Both parties must exchange a defined set of financial records within 45 days of service. Neither has to request it, and neither has to agree to it.
Mandatory Disclosure comes from Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285. It requires each party in a dissolution case to give the other party certain financial information and documents, and those documents must be served within 45 days of service of the petition on the respondent.
The rule applies to all original and supplemental dissolution cases, with 2 exceptions: simplified dissolution cases, and cases where the respondent is served by constructive service and never answers. The obligation reaches beyond divorce. Paternity, modification and child support cases carry the same requirement.
Mandatory Disclosure is automatic. It is not triggered by a request from the other side, and it is not something the other party can waive on your behalf. The clock runs from service, whether or not anyone reminds you.
Rule 12.285 specifies a financial affidavit plus a defined set of supporting records, each with its own look-back period. The affidavit itself comes in 2 versions, short form or long form, depending on gross annual income.
The supporting records cover income, tax filings, real property, accounts, retirement, debts and any financial statements prepared for a lender. The 2021 amendments lengthened most of the look-back periods, so a checklist written before 2021 requires less than the rule now does.
Every party subject to automatic disclosure must file a Certificate of Compliance, Form 12.932, identifying with particularity the documents delivered and certifying the date of service.
You swear or affirm under oath that the disclosure is complete, accurate and in compliance with the rule, unless you say otherwise with specificity in the certificate itself. The form states that the punishment for knowingly making a false statement or an incomplete disclosure includes fines or imprisonment. Certifying doesn’t end the duty. The obligation to supplement continues as circumstances change.
Objections must be served in writing at least 5 days before the disclosure is due, or they are deemed waived. A timely objection filed with a notice of hearing automatically stays disclosure for the matters it covers.
The court must impose sanctions for meritless or frivolous objections. That is not discretionary language.
These are not documents anyone keeps in one place. They come from employers, lenders, county records, brokerages and the IRS, each with its own request process and its own wait.
The deadline is 45 days from service, and it starts whether or not you’ve begun. A law office can gather all of it at its hourly rate. The same work performed by the client costs nothing.
The complete set walks you through the whole process in order, with the records list, the worksheets and the questions to request answers to before you sign a retainer.