Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(d), the UCCJEA Affidavit, is a sworn statement every party in a Florida family law case involving a minor child must file so the judge can confirm Florida has authority to decide custody. You complete it by listing where the child has lived for the past five years, identifying anyone else who has had custody or filed a case about the child, signing under oath before a notary, and filing it with the clerk of the circuit court where your case is pending. You can download the form from flcourts.gov.
Who Has to File It, and When
The form’s instructions apply it to “any case involving parental responsibility for, custody of, or time-sharing or visitation with, any minor child(ren).”1Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(d) That means dissolution of marriage with children, paternity, modifications to time-sharing, domestic violence injunctions that touch on custody, and child support cases where a parenting plan is at issue. If children are part of the case, this affidavit gets filed.
Agreement between the parents doesn’t excuse it. The judge still needs to verify no other state has a competing claim before signing anything, and Florida Statute 61.522 lets the court pause the entire case until the affidavit is on file.2The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.522 – Information to Be Submitted to the Court Skipping it stalls your own case.
What the Judge Is Looking For
The answers you put on this form feed Florida’s jurisdictional analysis under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. In most cases, Florida can make an initial custody decision only if it qualifies as the child’s “home state” — generally, where the child has lived for at least six consecutive months before the case was filed, or since birth for an infant younger than six months.3The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.514 – Initial Child Custody Jurisdiction The residential history you list in section 1 is how the judge checks that. Any prior or pending case you list in sections 2 and 3 tells the judge whether another court already has or wants jurisdiction.
Filling Out the Form, Section by Section
Before you sit down with the form, pull together every address where each child has lived in the past five years, the from-and-to dates at each address, and the names and current contact information for every adult the child lived with. The instructions say to type or print in black ink.1Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(d) If there is more than one child, the history runs separately for each.
Section 1: Child Information and Residential History
State the total number of minor children. For each child, give the full name, place of birth, date of birth, and sex. Then fill in a chronological table of every address during the last five years: city and state, dates of each stay, and the name, current address, and relationship to the child of every person who lived there with the child.1Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(d) Be as precise as you can with the dates. This is the section the judge actually counts months on.
Section 2: Prior Custody or Time-Sharing Proceedings
Check whether you have ever participated in any other custody, time-sharing, or visitation proceeding involving the same child, anywhere, in any capacity — party, witness, or otherwise. If yes, list each child, the type of proceeding, the court and state, and the date of any order.
Section 3: Pending Proceedings
Say whether you know of any custody, time-sharing, or visitation case currently pending anywhere, and if so provide the child, type of proceeding, court, state, order date, and case number. Section 2 is history; section 3 is anything still open.
Section 4: People Who Aren’t Parties but Have a Claim
Identify, by name and address, anyone not a party to this case who has physical custody of the child or claims custody or visitation rights. Grandparents and stepparents are the common examples. If no one fits, check the box saying so.2The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.522 – Information to Be Submitted to the Court
Section 5: Existing Child Support Orders
Indicate whether the children are subject to any existing child support order in any state or country, and give the details if they are. This keeps the court from issuing a support order that collides with one already in place.
Section 6: Continuing Duty Acknowledgment
The last numbered section is your signed acknowledgment of a continuing obligation to tell the court about any new proceeding — custody, time-sharing, child support, guardianship, or dependency — that comes to your attention during the case, in any state.1Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(d) Florida Statute 61.522(4) puts that duty into the statute itself.2The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.522 – Information to Be Submitted to the Court
If You Need to Keep Your Address Confidential
Victims of domestic violence can shield their current address from the public file, but the process has to happen before you file this affidavit. File Florida Family Law Form 12.980(h), Request for Confidential Filing of Address, first. Once that request is on file, write “confidential” in any space on Form 12.902(d) that would otherwise show your current address.1Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(d) You also file a Notice of Confidential Information within Court Filing under Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420 so the clerk flags the sensitive material.4Florida Courts. Confidentiality in Domestic Violence Cases
If you’re enrolled in the Florida Attorney General’s Address Confidentiality Program, be especially careful not to let your real address slip through on any other filing in the case.
Signing and Filing
Sign the completed form under oath in front of a notary public or a deputy clerk of the circuit court.1Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(d) Florida notaries may charge up to $10 per notarial act.5The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 117.05 – Use of Notary Commission Many clerk’s offices notarize family law filings; call ahead to confirm. Florida also permits remote online notarization through a live audio-video session with a registered online notary.6Florida Department of State. Remote Online Notary Public
File the signed original with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where your case is pending, either in person or through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. Because the form contains dates of birth and addresses, file a Notice of Confidential Information within Court Filing (from the Appendix to Rule 2.420) alongside it.1Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(d) Keep a copy. The affidavit itself carries no separate fee; it’s filed as part of your case, so any filing fee you pay is for the underlying action. Check with your local clerk for the exact amount.
Serving the Other Party
Filing with the clerk is not enough. You also have to serve a copy on every other party. Under Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516, documents filed through the e-filing portal are served electronically through the portal’s e-service function, and service is complete at the time of filing.7Florida Bar. Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration – Rule 2.516
A party without an attorney has to designate a primary email address for service, unless the party is in custody or declares under penalty of perjury that they have no email account or regular internet access. Those parties are served by mail or hand delivery. If this affidavit is being filed with your initial petition, the petition itself still has to be served under the rules for service of process, which usually means personal service by a process server or the sheriff.
Your Ongoing Obligation After Filing
The duty does not end at the signature line. Both the form and Section 61.522 require you to update the court whenever you learn about any new proceeding that could affect the case — custody, time-sharing, child support, guardianship, or dependency, in any state.2The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.522 – Information to Be Submitted to the Court If the other parent files a custody motion in another state after you’ve already submitted this form, you need to tell the Florida court promptly. The judge can also question the parties under oath about anything in the affidavit at any point in the case.
What Happens If You Lie on It
The affidavit is sworn. Perjury in a Florida official proceeding — a false statement on a material matter that you don’t believe to be true — is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.8The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 837.02 – Perjury in Official Proceedings9The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 775.082 – Penalties, Applicability of Sentencing Structures, Notification to Department of Corrections
The family court judge also has in-case tools. A judge who finds false information on this affidavit can hold the party in contempt, strike testimony, impose fines, order the party to pay the other side’s attorney fees, or dismiss their pleadings. Concealing where the child has lived or hiding another state’s custody case cuts straight against what this form exists to catch, and it can damage your credibility on every other issue in the case.
Getting Help
If a nonlawyer helps you fill out Form 12.902(d), that person has to give you a copy of the Disclosure from Nonlawyer, Form 12.900(a), before starting, and print their name, address, and phone number on the last page of every form they help with.1Florida Courts. Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(d) Many Florida circuit courts run family law self-help centers whose staff can walk you through what each section is asking, though they can’t give legal advice.