How to Fill Out the Florida Child Support Direct Deposit Application

To set up direct deposit for Florida child support, fill out the Florida child support direct deposit form (officially the Direct Deposit Information Form), attach a voided check or a letter from your bank, and mail it to the State of Florida Disbursement Unit in Tallahassee. Once the SDU processes your enrollment, payments typically start landing in your account within five business days.¹

What You Need Before You Start

Have these items in front of you before you begin:

Your child support case number. It appears on your court order and on correspondence from the Florida Department of Revenue. Florida case numbers follow a court-filing format such as 2003-59-DR, and for payment-related forms you may need to convert it to a nine-digit numeric format. The Marion County Clerk’s office gives the example of converting “Case # 2003-59-DR” to “030000059.”²
Your bank’s nine-digit routing number. You can find it on the bottom left of a check, on your bank’s website, or by calling the bank.
Your account number for the specific checking or savings account where you want payments deposited.
A voided check if you’re using a checking account, or a letter from your bank showing your account and routing numbers if you’re using savings.³
Your Social Security number, mailing address, and a daytime phone number.

How to Fill Out the Form

You can download the Direct Deposit Information Form from the Florida Department of Revenue’s child support payment page or from the Florida Child Support Payment Resource Center at fl.smartchildsupport.com.⁴ Some local clerk of court offices also keep copies at their counters or on their websites.

The form is one page. At the top, enter your name, case number, daytime phone number, and mailing address. The middle section asks for your bank name, the bank’s city and state, the routing number, and your account number. You must select either checking or savings; only one account can be designated for direct deposit.³ Compare every digit against your voided check or bank letter. A single transposed number will delay enrollment or send money to the wrong account.

Sign and date the form at the bottom. Your signature authorizes the State Disbursement Unit to send payments electronically to the account you listed. The form won’t be processed without it.

Where to Mail the Form

Mail the completed form and your voided check or bank letter to the address printed on your copy of the form. The version distributed by the Florida Department of Revenue directs you to:

State of Florida Disbursement Unit
PO Box 8510
Tallahassee, FL 32314⁵

Watch the PO Box number. The direct deposit form goes to PO Box 8510, which is not the same as PO Box 8500, the address used for mailing in child support payments.⁶ If your form came from a local clerk of court, it may list a different address; use whichever address appears on the form you’re actually filling out.

There is no online submission option. Enrollment requires a paper form with your physical signature and the attached bank verification document.⁴ Don’t email the form either; it carries your Social Security number, account number, and routing number on a single page.

When Payments Will Start

After the State Disbursement Unit receives your form, it can take up to five business days for direct deposit to activate.¹ During that window, one more payment may come through your previous method, either a paper check or a deposit to your smiONE card. Once activation is confirmed, every future payment from the SDU goes directly to your bank account.

If you have questions about where a payment is, call the SDU Payment Center at 877-769-0251.⁶ You can also check payment history through the Florida Child Support eServices portal at childsupport.floridarevenue.com.⁷

Changing Your Bank Account Later

If you switch banks, close the account, or just want payments going somewhere else, fill out a new Direct Deposit Information Form with the updated details and a new voided check or bank letter. The same five-business-day processing window applies to changes.⁴ Keep the old account open until you confirm a deposit has landed in the new one.

If You Don’t Enroll in Direct Deposit

Skipping direct deposit does not mean you’ll receive paper checks. Under Florida law, the SDU is required to disburse payments electronically.⁸ If you haven’t designated a personal bank account, the SDU will automatically issue you a smiONE Visa Prepaid Card and send payments to that stored-value account.¹ The smiONE card works like a standard prepaid debit card for purchases, ATM withdrawals, and balance checks. If you’re already receiving payments on the smiONE card and want to move to direct deposit, submit the direct deposit form; once direct deposit activates, the card stops receiving new deposits. Questions about the card go to 877-769-0251.⁴

1
Florida Department of Revenue. Receive Child Support Payments
2
Marion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller. Child Support Payments in Department of Revenue (DOR) Cases
3
Florida Department of Revenue. Direct Deposit Information Form
4
Florida Child Support Payment Resource Center. Florida Child Support Payment Resource Center
5
Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Child Support Direct Deposit Form
6
Florida Department of Revenue. Make Child Support Payments
7
Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Child Support eServices
8
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Chapter 61 Section 1824