Tag Archive for: financial affidavit

Florida Records Public - Family Diplomacy | A Collaborative Law Firm

Are Florida Divorce Records Public? How Your Divorce Lawyer Could Be Exposing Your Financial Information to Competitors.

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Key Takeaways

  • Yes. Generally speaking, divorce records and financial information filed in a traditional Florida Divorce, including financial affidavits, become part of the public court file.
  • Business owners, physicians, executives, lawyers, and other professionals should carefully consider whether public financial disclosures could expose sensitive business information to competitors, clients, employees, vendors, or investors.
  • Done correctly, Collaborative Divorce is designed to maximize privacy by keeping negotiations confidential and minimizing what gets filed in the public record while promoting complete financial transparency between the spouses.
  • In a Collaborative Divorce, spouses generally still have to exchange financial affidavits, but they can choose to keep it out of the public court file.
  • Other ways that Collaborative Divorce helps maintain financial discretion include filing far away from where the spouses live or work and choosing the county with the best privacy options.

Can Your Competitors See Your Financial Information During a Florida Divorce?

If you are an executive or own a business, a medical practice, a law firm, or another successful company, one of the biggest risks in a traditional Florida Divorce may have nothing to do with who gets what. It may be that your lawyer is preparing your case for trial instead of preparing it for resolution, and in the process, your private financial information could end up in the public divorce records.

Most people assume that divorce is a private matter. They are often surprised to learn that, in almost every Florida Divorce, each spouse must complete a financial affidavit listing their income, expenses, assets, and debts. Generally, in traditional divorce cases, that affidavit is filed with the court, where your divorce records become available to anyone who wants to read it.

If you have spent years building your business and your reputation, that should concern you.

Imagine a competitor learning how much income your business generates. Imagine a prospective client finding details about your personal finances. Imagine employees, vendors, or future business partners accessing information that was never intended for public view.

For entrepreneurs, executives, physicians, lawyers, and other professionals, privacy is not just a personal preference. It is part of protecting the business you worked so hard to build.

Quick Answer

Yes, in most Florida Divorce cases, sensitive financial information becomes part of your public divorce records through the filing of financial affidavit and other documents. If privacy matters to you, choosing the right divorce lawyer and divorce process from the very beginning can make a significant difference.

Collaborative Divorce takes a fundamentally different approach. Rather than preparing every case for the possibility of litigation, the process is designed to help spouses reach an informed agreement outside of court while protecting confidentiality and sensitive information whenever possible.

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Privacy Florida Divorce Cordover Collaborative - Family Diplomacy | A Collaborative Law Firm

Filing Your Divorce In A Far Away Florida County: Protecting Your Privacy

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When you are a professional or public figure, your privacy is priceless. Whether you are a business owner, lawyer, doctor, or executive, or the spouse of someone whose reputation is always under a microscope, you cannot afford to have your personal life become the next topic of office gossip or news headlines. What many people do not realize is that, if you and your spouse agree, you can file for divorce in any county in the state of Florida—not just where you live or work.

This option can be especially valuable if you live or work in a high-profile area like Tampa, St. Petersburg, or Sarasota. Filing in a different county—perhaps one where neither of you has a professional presence—can make it much harder for others to easily find your case. A simple agreement on venue can help you avoid having your personal and financial details sitting in a local public courthouse where people recognize your name.

Keeping Financial and Private Details Out of Public Court File

Even better, Florida law now allows couples, if they both agree, to waive the filing of their financial affidavits with the court. This means you may be able to keep most of your sensitive details—like your income, assets, debts, and business interests—out of the public record. We have the experience to help you navigate this process correctly, no matter where you file.

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Need Help With A Simplified Dissolution of Marriage?

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Are you and your spouse in agreement on how to divide your assets and debts?  Do you not have any minor or dependent children in common?  Are you both willing to attend a final hearing for dissolution of marriage together?  Then you and your spouse may qualify for a Simplified Dissolution of Marriage.

Simplified Dissolution Of MarriageAdvantages of a Simplified Dissolution of Marriage

Florida has created a special type of divorce procedure with the hope of simplifying the process.  In most actions for dissolution of marriage, court rules require you to exchange what is known as “mandatory disclosure.”  These are financial and other documents with sensitive and private information.  So, in most divorces, you would exchange several years’ worth of tax returns, along with checking and savings account statements, credit card statements, and summary plan descriptions for retirement accounts.

In Simplified Dissolution of Marriage proceedings, you are not expected to exchange these documents unless specifically requested to by one of the spouses.

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Florida Family Law: Mandatory Disclosure

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When you file and serve a petition in a Florida family law case that involves financial issues such as child support, alimony, or the division of property in debts, a clock starts ticking.  Within 45 days of the initial pleadings being served on the respondent, each party is required to provide the other party with a whole host of financial documents and information.

This is what is known as Mandatory Disclosure, and it is governed by Rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure.

The following are a list of documents that are required to be exchanged:

(1) A financial affidavit in substantial conformity with Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.902(b) if the party’s gross annual income is less than $50,000, or Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.902(c) if the party’s gross annual income is equal to or more than $50,000, which requirement cannot be waived by the parties. The financial affidavits must also be filed with the court. A party may request, by using the Standard Family Law Interrogatories, or the court on its own motion may order, a party whose gross annual income is less than $50,000 to complete Florida Family Law Rules of
Procedure Form 12.902(c).

(2) All federal and state income tax returns, gift tax returns, and intangible personal property tax returns filed by the party or on the party’s behalf for the past 3 years.

(3) IRS forms W-2, 1099, and K-1 for the past year, if the income tax return for that year has not been prepared. Read more →

Florida Divorce, Financial Affidavits, and Privacy

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In almost any Florida family law matter that involves financial issues, such as child support, alimony, division of property and debt, or attorney’s fees, parties are required to exchange and file Florida Family Law Financial Affidavits.  Financial Affidavits outline each party’s source(s) of income, as well as expenses, assets, and liabilities.

And, when they are filed, they become part of the public record, accessible by anyone.

Most people, for any number reasons, do not want their financial profile to become public.  And yet, when people go through the traditional litigated divorce, that’s exactly what happens.

But it does not need to be that way.

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Mandatory Disclosure in Florida Family Law Cases

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The Florida Supreme Court provides the following commentary on Mandatory Disclosure in Florida family law cases:

Rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, requires each party in a dissolution of marriage to exchange certain information and documents, and file a Family Law Financial Affidavit, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.902(b) or (c). Failure to make this required disclosure within the time required by the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure may allow the court to dismiss the case or to refuse to consider the pleadings of the party failing to comply. This requirement also must be met in other family law cases, except adoptions, simplified dissolutions of marriage, enforcement proceedings, contempt proceedings, and proceedings for injunctions for domestic or repeat violence. The Certificate of Compliance with Mandatory Disclosure, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.932, lists the documents that must be given to the other party. For more information see rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, and the instructions to the Certificate of Compliance with Mandatory Disclosure, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.932.

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Tampa Court Publishes Requirements for Divorce

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In an effort to make the process for divorce clearer to litigants in Hillsborough County, the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit has published the following Requirements for Dissolution of Marriage:

1.  PROOF OF RESIDENCY. 6 months prior to filing Petition. May be proved by drivers license, voter I.D., Affidavit of Corroborating Witness; or testimony of witness. Section 61.052(2), Fla. Stat.

2.  U.C.C.J.E.A. If any minor child or children born as a result of the marriage. Section 61.501 -61.542, Fla. Stat. (2002)

3.  FINANCIAL AFFIDAVITS for each spouse, Rule 12.285(d)(1), Family Law Rules. (This requirement may not be waived if there are financial issues.) Under $50K/Yr. – Over $50K/Yr.

4.  COMPLETED CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES WORKSHEET, if there are minor children. Family Law Rules Form 12.902(e).

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Video: Confidential Information In Your Court File

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The Florida Association of Court Clerks provides the following video regarding confidential information in court files:

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