Florida Child Support Application PDF: Forms, Worksheet, and Fee

Florida does not have a single downloadable child support application PDF. If you apply through the Florida Department of Revenue’s Child Support Program, the application is completed online at childsupport.floridarevenue.com and there is no PDF to download. If you file your own court petition instead, you download a set of PDF forms from the Florida Courts website, complete and notarize them, and file with the clerk of the circuit court in your county. Which route you use decides which forms you need.

The DOR Route Is Online, Not a PDF

The Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) runs the state’s Child Support Program and accepts applications through its eServices portal. You create an account, complete the application on-screen with an electronic signature, and can save your progress for up to 30 days before submitting.¹ There is no filing fee. A Social Security number is not required to receive services, but if you don’t have one, you must contact the DOR and request a paper application by mail.²

This is the path to use when you need help locating the other parent, establishing paternity, or enforcing collection, and when you’re receiving public assistance. If you get cash or food assistance from the Department of Children and Families, DCF may have already forwarded your information, though a case isn’t always opened automatically. Medicaid-only recipients have to sign up separately.²

The PDF Forms You Need to File a Court Petition

If you’re filing directly with the court rather than going through the DOR, the Florida Courts website hosts every approved family law form as a downloadable PDF, each with instructions written for people representing themselves.³ The specific petition depends on your situation. A divorce that includes children uses a dissolution of marriage petition. If child support is the only issue, a standalone support petition applies.

Alongside your petition, three financial and jurisdictional forms carry most of the work:

Family Law Financial Affidavit, Form 12.902(b) for gross incomes under $50,000 per year or Form 12.902(c) for incomes of $50,000 or more. It requires your gross monthly income broken down by source, monthly deductions, a full list of household expenses, and a summary of assets and debts.⁴
Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, Form 12.902(e). This is where the calculation happens. If you know the other parent’s income, file it with your affidavit. If you don’t, complete it after they file theirs.⁵
UCCJEA Affidavit, Form 12.902(d), required in any case involving custody or time-sharing with minor children even when those issues aren’t disputed.⁶

Fill in every field, even if the answer is zero. Blank fields get flagged as incomplete. Every form must be signed before a notary public or deputy clerk before filing.

Financial Information the Forms Ask For

Florida’s formula starts with each parent’s income, so the numbers you put on the affidavit drive the result. Under Florida Statute 61.30, gross income includes wages, bonuses, commissions, self-employment earnings, disability benefits, workers’ compensation, pension payments, Social Security, rental income, interest, and dividends.⁷ Reimbursed expenses that reduce your living costs and non-recurring property gains also count. Public assistance payments are excluded.

Before you start typing into the PDFs, gather recent pay stubs, your most recent federal tax return, and documentation of any additional income. Self-employed applicants need records showing gross receipts minus ordinary business expenses. The financial affidavit also asks about health insurance premiums you pay for yourself, childcare costs, and any existing court-ordered support you’re paying for children from another relationship.

Bonuses, overtime, tips, and side income all count. If the court later discovers unreported earnings, the support order can be recalculated retroactively and you may face sanctions for incomplete information.

How the Worksheet Turns Income Into a Number

Florida uses an income shares model. The court estimates what both parents would have spent on the child if they still lived together and splits that cost proportionally based on earnings.

First, each parent’s monthly gross income is reduced to net income by subtracting allowable deductions: federal and state income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes, mandatory union dues, mandatory retirement contributions, health insurance for the parent only, and court-ordered support actually being paid for other children.⁷

Next, the two net incomes are combined. Using that figure and the number of children, the court looks up the basic support need on a statutory guidelines chart. Each parent owes a share proportional to their percentage of the combined income. Sixty percent of the combined net income means sixty percent of the basic obligation. Childcare costs necessary for employment or job training and health insurance premiums paid for the child are added, and any prepaid amounts are credited back to the parent who paid them.⁷ Form 12.902(e) walks through each step line by line.⁵

Substantial Time-Sharing Adjustment

When a parent has the child for at least 20% of overnights per year (roughly 73 nights), the basic obligation is multiplied by 1.5 to account for maintaining two households. Each parent’s adjusted share is then multiplied by the percentage of overnights the other parent has, and the difference between the two figures determines the payment.⁸

Imputed Income for a Non-Working Parent

A parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed cannot dodge support by earning less than they could. Courts can impute income based on recent work history, occupational qualifications, and prevailing local wages, and the party seeking imputation carries the burden of proving voluntary unemployment and identifying a realistic earning level. If a parent fails to participate or provide adequate financial records, the court presumes that parent earns the median income of full-time workers as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. Incarceration cannot be treated as voluntary unemployment.⁸

Filing Your Petition and the Fee

Submit your paperwork to the clerk of the circuit court in your county, either in person or by mail. Filing in person gets you a stamped copy as proof of your filing date. Filing fees for a new family law case in Florida typically run $300, and cases involving dissolution of marriage may cost up to $400. Fees vary somewhat by county.

If you can’t afford the fee, request a waiver using the Application for Determination of Civil Indigent Status, submitted to the clerk. An older form called the Affidavit of Indigency (Form 12.902(a)) was retired and replaced with this application.⁹ If approved, filing and summons fees are waived, though other court costs may not be.

What Happens After You File

If you filed a court petition, you are responsible for serving the other parent with a copy of the petition and a summons. Once served, the other party has a set number of days to respond. If both parents agree on the amount, the court can enter an order relatively quickly. If they don’t, the case proceeds to a hearing where both sides present financial evidence and the judge applies the guidelines formula.

If you applied through the DOR, the agency reviews the application, opens a case, and begins locating the other parent if needed. The DOR may contact you by mail for additional documents, such as prior court orders or the child’s birth certificate.² Respond promptly. Where parents don’t agree, the DOR may schedule an administrative hearing. Florida law gives the department an alternative procedure for establishing support obligations, including establishing a parenting time plan when both parents agree.¹⁰

File Sooner to Preserve Retroactive Support

Support doesn’t necessarily start on the day the order is signed. Florida courts have discretion to award retroactive child support going back to the date the parents stopped living together in the same household, up to a maximum of 24 months before the petition was filed.⁸ This applies to initial determinations in paternity actions, divorce cases, and standalone support petitions. If you’ve been supporting a child alone, filing sooner rather than later preserves more of your right to recover past costs.

Modifying an Existing Order Uses a Different PDF

If you already have a support order and need to change it, you file a Supplemental Petition for Modification of Child Support, Form 12.905(b), downloadable from the Florida Courts website.¹¹ Either parent can petition the circuit court when there’s been a substantial change in circumstances or financial ability. The change must be involuntary and lasting; quitting a job to reduce your obligation won’t work. When the DOR periodically reviews an existing order, it will seek modification if the recalculated amount differs from the current order by at least 10% and no less than $25, with no separate proof of changed circumstances required for department-initiated reviews.¹²

1
Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Child Support eServices
2
Florida Department of Revenue. Sign Up For Child Support
3
Florida State Courts. Family Law Forms
4
Florida Courts. Family Law Financial Affidavit Long Form 12.902(c)
5
Florida Courts. Child Support Guidelines Worksheet 12.902(e)
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Florida Courts. Instructions for UCCJEA Affidavit Form 12.902(d)
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines
8
Florida Statutes. Florida Code 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines
9
Florida Courts. Application for Determination of Civil Indigent Status
10
Florida Statutes. Florida Code 409.2563 – Administrative Establishment of Child Support Obligations
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Florida Courts. Supplemental Petition for Modification of Child Support
12
Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.14 – Enforcement and Modification of Support