If you’re dealing with a Florida family law matter, you’re probably going to come across some paperwork along the way. Some of it may even make its way into the mediation room.
These are not MFM forms. They’re part of Florida’s family law and court process, and which forms apply depends on your situation and where you are in that process.
At MFM, court forms may give us useful information to work from in mediation. A financial affidavit can put financial information in one place. A parenting plan can give parents a framework for identifying parenting decisions that need to be discussed. Other forms may come into the picture depending on what’s happening outside the mediation room.
My role isn’t to tell you which court forms you’re legally required to file, how to complete them, or what you should put in them. What I can do is help you understand why certain forms may show up in or around mediation, what kind of information they contain, and how that information may connect to the conversations we’re having.
The forms themselves belong to the Sunshine State. I just happen to work here.
Florida Court Forms
First things first: these are Florida court forms, not MFM forms. I didn’t create them, I don’t make the rules about when they’re required, and I promise I don’t enjoy paperwork any more than you do.
That said, if you’re dealing with a Florida family law matter, some of these names are probably going to start looking familiar. Which ones apply depends on your situation and where you are in the court process. My role isn’t to tell you which forms you’re legally required to file or what you should put in them. This is simply a plain-language look at some of the forms that may cross our path in mediation.
1. Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA)
Eventually, all that talking has to land somewhere. Enter the Marital Settlement Agreement.
The MSA is where agreements between spouses can make their way onto paper. Property, debts, support, and whatever else you’ve worked through don’t get to live forever as “I thought we said…” or “That’s not what I meant.”
From my side of the room, that’s the important part: making sure what you agreed to is actually what you intended to agree to. Things have a funny way of looking different once they’re written down, which is why you get to review the terms I’ve written and make sure I got them right.
What happens with those terms in the court process is Sunshine State territory. My job is making sure I accurately captured what happened in our room.
2. Florida Parenting Plan
If you’re a parent, you probably already know parenting doesn’t exactly fit neatly into need little boxes. Florida gave it a shot anyway.
The Parenting Plan covers the things that make up actual life with kids: where they’ll be, holidays, transportation, communication, decision-making, and all the logistics that somehow have to keep working after separation.
For me, the form isn’t the interesting part. The conversations behind those boxes are. What does “flexible” mean? Who handles the Tuesday practice that ends at 8:30? What happens when a holiday lands on somebody’s regular weekend? That’s where mediation comes in.
Florida has different Parenting Plan forms for different circumstances, so which one applies isn’t something I’m going to decide for you. That’s between you and the Sunshine State.
3. Family Law Financial Affidavit (Long Form)
No one likes talking about money, but unfortunately, at some point, it enters the chat.
The Family Law Financial Affidavit puts a whole lot of your financial life in one place: income, expenses, assets, liabilities—the stuff most people would rather not spend an afternoon thinking about.
From my side of the mediation room, the useful part is that we’re not trying to have financial conversations based on what someone remembers, thinks something costs, or is pretty sure they saw on a statement three months ago. We have actual information in front of us.
Florida has different financial affidavit requirements depending on the circumstances. That’s Florida’s territory, not mine.
4. Child Support Guidelines Worksheet
If you have kids, you already know they can be a financial hemorrhage. The silver lining is that now you get to split the cost.
Okay, maybe silver lining is generous.
The Child Support Guidelines Worksheet takes financial and parenting information and puts it into Florida’s child support calculation. Things like income, health insurance, childcare costs, and certain other information can become part of that calculation.
This is another place where Florida makes the rules. I don’t decide what child support should be or tell you what number is fair. The worksheet gives us a number to work from; what conversations happen around it depend on what you bring into the room.
Where can I find these forms?
Much like the rest of Florida, the court forms can be a little capricious. They change, they move, and just when you think you’ve found the right one, there’s a newer version waiting somewhere.
The safest place to find them is directly from the Florida Courts website. Scroll down, search by the corresponding form number, and make sure you’re looking at the most current version.
And yes, check the version before you get emotionally invested in filling out six pages of it. Florida periodically updates its approved forms, and discovering that after you’ve finished is nobody’s idea of a good afternoon. Here’s the link if you’re not sure what any of that means: Florida Courts