In Re: Amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure - Forms

CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJune 26, 2025
DocketSC2024-0003
StatusPublished

This text of In Re: Amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure - Forms (In Re: Amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure - Forms) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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In Re: Amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure - Forms, (Fla. 2025).

Opinion

Supreme Court of Florida ____________

No. SC2024-0003 ____________

IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA FAMILY LAW RULES OF PROCEDURE – FORMS.

June 26, 2025

PER CURIAM.

The Florida Bar’s Family Law Rules Committee has filed a

report proposing amendments to Florida Family Law Rules of

Procedure Forms 12.900(a) (Disclosure from Nonlawyer), 12.900(b)

(Notice of Limited Appearance), 12.900(c) (Consent to Limited

Appearance by Attorney), 12.900(d) (Termination of Limited

Appearance), 12.900(e) (Acknowledgment of Assistance by

Attorney), 12.900(g) (Agreement Limiting Representation), 12.901(a)

(Petition for Simplified Dissolution of Marriage), 12.902(c) (Family

Law Financial Affidavit (Long Form)), 12.902(e) (Child Support

Guidelines Worksheet), 12.930(a) (Notice of Service of Standard

Family Law Interrogatories), 12.930(b) (Standard Family Law

Interrogatories for Original or Enforcement Proceedings), 12.930(c) (Standard Family Law Interrogatories for Modification Proceedings),

and 12.932 (Certificate of Compliance with Mandatory Disclosure).1

The Board of Governors of The Florida Bar unanimously

recommends adopting the proposed amendments.

The Committee published its proposal for comment and

received one comment. After the proposed amendments were filed,

we re-published the proposal for comment and one comment was

received. The Committee responded and revised its proposal in

response to the comment. Having reviewed the Committee’s

proposal, the comment, and the response, we adopt the

Committee’s revised proposal with minor modifications. We discuss

the more significant amendments below.

First, although the Committee has not proposed it, we note the

suggestion of The Florida Bar Family Law Section and combine

forms 12.900(b) and 12.900(c) into a single form, titled “Notice of

and Consent to Limited Appearance.” We then delete form

12.900(c). As the Committee proposed, we amend paragraph 2 in

1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.; see also Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.140(b)(1).

-2- form 12.900(b), which designates the types of issues for which the

attorney will be making a limited appearance, to use language that

mirrors Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.040(c)(1)

(Attorneys; Scope of Representation) by referring to “proceeding(s) or

matter(s).” Also, on the list of issues, we make “parental

responsibility” and “time-sharing” separate types of issues and add

“mediation” as a new type of issue.

Next, in form 12.900(e), we delete the reference to the specific

attorney who assists the pro se litigant. Now, the form simply reads

that the litigant “certifies that this document was prepared with the

assistance of counsel.”

Further, while we revise form 12.901(a) to improve clarity and

readability, we decline to implement some of the Committee’s

proposed changes related to minor and dependent children, and

instead keep the language in the instructions and form consistent

with the language of Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure

12.105(a)(1) (Simplified Dissolution Procedure; Requirements for

Use).

-3- In form 12.902(e), we add the case caption at the beginning of

the form worksheet and a separate table before the Child Support

Guidelines Worksheet titled “Gross Income Calculation.”

Additionally, in the instructions to forms 12.930(a) and

12.930(b), we decline to implement the Committee’s suggested

changes advising that a party may take action to compel a

response. We instead retain the prior language indicating that a

failure to respond may result in sanctions.

Accordingly, the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Forms

are amended as reflected in the appendix to this opinion, with the

forms fully engrossed and ready for use. The forms may be

accessed and downloaded from the Florida State Courts’ website at

http://www.flcourts.org/resources-and-services/court-

improvement/family-courts/family-law-forms.stml. The

amendments shall take effect immediately upon the release of this

opinion. We thank the Committee for its attention to this important

task.

It is so ordered.

MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, LABARGA, COURIEL, GROSSHANS, FRANCIS, and SASSO, JJ., concur.

-4- THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.

Original Proceeding – Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure

Jeffrey Paul Battista, Chair, Family Law Rules Committee, Vero Beach, Florida, Hon. Howard Ogle McGillin, Jr., Past Chair, Family Law Rules Committee, St. Augustine, Florida, Joshua E. Doyle, Executive Director, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida, and Kelly Noel Smith, Bar Liaison, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida,

for Petitioner

Christopher William Rumbold, Chair, Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Sarah E. Kay, Past Chair, Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, Tampa, Florida, Lindsay Agranoff Gunia, Co-Chair, Rules and Forms Committee, Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, Miami, Florida, Jaime Rodriguez Girgenti, Co-Chair, Rules and Forms Committee, Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, Clearwater, Florida, Temi N. Zeitenberg, Past Co-Chair, Rules and Forms Committee, Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, Boca Raton, Florida, and Marck K. Joseph, Jr., Past Co-Chair, Rules and Forms Committee, Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, Miami, Florida,

Responding with comments

-5- APPENDIX

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FLORIDA FAMILY LAW RULES OF PROCEDURE FORM 12.900(a) DISCLOSURE FROM NONLAWYER (06/25)

When should this form be used?

This form must be used when anyone who is not a lawyer in good standing with The Florida Bar helps you complete any Florida Family Law Form. Atorneys who are licensed to prac�ce in other states but not Florida, or who have been disbarred or suspended from the prac�ce of law in Florida, are nonlawyers for the purposes of the Florida Family Law Forms and instruc�ons.

The nonlawyer must complete this form and both of you are to sign it before the nonlawyer assists you in comple�ng any Family Law Form.

In addi�on, on any other form with which a nonlawyer helps you, the nonlawyer shall complete the nonlawyer sec�on located at the botom of the form unless otherwise specified in the instruc�ons to the form. This is to protect you and be sure that you are informed in advance of the nonlawyer’s limita�ons.

What should I do next?

A copy of this disclosure, signed by both the nonlawyer and the person on whose behalf the forms will be completed, must be given to the person to retain and the nonlawyer must keep a copy in the person’s file. The nonlawyer must also keep copies for at least 6 years of all forms given to the person being assisted.

Special Notes . . .

This disclosure form does NOT act as or cons�tute a waiver, disclaimer, or limita�on of liability.

Instructions for Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.900(a), Disclosure from Nonlawyer (06/25) 1 of 1 -6- IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE _________ JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR ___________________________________ COUNTY, FLORIDA

Case No.: ________________________ Division: ________________________ _______________________________, Pe��oner,

and

_______________________________, Respondent.

DISCLOSURE FROM NONLAWYER

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