How to Fill Out a Financial Affidavit Form in Florida

To fill out a financial affidavit in Florida, you choose between the Short Form and the Long Form based on your gross annual income, convert every figure to a monthly amount, list all sources of income, all recurring expenses, every asset with its current value, and every debt with its outstanding balance, then sign the form under oath and file it with the clerk along with a Certificate of Compliance and the supporting documents Rule 12.285 requires.¹ The form is sworn, and judges rely on it heavily when deciding support, alimony, and property division, so accuracy is the whole job.

Pick the Right Form First

Your individual gross annual income decides which version you use. Under $50,000, use the Short Form, officially Form 12.902(b).² At $50,000 or more, use the Long Form, Form 12.902(c).³ The Long Form adds columns for classifying each asset and debt as marital or non-marital; the Short Form does not.

A few situations excuse you from filing at all: a simplified dissolution where both sides waive it, a case with no children or support issues where you already have a signed written settlement covering all finances, or a case where the court has no jurisdiction over financial matters.² Both parties can also file a joint verified waiver on Form 12.902(k).⁴ Outside those exceptions, filing is mandatory. You can download either form from the Florida Courts website or get a paper copy from your local circuit court clerk.

Gather Your Documents Before You Start

The form goes faster and comes out cleaner if the paperwork is in front of you. Rule 12.285 requires you to produce a specific set of records for initial and supplemental proceedings, and pulling them takes longer than most people expect. For income, you need federal and state tax returns for the last three years with all attachments; W-2s, 1099s, and K-1s for the past year if you haven’t filed the most recent return yet; and pay stubs covering the three months before you serve the affidavit.¹

For assets and debts, you need the last three months of checking statements and 12 months of all other account statements, including savings, money market, and CDs; 12 months of brokerage statements for any account either party held an interest in; deeds for the past three years on any property you hold or held an interest in; all promissory notes from the past 12 months and any current leases; and any loan applications or financial statements prepared or used in the 12 months before service, for any purpose.¹ Temporary hearings use a slightly narrower list with a shorter lookback.

Complete the Income Section

Every number on the affidavit is monthly. This is where most errors happen, because paychecks and salaries usually aren’t. If you’re paid weekly, multiply gross pay by 52 and divide by 12. If you’re paid biweekly, multiply by 26 and divide by 12. Doubling a biweekly check misses two paychecks a year.

List every recurring source, not just your main job: bonuses, commissions, rental income, dividends, and anything else that comes in on a pattern. Your pay stubs are worth a careful read here, because they also show benefits, retirement contributions, and payroll deductions that feed other parts of the affidavit.

Self-Employment and Business Income

If you’re self-employed, own a business, or earn income from partnerships or independent contracts, you report net business income: gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses. The Long Form requires an attached sheet itemizing both the income and the expenses.³ Have your recent business returns, profit and loss statements, and supporting records ready. Self-employment figures draw more scrutiny than W-2 income, so document everything.

Complete the Expenses Section

The expenses section breaks monthly spending into housing, utilities, transportation, food, medical costs, childcare, insurance, and other categories. Quarterly or annual costs get divided down to a monthly figure. For categories that vary — groceries, gas, dining out — average the last three months from bank statements or receipts.

The form doesn’t tell you whether to enter current spending or the spending you expect after the divorce, and that distinction matters if one spouse currently covers most household bills. Be ready to say which you’re reporting, and consider noting it on the form. If your expenses far exceed your income with no matching debt, a judge will ask why. If your income far exceeds your expenses with no savings to show for it, a judge will ask a different question. The numbers should tell a coherent story.

Complete the Assets and Liabilities Sections

List every asset with its current fair market value: real estate, bank accounts, retirement accounts, vehicles, life insurance policies, and personal property of significant value. Where an asset has debt attached, note the outstanding balance. On the liabilities side, name each creditor and give the current balance for every debt — mortgages, car loans, student loans, credit cards, personal loans.

Smaller and less obvious items still belong. Credit card rewards points, timeshares, banked vacation days from an employer, and retail store credit balances all count. People routinely forget these, and incomplete disclosure creates problems later.

Marital Versus Non-Marital on the Long Form

The Long Form in an initial dissolution case adds a classification step. For each asset, assign the value between Column B (marital) and Column C (non-marital). Non-marital property generally covers what you brought into the marriage or received individually by gift or inheritance. If an asset has both marital and non-marital components, split the fair market value across the two columns; the two must add up to the asset’s full value.³ Check the box next to any asset you’re asking the judge to award to you. Liabilities get classified the same way.

If your case isn’t an initial dissolution — for example, a support modification — skip Column B and use only the non-marital column.³ The classification itself is where most real disputes come from. If you’re unsure whether something qualifies as non-marital, get legal advice before you commit it to a sworn document.

Redact Sensitive Information Before Filing

Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.425 puts the burden on you, not the clerk, to minimize sensitive information in anything you file.⁵ Before you file the affidavit and its attachments:

Do not include any portion of Social Security, bank account, credit card, or debit card numbers.
Use only the last four digits of taxpayer ID, driver’s license, passport, and financial account numbers.
Use only the year of a date of birth.
Refer to minor children by initials only.

The Long Form instructions already remind you to show only the last four digits of account numbers when listing assets.³ The rule reaches your supporting documents too, including bank statements and tax returns. If you’re editing PDFs, use proper redaction tools. Highlighting text in black or dropping a black box on top of numbers in a word processor doesn’t remove the underlying data.

Sign, File, and Serve

The affidavit is sworn. Florida law lets you verify it two ways: take an oath before a notary or other authorized officer, or sign a written declaration reading, “Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing document and that the facts stated in it are true.”⁶ The form carries the declaration language above the signature line. Either method has the same legal weight.

File the original with the clerk of the circuit court where your case is pending. Florida courts use the statewide e-filing portal, and most circuits require electronic submission. After filing, serve a copy of the affidavit and all supporting financial documents on the other party or their attorney.

File a Certificate of Compliance with Mandatory Disclosure, Form 12.932, along with the affidavit. The certificate lists every document you produced and certifies that you’ve met your disclosure obligations.⁷ Serve a copy on the other party too. The certification language warns that a knowingly false statement or incomplete disclosure can bring fines or imprisonment.¹

Know the Deadlines

Rule 12.285 sets firm timing. For initial or supplemental proceedings, each party must serve the affidavit and supporting documents within 45 days after the respondent is served with the initial petition.¹ The clock runs from service on the respondent, not from the date you filed the petition.

Temporary hearings run on shorter fuses. The party requesting temporary financial relief must serve disclosure documents at least 10 days before the hearing; the responding party has until at least 5 days before.⁴ Anything served fewer than 24 hours before a hearing won’t be admitted as evidence unless the judge finds good cause.¹

Update the Affidavit When Your Finances Change

Filing once doesn’t end the obligation. Rule 12.285 imposes a continuing duty to supplement disclosure whenever there’s a material change in your financial situation.⁴ A raise, a job loss, a new asset, or significant new debt after you’ve filed calls for an amended affidavit and service of any newly discovered or acquired supporting documents. The duty runs through the life of the case, not just the initial disclosure window. If a judge later finds your affidavit showed $60,000 when you’d been promoted to $80,000 three months earlier, the credibility damage reaches well past that one number.

What Happens If the Affidavit Is Wrong or Incomplete

Because the affidavit is sworn, lying on it is perjury. A false statement under oath in an official proceeding is a third-degree felony under Florida law, punishable by up to five years in prison.⁸ Criminal prosecution over a financial affidavit is uncommon; civil consequences are not.

Failing to comply with mandatory disclosure exposes you to sanctions under Rule 12.380, which range from excluding your evidence at a hearing to striking your pleadings.¹ A judge who finds hidden assets or misrepresented income can reopen the case, redistribute property in the other party’s favor, and order you to pay the other side’s attorney’s fees. For a party in default who fails to comply, the court can enter a final judgment without further proceedings. Family judges see a lot of these forms, and the ones that don’t add up rarely go unnoticed.

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 12.902(b) Family Law Financial Affidavit (Short Form)
3
Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Financial Affidavit (Long Form) 12.902(c)
4
Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Rule 12.285 – Mandatory Disclosure
5
Florida Courts. Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.425 – Minimization of the Filing of Sensitive Information
6
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 92.525 – Verification of Documents
7
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. Instructions for Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.932 – Certificate of Compliance with Mandatory Disclosure
8
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 837.02 – Perjury in Official Proceedings