an exhibit to the settlement agreement.

Child Support Guidelines Worksheet

You don’t get to pick a child support number. Florida calculates it from a statutory formula using Form 12.902(e).⁹ The calculated amount is presumed correct, and the court can deviate up or down by up to five percent without written findings.

The worksheet starts with each parent’s gross monthly income, which Florida defines broadly to include wages, bonuses, commissions, overtime, Social Security benefits, pensions, disability benefits, rental income, and business profits after ordinary expenses. It then subtracts allowable deductions like income taxes, mandatory retirement contributions, union dues, and health insurance premiums paid for the child. The final amount depends heavily on the number of overnight stays each parent has under the parenting plan, because the formula adjusts for the parent who has the child more often.

The support order also has to include a provision for the child’s health insurance when coverage is reasonably available. Insurance is presumed reasonable in cost if adding the child does not exceed five percent of the responsible parent’s gross income.⁸ Child support itself is not tax-deductible for the paying parent and not taxable income for the receiving parent.¹⁰

Financial Affidavits

Both spouses file a sworn financial affidavit. Use Form 12.902(b), the short form, if your gross annual income is under $50,000, and Form 12.902(c), the long form, if you earn $50,000 or more.¹¹¹²

The affidavit requires a complete accounting of what you own, what you owe, and what you spend each month: bank accounts, retirement accounts, real estate, vehicles, credit card balances, student loans, and monthly expenses from rent to groceries. It feeds directly into the child support calculation and the fairness check on property division. Because it’s signed under oath, bad numbers can get your settlement set aside later, and deliberate misrepresentation can draw sanctions.

UCCJEA Affidavit

Form 12.902(d), the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act affidavit, confirms Florida’s authority to issue orders about your children. You list every address where each child has lived for the past five years and every person they lived with during that time.¹³ The purpose is to prevent two states from issuing competing custody orders. If the child has lived in Florida for the past six months, or since birth for a younger child, Florida is the home state and has jurisdiction.

The Parenting Course

Both parents must complete a state-approved parenting course before the judge will sign the final decree.¹⁴ The course runs at least four hours, is approved by the Department of Children and Families, and covers the effects of divorce on children, strategies for reducing conflict, and co-parenting basics.

Each parent pays the provider directly. Fees have to be “reasonable” by statute, and each judicial circuit must have at least one provider offering a sliding scale. Most providers charge somewhere in the range of $25 to $60. After finishing, you receive a certificate that you must file with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Forgetting to file it is a surprisingly common holdup. The judge will not finalize the divorce without it on record.

Filing, Waiving Service, and the 20-Day Wait

You file the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in your county. The filing fee is approximately $400, with slight variation by county.¹⁵ If you can’t afford it, submit an Application for Determination of Civil Indigent Status; if approved, the filing and summons fees are waived.¹⁶ Providing false information on that application is a first-degree misdemeanor.

In a contested case, the other spouse has to be formally served by a process server or the sheriff. In an uncontested case, you skip that expense. The responding spouse signs Form 12.903(a), the Answer, Waiver, and Request for Copy of Final Judgment, which acknowledges the petition, waives formal service, and agrees to the terms.¹⁷

Florida then imposes a mandatory 20-day waiting period from the date the petition is filed before a judge can enter the final judgment.¹⁸ In practice, the 20 days passes while you finish paperwork, complete the parenting course, and wait for a hearing date, so it rarely adds delay on its own.

The Final Hearing

Once the waiting period is up and everything is on file, the court schedules a brief final hearing. In an uncontested case, this is usually a short appearance where the judge confirms on the record that at least one spouse meets the residency requirement, that the marriage is irretrievably broken, and that the parenting plan serves the children’s best interests. The judge reviews the signed settlement agreement, the parenting plan, the child support worksheet, and both parenting course certificates.

If everything is in order, the judge signs the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage. That order ends the marriage and makes the parenting plan and support obligations enforceable by the court. Request a certified copy from the clerk; you’ll need it to update your name, change beneficiaries on insurance policies, refinance property, and handle other post-divorce administrative tasks.

Items to Nail Down in the Agreement

A few recurring issues cause problems after the judgment is entered. Handle them in the written agreement rather than on a handshake.

Retirement Accounts Need a QDRO

Dividing most employer-sponsored retirement plans requires a separate legal document called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. The QDRO tells the plan administrator to pay a portion of the benefit to the other spouse and must be drafted to the plan’s specific rules.¹⁹ Skipping it is one of the most common and costly mistakes in uncontested divorces. The settlement can promise one spouse half the 401(k), but without a QDRO actually filed with the plan, that promise has no teeth.

Joint Debts

Your agreement can assign a joint credit card balance to one spouse, but the credit card company is not bound by that. If your ex stops paying a joint account, the creditor can still come after you for the full balance. Where you can, close or pay off joint accounts before the divorce is final and move remaining balances onto individual accounts.

Who Claims the Children on Taxes

The IRS has its own rules that do not automatically follow a Florida court order. By default, the custodial parent — the one the child lives with for the greater part of the year — claims the child.²⁰ If you want the noncustodial parent to claim the child instead, the custodial parent signs IRS Form 8332 to release the claim, which transfers the child tax credit and the credit for other dependents.²¹ The release can cover one year, several years, or all future years, and can be revoked later effective the following tax year.

The Earned Income Tax Credit cannot be transferred. It always belongs to the parent the child physically lives with for more than half the year, regardless of Form 8332 or anything in the divorce agreement.²⁰ A divorced parent who pays more than half the cost of maintaining the home where the child lives may also qualify for head-of-household status.¹⁰ Spell out the dependency and filing-status arrangement in writing so there are no surprises at tax time.

Health Insurance

If one spouse carried the family on an employer plan, the former spouse loses eligibility once the divorce is final. Federal law lets the former spouse continue on the same group plan for up to 36 months through COBRA, but you must notify the plan administrator within 60 days of the divorce, and you pay the full premium yourself.²² COBRA is expensive, but it bridges the gap while you line up your own policy. Your settlement agreement should specify which parent carries the child’s health insurance and how unreimbursed medical expenses are split.

Get these pieces right in the first draft and the hearing itself is a formality. The paperwork is the case.

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.021 – Residence Requirements
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.052 – Dissolution of Marriage
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3932 – Stay of Proceedings When Servicemember Has Notice
4
Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Form 12.902(f)(1) – Marital Settlement Agreement for Dissolution of Marriage with Dependent or Minor Children
5
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.075 – Equitable Distribution of Marital Assets and Liabilities
6
Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Form 12.995(a) – Parenting Plan
7
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.046 – Definitions
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.13 – Support of Children; Parenting and Time-Sharing; Powers of Court
9
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines; Retroactive Child Support
10
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals
11
Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Family Law Form 12.902(b) – Family Law Financial Affidavit (Short Form)
12
Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Form 12.902(c) – Family Law Financial Affidavit (Long Form)
13
Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Family Law Form 12.902(d) – Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act Affidavit
14
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.21 – Parenting Course Authorized; Fees; Required Attendance Authorized; Contempt
15
Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers. How Do I File for a Divorce
16
Florida Courts. Application for Determination of Civil Indigent Status
17
Florida Courts. Answer, Waiver, and Request for Copy of Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage
18
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 61.19 – Entry of Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage, Delay Period
19
U.S. Department of Labor. Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Under ERISA – A Practical Guide to Dividing Retirement Benefits
20
Internal Revenue Service. Divorced and Separated Parents
21
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8332 – Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent
22
U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers