Seminole County Family Court: how, where and when to do each step

Where family cases are filed in Seminole

Seminole County belongs to the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit (with Brevard). Unlike Orange, the Clerk and the family courtrooms are in different buildings in Sanford, and it helps to know which is which:

• To file: Clerk of the Court, Criminal Justice Center, 101 Eslinger Way, Sanford, FL 32773. Divorces and other family cases are filed here in person. By mail: P.O. Box 819, Sanford, FL 32772. Phone (407) 665-4300. Documents are also accepted at the Clerk's east branch in Casselberry.
• For hearings: family courtrooms are normally at the Seminole Civil Courthouse, 301 N. Park Avenue, Sanford, FL 32771 (Court Administration: (407) 665-4200). Your notice of hearing says the building and courtroom; read it carefully.
• Online: with or without a lawyer, you can file through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal (myflcourtaccess.com).
• Hours: the Clerk is open Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; court offices Monday to Thursday 8:00 to 5:00 and Friday until 4:30, closed 12:00 to 1:00.

What it costs to open a case

Fees are statewide: about $408 for a divorce, $300 for paternity, custody or child support without a divorce, $10 per summons and about $50 to reopen a case for a modification. Protective injunctions are free. If you can't pay, ask the Clerk for the indigency application; if approved, you pay no filing fee or circuit mediation.

The basic steps of a family case

1. Petition with the cover sheet, notice of related cases, social security notice and, with children, the UCCJEA affidavit. For a divorce you must prove six months of Florida residency.
2. Service by the sheriff or a process server, or voluntary acceptance. The other side has 20 days to answer. If you can't find them, Seminole requires the diligent search form before allowing service by publication.
3. Mandatory disclosure: financial affidavit and Rule 12.285 documents within 45 days. In Seminole, without both financial affidavits you won't be referred to mediation.
4. Parenting course, mediation and hearings.
5. Final judgment, never sooner than 20 days after the divorce petition is filed.

No lawyer? The Clerk's Self-Help Center

The Seminole Clerk's Dorothy Guess Self-Help Center is in the same Criminal Justice Center, 101 Eslinger Way, Sanford:

• Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Phone (407) 665-4300, email prose-shc@seminoleclerk.org.
• Free computers for research, printed forms at $0.15 a page (free online) and help with procedure.
• Low-cost attorney consultation: $1 per minute ($15 for 15 minutes), up to one hour per day, Wednesdays only from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., by video call (Microsoft Teams). Booked online or by phone and paid within 48 hours; no refunds. The attorney reviews your forms and explains next steps, but doesn't represent you in court.

The parenting course

In every divorce with minor children and every paternity case where parental responsibility is decided, each parent must complete the Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course before the final judgment. It's a minimum of 4 hours, can be taken online, in English or Spanish with any provider approved by the Department of Children and Families (myflfamilies.com), and the certificate is filed in the case. Your case manager won't calendar the case without both certificates.

Mediation: how it works in Seminole

In the Eighteenth Circuit, the court's case manager is the one who refers cases to mediation:

• Prerequisite: both parties must have filed their financial affidavit.
• If combined gross annual income is under $100,000, the case goes to the 18th Circuit Mediation Program, which currently holds sessions by video conference. The program contacts you to set a date; you can also write to Mediation@flcourts18.org.
• Cost per person: combined income under $50,000, $60; $50,000 to $100,000, $120; declared indigent, free. Over $100,000 you must hire a certified private mediator (list at drc.flcourts.org).

How you get a hearing

Seminole works differently from Orange and Osceola: you don't email the judicial assistant for each thing; it goes through Family Case Management.

• Once you've filed everything your case type requires, submit the Request for Hearing form so the case manager knows your file is ready.
• The case manager reviews the file. If it's complete, the case goes on the first available docket and you're notified by mail or email. If something is missing, they tell you what.
• To ask the case manager something, use the Inquiry – Request for Hearing and Other Action form. Everything you write is public record and not confidential.
• Many family hearings are heard by a general magistrate (a court-appointed attorney who recommends the decision to the judge). You'll receive an order of referral and have the right to object; if you don't, the magistrate hears the case.
• For lawyers, motion hearings are coordinated with the division's judicial assistant and the circuit's online JACS calendar.

Interpreter: in family cases you must bring your own qualified interpreter; the court only provides sign language interpreters and, generally, interpreters in protective injunction cases.

Uncontested divorce: the final hearing

If both sides signed the marital settlement agreement (and the parenting plan if there are children), the process is the same: complete the file (answer or waiver, financial affidavits, certificates of mandatory disclosure and of the parenting course, agreement, parenting plan and child support worksheet), file the request for hearing, and the case manager sets the final hearing on the first open docket. It usually takes a few minutes. The simplified dissolution (no minor children, no pregnancy, full agreement) is filed with both spouses present before the Clerk.

Child support

• Cases opened by the Department of Revenue (DOR) are heard by a child support hearing officer, not the family judge. DOR's statewide line: (850) 488-5437.
• In a divorce or paternity case, support is calculated with the Florida guidelines and decided by the judge or magistrate.
• Payments go through the State Disbursement Unit.
• If you got a license suspension notice, the window to object is short.

Use our child support estimator to know what to expect, and read how Florida child support is calculated.

Protective injunctions (domestic violence)

• Where: in 2024 the Seminole Clerk opened a private Domestic Violence Service Center in the courthouse annex on Eslinger Way, Sanford, next to building security and separate from the other offices. Injunction department phone: (407) 665-4771. It has private rooms with computers to file the petition electronically, which goes straight to the judge, and a children's area.
• Cost: none.
• What happens next: the judge can sign a temporary order the same day and sets the hearing within 15 days. You must attend; otherwise the order is dismissed.
• Help: SafeHouse of Seminole has advocates who work with the center and offers shelter and counseling. If you're in immediate danger, call 911.

Practical tips for court day

• Check the notice to see whether your hearing is at the Civil Courthouse (Park Avenue) or the Criminal Justice Center (Eslinger Way); they're different buildings.
• If it's on Zoom, log in 10 minutes early, from a quiet place, camera on.
• Bring copies of any document you want to show the judge or magistrate.
• Keep your address current with the Clerk's change of address form; the court mails dates to the address in the file.

How we can help

We handle family cases in Sanford and all of Seminole, in English and Spanish: family lawyer in Seminole County, divorce, child custody, child support, mediation representation and other family law services. Start with a free 15-minute call; a longer or in-person consultation costs $150.

Luis A. Morales has been a lawyer since 2001, is admitted in Florida and Puerto Rico, and handles each case personally from Orlando, half an hour from Sanford.

Frequently asked questions