Information and documents checklist for divorcing in Florida

The following is a practical guide to what you and your spouse will need to complete the necessary court forms to file for a divorce in Florida. Don’t be overwhelmed by other divorce checklists you may see during your internet search. If you and your spouse generally agree to the elements of the divorce agreement, such as child visitation and distribution of assets and liabilities, divorce litigation may not be necessary and you may not want to hire attorneys. .

Rather, you can hire someone other than an attorney, such as a certified family mediator, to help you identify and complete the court forms. If that’s the case and there are no other complicated circumstances (such as a retirement account split), the following list identifies the twenty documents and pieces of information that are needed for the non-attorney to select to help complete court forms and preparing you to file the divorce petition.

1. Proof of residence. You or your spouse must be able to show that one of you has lived in Florida for at least six months. Residency can be proven with a current Florida driver’s license, Florida identification card, or voter registration card. The document issuance date must be at least six months prior to the date the case is filed with the circuit court clerk;

2. Full and formal names of each spouse;

3. Full residential address of where each spouse lives;

4. Email address of each spouse;

5. Telephone number of each spouse;

6. Name, address and telephone number of each spouse’s employer;

7. Date of birth of each spouse;

8. Social Security number of each spouse;

9. Date of marriage;

10. If separated, date of separation;

11. The full and formal name of each minor;

12. The date of birth of each minor child;

13. Social Security number of each minor child;

14. Total annual compensation of each spouse (eg salary, bonus, tips, etc.);

15. Gross pay rate by pay period and pay period (eg weekly, every other week, monthly);

16. A pay stub from each spouse will go a long way in completing court financial affidavit forms. The pay stub will indicate the types and amounts of deductions from gross wages (for example, income tax, Medicare, insurance, employer loans, union dues, etc.);

17. Marital status for tax filing purposes (eg, probably married) and number of dependents claimed by each spouse. Your employer or your payroll department would have this information. Knowing the filing status and the number of dependents to be claimed after the divorce will give you more accurate financial affidavits;

18. List of separately anticipated ongoing monthly expenses for each spouse after divorce, including credit card and loan payments, food, gas, car maintenance, and children (for example, daycare, clothing, lunch money and medical and dental insurance);

19. A list of assets, such as cars, clothing, jewelry, furniture, cash, televisions, retirement accounts (account names and account numbers), bank accounts (bank name, name on accounts, and account numbers) . Walk around your house and make a list. Estimate the value of each asset and be realistic. Identify any assets that you believe are uniquely yours and should not be divided (for example, non-marital assets). As stated on the financial affidavit court form, it will generally only list an asset as non-marital if it was owned by one of the spouses before the marriage. Florida Statutes Section 61.075 (1) defines marital and non-marital property.

20. A list of liabilities, such as credit card balances, auto loans, mortgages, employer loans, and so on. Be specific and identify the names and account numbers of the lenders. Identify any liabilities that you think belong solely to you and should not be divided (for example, non-marital liability).