The Florida military affidavit

How Florida handles it

The only statewide Florida form of this kind sits in family law. Form 12.912(b), Affidavit of Military Service (11/15), is filed with the Motion for Default, Form 12.922(a), with the clerk of the circuit court. Its instructions set the trigger plainly: an Affidavit of Military Service "is required in every case where the Respondent has not filed an answer or appearance," and you use it when the other person was served (by personal or constructive service), has not responded, and you are asking the court to enter a default. You must also attach copies of every verification of nonmilitary service you received from each branch.

You pick exactly one of four numbered statements, and the second is wider than the federal question. Statement 1 is personal knowledge that the respondent is on active duty. Statement 2 swears the respondent is not now on active duty "nor has the Respondent been on active military service of the United States within a period of thirty (30) days immediately before this date," and defines Active Service to include reserve members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Marines ordered to report for active duty, and Florida National Guard members ordered to active duty for more than thirty days. Statement 3 is the certificates route. Statement 4 is the unable to determine route, with lines to describe what you did and the closing sentence "I have no reason to believe that s/he is on active duty at this time."

There is a companion form for the certificates. Form 12.912(a), Memorandum for Certificate of Military Service (09/16), is the request you send to each service. Its instructions carry their own caveat: the contact information "is correct as of the effective date of this form; however, it may be subject to change," and "You may be charged a service fee by each military service branch for its response," with a direction to verify each branch's current fee and mailing address before writing. It also points readers to Military OneSource for help. Because 12.912(a) dates from 2016, treat every address, phone number, and fee on it as needing a check.

Debt, eviction, and small claims filers do not have a statewide form, which is the gap most Florida searchers actually fall into. The federal requirement in 50 U.S.C. § 3931 applies to a county civil or small claims default exactly as it applies to a divorce, but the Supreme Court of Florida has approved no county civil affidavit to match 12.912(b). Circuits fill the gap themselves. The Thirteenth Judicial Circuit publishes a General Civil Division Affidavit of Military Service with the same four numbered choices, the same thirty-day lookback in choice 2, and the same notary or deputy clerk block, captioned for Hillsborough County instead of a family case. Before you retype the family form, check the forms your circuit and your clerk publish.

E-filing is assumed but not universal. The 12.912(b) instructions state that the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration "now require that all petitions, pleadings, and documents be filed electronically except in certain circumstances," that self-represented litigants may file electronically but are not required to, and that anyone who does must follow Rule 2.525 and the procedures of the judicial circuit where they file. Service after initial process is by email under Rule 2.516 unless an exception applies, and a self-represented party who elects email service has to keep using it once the election is made.

What trips filers up here

• The statewide form is captioned Petitioner and Respondent. A landlord or debt buyer using it in county court is filing a family form in a case that has no petitioner, which is one reason circuits publish their own general civil version.
• Choice 2 makes you swear to a thirty-day lookback that the federal statute does not ask for. If the defendant left active duty five weeks ago, choice 2 is available; if it was three weeks ago, it is not.
• Choices 3 and 4 both require attachments or written explanation. The form's only blank lines are under choice 4, so a choice 3 filing is incomplete without the certificates stapled to it.
• Notary or deputy clerk only. Florida does not offer the unsworn declaration route on this form even though the federal statute permits one.

Signing it: notarization required

The closing block reads "Sworn to or affirmed and signed before me on ___ by ___," with a signature line for NOTARY PUBLIC or DEPUTY CLERK, a printed commissioned name, and checkboxes for personally known or produced identification with the type recorded. The instructions say to sign "before a notary public or deputy clerk." A declaration under penalty of perjury does not fit this signature block.

This form carries a notary block, so budget for a notary before your filing date. Federal law sets a floor, not a ceiling: 50 U.S.C. § 3931(b)(4) permits an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, but a state is free to require more on its own form, and this one does.

Florida law on top of the federal rule

Fla. Stat. § 250.5201: Florida's Military Code lets a court stay any civil action involving a person called into state active duty, and requires the stay on motion unless the ability to prosecute or defend is not materially affected. Section 250.5201(3) limits state active duty for these sections to service ordered by the Governor that exceeds 17 days, a shorter trigger than the 30-day threshold most states use.

Getting the military-status answer right

The affidavit is only as good as the search behind it. The Defense Manpower Data Center runs the free lookup that courts and creditors rely on, and since 2026 it requires a free account even for a single record. Our guide to the DMDC SCRA website covers the search itself, what a "no information found" result does and does not prove, and the batch route for high-volume filers. The federal rules behind this form, including what happens when you genuinely cannot determine status, sit on the hub page.

If one was filed against you

A false affidavit is not a technicality. In May 2026 the Justice Department settled with a Florida property manager that swore a Navy sailor was not on active duty, took a default eviction judgment, and left him with an eviction on his record that a dozen landlords then refused to rent around: $60,000 to one servicemember plus a civil penalty . If a default judgment was entered against you while you were serving, it can be reopened; the default-judgment shield walks the deadlines.

Serving in Florida and looking for what the state adds to your own protections rather than court procedure? That is a different page: Florida SCRA benefits.