Florida Financial Affidavit: Templates & More

A Florida financial affidavit is a sworn court form that discloses a party's income, deductions, expenses, assets and liabilities in a family law case. It is required of both parties, not only the one asking for support, in every dissolution of marriage, paternity, child support and alimony case in which the court will decide a financial issue, and it is filed with the court and served on the other party. The form is signed under oath before a notary or deputy clerk, and a false statement can be punished as perjury.

The affidavit is the core of Florida's mandatory disclosure under Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285. Each party must serve it within 45 days of service of the initial petition, together with the other documents the rule lists, such as tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements and retirement statements. The court uses the affidavits to calculate child support under the Florida child support guidelines (Florida Statutes section 61.30), to decide alimony, and to divide marital assets and debts.

Short form or long form

• Form 12.902(b), Family Law Financial Affidavit (Short Form), is used when your individual gross income is under $50,000 per year.
• Form 12.902(c), Family Law Financial Affidavit (Long Form), is used when your individual gross income is $50,000 or more per year. The long form asks for the same categories in more detail, including additional income sources, itemized expenses and a more complete schedule of assets and liabilities.

A financial affidavit is not required in a simplified dissolution under rule 12.105 where both parties waive it, in a case with no minor children, no support issues and a filed settlement agreement that resolves all financial issues, or where the court lacks jurisdiction over financial issues.

What the form asks for

1. Section I, income and deductions: monthly gross income from every source (salary, bonuses, business income, rental income, pension, Social Security, alimony received and others), followed by deductions for taxes, FICA, mandatory union dues and retirement, health insurance and court-ordered support paid, ending with net monthly income.
2. Section II, expenses: average monthly household expenses, automobile expenses, children's expenses, insurance, other expenses and payments to creditors, totaled against net income to show a monthly surplus or deficit.
3. Section III, assets and liabilities: each asset and debt with its current value or balance and, in a dissolution case, whether it is claimed as nonmarital.
4. Section IV, child support guidelines worksheet: a statement whether Form 12.902(e) is attached. The worksheet must be filed at or before any hearing to establish or modify child support.

How to complete and file it

1. Gather the documents: recent pay stubs, the last year's tax return, bank and credit card statements, mortgage and loan statements, retirement account statements and insurance premiums.
2. Choose the short or long form based on your gross income and complete every line, writing "0" or "none" rather than leaving blanks. Use monthly figures; the form explains how to convert weekly, biweekly and semimonthly pay.
3. Sign in front of a notary public or deputy clerk.
4. File the original with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the case is pending, and keep a copy.
5. Serve a copy on the other party by mail or hand delivery within 45 days of service of the petition, or with your own initial papers, and complete the certificate of service on the last page.
6. Update it: a party must serve an amended affidavit if there is a material change, and courts expect a current affidavit at mediation, at temporary relief hearings and at trial.

Florida law firms automate the financial affidavit because it is required in nearly every family case and the arithmetic and formatting are fixed. A client questionnaire that collects the income, expense and asset figures can generate the completed 12.902(b) or (c) form with the correct version selected automatically.