Florida Family Law Form 12.915, the Designation of Current Mailing and E-Mail Address, is a one-page form you file with the Clerk of the Circuit Court to put your contact information on record in a family law case. Download it from the Florida Courts website in PDF or RTF, fill in the case identifiers, your mailing address, and your email addresses, sign under penalty of perjury, complete the Certificate of Service at the bottom, then file the original with the clerk and serve a copy on every other party.1Florida Courts. Designation of Current Address and E-mail Address File it at the start of your case and again any time your mailing or email address changes.
When You Need to File It
The form’s instructions say it should be used “to inform the clerk and the other party of your current mailing and e-mail address(es) or any change of address.”2Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address Two situations trigger it: your initial designation when you first become a party to a dissolution, paternity, or other family law proceeding, and any later update when you move or change email accounts. Miss the update and the court keeps sending documents to the old address, and you are still considered served.
Filling Out the Form
Print clearly. Court staff enter this information into the case management system, and a misread digit in a zip code or a typo in your email address means documents never reach you.
Case Information
At the top, enter the judicial circuit and county where the case was filed, the case number, and the division if one has been assigned. Below that, write the petitioner’s and respondent’s names exactly as they appear on the original petition. Copy these from an earlier filing rather than working from memory so nothing goes to the wrong file.3Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address
Mailing Address
Enter the street address or P.O. box where you can reliably receive mail through the U.S. Postal Service, along with city, state, zip code, and telephone number. This is the address the court and opposing party will use for any document not sent by email, and where the court sends notices if email service fails.3Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address
Email Addresses
If you’re representing yourself, you must designate a primary email address for service unless you’ve been excused under Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.516(b). You may list up to two secondary addresses as well. Once you designate email addresses and the other party or their attorney has done the same, email becomes the exclusive method of service for most documents in the case.2Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address Service by email is considered complete when the email is sent, not when you open it, so check the inbox you designate regularly.4The Florida Bar. Proposed Amendments to the Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.516
You can be excused from email service if you don’t have an email account or don’t have regular internet access. To claim the exemption, you’ll need to declare it under penalty of perjury on a separate form. If you later opt in to email service, you must follow the email procedures from that point forward.4The Florida Bar. Proposed Amendments to the Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.516
Signing Under Penalty of Perjury
The form closes with a declaration that every statement is true and correct, signed under penalty of perjury. Under Florida Statute 837.02, making a false statement under oath in an official proceeding is a third-degree felony.5Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 837.02 – Perjury in Official Proceedings Listing an address you know is wrong, to dodge service or otherwise, carries real criminal exposure.
Completing the Certificate of Service
The bottom section is the Certificate of Service, where you confirm you sent a copy to the other party or their attorney. Check the box for the method used (email, mail, fax, or hand delivery), fill in the date, and enter the other party’s name, address, city, state, zip, phone number, fax number, and email address.3Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address Service must follow the requirements of Rule 2.516, so if both sides have designated email addresses, you serve by email.6Florida Courts. Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.516 – Service of Pleadings and Documents
Don’t leave this section blank or partially completed. The court uses it to verify that the other side was notified, and an incomplete Certificate of Service can delay processing.
Filing With the Clerk
File the completed original with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the case is pending, and keep a copy for your records.3Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address Two options:
- E-filing through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. First-time users create an account and select “Self-Represented Litigant” as the filer role. There is no fee to file electronically.7Florida Courts Help. Filing Your Forms8Florida Courts E-Filing Authority. Frequently Asked Questions
- Paper filing at the clerk’s office. Self-represented litigants are not required to e-file, so you can bring the completed form to the clerk in person.2Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address
Form 12.915 is an administrative update to an existing case, not a new filing that triggers a statutory filing fee. The portal will still walk you through the submission workflow, but no payment should be due for this document alone.9Florida Courts E-Filing Authority. FAQs
Serving the Other Party
Filing with the clerk is only half the job. You must also serve a copy on every other party in the case.3Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address If you file through the e-filing portal and the other party is registered for e-service, the portal handles delivery. Otherwise, serve the document using the method you indicated in the Certificate of Service.
Self-represented litigants must serve documents by email unless the clerk has excused them from that requirement. If excused, you can serve by regular mail, fax, or hand delivery.2Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address Document the method accurately on the Certificate of Service. That is your proof of compliance if the other party later claims they weren’t notified.
Filing a New Form After an Address Change
Any time your mailing address or email address changes, complete a new Form 12.915, file it with the clerk, and serve a copy on every other party.2Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address The form doesn’t set a deadline in days, but file the update before the change takes effect. Once documents start going to an old address, you carry the risk of missing them.
One boundary worth knowing. If the case involves children and you’re planning a move of 50 miles or more for at least 60 consecutive days, updating Form 12.915 is not enough. Florida Statute 61.13001 requires a separate relocation petition, served on the other parent, with a detailed statement of your reasons for moving, the new address, and a proposed revised time-sharing schedule. The other parent has 20 days after service to object; failing to object in time generally bars the non-relocating parent from opposing the move.10Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 61.13001 – Parental Relocation With a Child The address update and the relocation petition are separate obligations. You need both.
What Happens If Your Address Is Wrong or Outdated
The form itself warns: “all future papers in this lawsuit will be served at the address(es) on record at the clerk’s office.”2Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address The court considers you properly served when documents are sent to the designated address, whether you actually receive them or not. Miss a hearing notice or a motion deadline because your address is stale and the court can enter orders in your absence, including default judgments resolving custody, support, or property division without your input.
Getting a default judgment set aside after the fact is possible but far harder than keeping your address current. You’d need to file a motion, explain why you didn’t receive notice, and convince the judge the failure wasn’t your fault. When the court’s records show an address you designated and then abandoned without updating, that argument doesn’t go well.
Address Confidentiality for Domestic Violence Survivors
If you’ve relocated to escape domestic violence, listing your new physical address on a court form creates an obvious safety problem. Florida’s Address Confidentiality Program, established under Sections 741.401 through 741.465 of the Florida Statutes, provides a substitute mailing address you can use in place of your actual address on court filings and other official documents. The program’s office acts as your legal agent for receiving mail and service of process, then forwards everything to your real location.11Florida Courts Protection Team Initiative. Address Confidentiality Program To find out whether you qualify and how to apply, contact the program at (850) 414-3300 and ask to be connected to Address Confidentiality Program staff. If you’re already enrolled, use your substitute address on Form 12.915.
If a Nonlawyer Helps You
If a nonlawyer (anyone who isn’t an attorney) helps you fill out Form 12.915, that person must give you a copy of the Disclosure from Nonlawyer, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.900(a), before assisting you, and must print their name, address, and telephone number on the bottom of the last page of the form.2Florida Courts. Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915 – Designation of Current Mailing and E-mail Address A nonlawyer can help you complete the blanks but cannot give legal advice about what to write in them.