Florida Form 12.901(b)(1): Petition for Dissolution of Marriage With Dependent or Minor Child(ren)

Start with the free official Form 12.901(b)(1)

Florida Courts currently lists Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.901(b)(1), Petition for Dissolution of Marriage With Dependent or Minor Child(ren), dated February 2018. The official PDF contains 12 pages: five instruction pages followed by the seven-page petition.

Source checked October 1, 2026. The current Florida Courts download matched the reviewed source file exactly. Always confirm the title and revision before relying on a saved copy.

Important: the official 2018 packet contains older alimony terminology

The printed instruction and petition pages include “permanent alimony” among the displayed alimony terms. The current text of section 61.08, Florida Statutes, lists temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational alimony—not permanent alimony.

What information appears on Form 12.901(b)(1)?

1. Separate caption facts from residence and jurisdiction questions

The petition begins with the judicial circuit, county, case number, division, petitioner, respondent, and the petitioner's full legal name. Paragraph 1 then displays choices about which party—or whether both—has lived in Florida for at least six months before filing.

Those are not interchangeable tasks. An existing case record can provide caption facts, while residence and jurisdiction may require legal analysis. This guide does not decide where to file, who satisfies a residence requirement, or whether Florida has jurisdiction.

2. Review military, marriage-history, and child sections as printed

Paragraph 2 displays is/is not military-service choices for each spouse. Paragraph 3 asks for the dates of marriage and separation, an approximate-date choice, and place of marriage.

Paragraph 4 displays pregnancy choices and separate spaces for minor children common to both parties, children born or conceived during the marriage who are not common to both parties, their birth parent information, and adult children common to both parties who are described as dependent because of a mental or physical disability.

This guide does not determine parentage, dependency, military status, whether a child belongs in a category, or what consequences follow from an answer.

3. Check the companion-filing statements without selecting forms

Paragraph 5 asks whether a completed Form 12.902(b) or 12.902(c) financial affidavit is filed with the petition or will be timely filed. Paragraph 6 states that a completed Form 12.902(d) UCCJEA Affidavit is filed with the petition. Paragraph 7 states that Form 12.902(j), Notice of Social Security Number, is filed with it.

The instruction packet also discusses the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, proof of Florida residence, a marital settlement agreement when applicable, mandatory-disclosure certification, and a Parenting Plan. This guide reports what the packet says but does not decide which documents a particular filer must use.

4. Do not let a checklist choose the stated ground

Paragraph 8 displays two choices: that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or that one party has been adjudged mentally incapacitated for the stated period and a copy of the incapacity judgment is attached.

Sun State does not select a ground, determine whether a marriage is irretrievably broken, evaluate incapacity, identify required proof, or draft supporting allegations.

5. Treat asset and liability selections as legal-content boundaries

Section I first presents a choice between no marital assets or liabilities and the existence of marital assets or liabilities. When the latter applies, the printed form addresses financial-affidavit disclosure, a written agreement, a request for court distribution, and a request that one spouse receive an interest in the other spouse's property with an explanation.

6. Read the alimony section only with current-law context

Section II displays a waiver choice and a request choice. The request area includes petitioner/respondent selections, amount, payment frequency, beginning and ending details, printed alimony types, an explanation area, other provisions including tax treatment, and a request for life insurance to secure support.

Because the February 2018 form uses terminology that differs from the current statute, this guide does not summarize those printed categories as current law. It does not recommend waiver or a request, choose a type, amount, duration, frequency, security provision, or tax term, or draft an explanation.

7. Keep Parenting Plan and best-interests choices customer-directed

Section III asks where the children currently reside, displays shared or sole parental-responsibility choices, and provides an explanation line connected to the sole-responsibility request. Its Parenting Plan and time-sharing portion addresses whether a plan includes time-sharing, parent designations, an attached proposed plan, agreement status, a separately described schedule, a court-established plan, no or limited time-sharing, supervision, third-party exchange, and explanation areas.

The section ends with a narrative asking why the request is in the children's best interests.

8. Identify child-support fields without calculating or recommending support

Section IV displays requests concerning guideline support and filing status of the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet; retroactive dates; support beyond age 18 in the printed circumstances; a guideline-deviation request; medical and dental insurance; uninsured medical and dental expenses; and life insurance to secure child support.

This guide does not calculate support, decide whether retroactivity or extended support applies, identify a deviation, allocate insurance or expenses, choose security, or tell a filer what amount or result to request.

9. Review “Other” and the final request independently

Section V contains a former-legal-name request and an open area for other relief. Section VI then summarizes the terms the petitioner asks the court to include in the final judgment: dissolution, property distribution, alimony, Parenting Plan and time-sharing, child support, former-name restoration, and other relief.

An open blank is not an invitation for Sun State to draft legal relief. This guide does not supply wording, select final requests, or check the summary against a person's legal objectives.

10. Protect confidential address information before reviewing the signature block

The official instructions say that if a person is a victim of sexual battery, aggravated child abuse, aggravated stalking, harassment, aggravated battery, or domestic violence and the person's address is unknown to the other party or confidential for safety reasons, the person should not enter the address, telephone, and fax information at the bottom of this petition and should instead file Form 12.980(h), Request for Confidential Filing of Address.

11. Review the oath, signature, and notarization block separately

The final page contains an oath concerning truthfulness, a warning about knowingly making a false statement, the petitioner's date, signature and contact information, designated email addresses, and a notary-public or deputy-clerk block.

Completing a PDF does not sign it, administer an oath, notarize it, file it, serve it, or turn it into a court order. Read the official execution language before signing and obtain qualified help if its consequences are unclear.

12. Read the 2018 procedural instructions in current context

The packet discusses residence, filing, personal and constructive service, military-service procedures, response timing, default, uncontested and contested cases, mandatory disclosure, mediation, hearings, e-filing, e-service, confidentiality, parenting courses, temporary relief, agreements, Parenting Plans, and proposed final judgments.

Those passages describe the February 2018 packet. Statewide rules, statutes, terminology, form revisions, portal procedures, and local requirements can change. Florida Courts' current self-help guidance ↗ says self-represented parties are responsible for current statewide rules, local rules, administrative orders, required documents, and deadlines.

Nonlawyer assistance has a separate disclosure block

The packet says a nonlawyer who helps complete the form must provide Form 12.900(a), Disclosure from Nonlawyer, before helping and must place identifying information at the bottom of the last page. Form 12.901(b)(1) includes those blanks below the notarization section.

Sun State does not determine eligibility, jurisdiction, grounds, property classification, alimony, parental responsibility, time-sharing, support, requested relief, evidence, filing, or service.

Common factual questions

Official information and independent help

Prepared by Sun State Legal Forms. Published and substantively reviewed October 1, 2026 using the complete official Florida Courts packet, current official form listing, and current official statutory text. Read our content and source-review standards.