October 3, 2026

Florida Legal Glossary for Family Law and Landlord-Tenant Cases

Plain-English meanings of about forty words people meet in Florida family law and landlord-tenant matters, from petitioner and summons to security deposit and court registry, with the official source for each legal rule.

Written by Jurisio with AI assistance. Each legal statement is cited to the official source listed below; Jurisio checked the quoted passages against those sources on October 3, 2026. Jurisio is not a law firm and this page has not been reviewed by a lawyer.

Court papers use words that most people never hear anywhere else. This glossary explains about forty of them in plain English, in two groups: family law and court words first, then landlord-tenant words.

Most family law meanings come from the glossary in the Florida courts' General Information for Self-Represented Litigants [1]. Landlord-tenant meanings come from the definitions in Florida's landlord-tenant law, section 83.43 of the 2026 Florida Statutes [7]. Where a meaning states a legal rule, the official source is cited.

Family law and court words

Affidavit

"A written statement in which the facts stated are sworn or affirmed to be true" [1]. Some forms must be signed under oath in front of a notary public or a deputy clerk [1].

Answer

The respondent's written reply to a petition, saying which statements in it are admitted (agreed with) and which are denied [1]. Any statement that is not specifically denied is treated as admitted [1]. When personal service is used, the petition instructions give the respondent 20 days to answer after being served [14].

Appeal

Asking a district court of appeal to review the decision in a case [1]. There are strict procedural and time requirements for filing an appeal [1].

Assets and liabilities

Assets are everything owned by either spouse, such as property, cars, bank accounts, or retirement plans [1]. Liabilities are everything owed, such as mortgages, credit cards, or car loans [1].

Certificate of service

A statement on a court paper showing who was sent a copy and how. A separate certificate must be filed when a form does not have one built in [1].

Clerk of court

The elected official whose office receives papers for filing, assigns case numbers, and keeps the case files [1]. The clerk's office is usually in the county courthouse [1].

Constructive service

Notifying the other party by newspaper publication or by posting notice at set places, used when that person cannot be found for personal service [1]. When it is used, the relief the court can grant is limited and "cannot include either alimony or child support" [1].

Contested and uncontested

Contested issues are those the parties cannot agree on, which a judge decides at a hearing or trial [1]. Uncontested issues are those the parties agree on and put into a marital settlement agreement [1].

Counterpetition

A written request for legal action that the respondent files after being served with a petition [1].

Default

A party's failure to respond to the other party's court paper [1]. A default may allow the court to decide the case without input from the party who did not respond [1].

Dependent child

In the Florida courts' family law glossary, this includes a child under 18, and a child between the ages of 18 and 19 who is in high school, performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduating before 19 [1]. Florida law separately defines a "dependent adult child" as an unmarried adult who cannot support himself or herself because of a physical or mental incapacity that began before age 18 [16].

Dissolution of marriage

The legal name for divorce in Florida: "a court action to end a marriage" [1]. Florida law allows a judgment of dissolution when the marriage is irretrievably broken or, in limited cases, for the mental incapacity of one spouse [3]. The judgment leaves each spouse "single and unmarried" [3].

Ex parte

Talking to the judge with only one side present. The courts' general information says judges are not allowed to do this "except in very limited circumstances" [1]. As a general rule, for a judge to speak with either party, the other party must have been properly notified and have a chance to be heard [1].

Filing and filing fee

Filing means delivering a petition, response, motion, or other paper to the clerk's office [1]. A filing fee is set by law; a person who cannot afford it must file an Application for Determination of Civil Indigent Status to ask to file without paying [1].

Final hearing

The courts' glossary defines it simply as the "trial in your case" [1].

Final judgment

The written document, signed by a judge and recorded in the clerk's office, that contains the judge's decision in the case [1].

Financial affidavit

A sworn statement of a person's income, expenses, assets, and liabilities [1]. The Florida courts' instructions point to the short form, Form 12.902(b), when individual gross annual income is under $50,000, and the long form, Form 12.902(c), otherwise [6].

Family law intake staff

Court employees who help people fill out the forms for a family law case [1]. They are not attorneys and may not advise anyone about the law [1].

Irretrievably broken

A marriage that cannot be saved. It is one of the two grounds Florida law lists for a judgment of dissolution [3].

Mandatory disclosure

The required exchange of financial information and documents between the parties in family cases covered by the mandatory disclosure rule, Rule 12.285 [6]. The Form 12.932 instructions give a general deadline of 45 days after the petition is served on the respondent [6]. They also list exceptions, including simplified dissolutions and cases where the respondent is served by constructive service and does not answer [6]. Parts of the rule may be changed by court order or by agreement of the parties, and temporary financial relief hearings have separate requirements [6].

Marital settlement agreement

A written agreement in which spouses settle some or all of the issues in their divorce [15]. For example, the official Form 12.902(f)(1) is used after a petition for a case with dependent or minor children has been filed and the parties have agreed on some or all of the issues [15]. Its instructions say both parties must sign it in front of a notary public or deputy clerk [15].

Mediator

A trained, neutral person who helps the parties reach an agreement. Mediators do not take sides and may not advise either party about the law [1].

Motion

A request made to the court, other than a petition [1].

Nonlawyer

A person who is not a member in good standing of The Florida Bar [1].

Order

A written decision signed by a judge on part of a case, usually on a motion [1].

Parenting plan

A document that governs how parents make decisions about their minor child, and that must contain a time-sharing schedule [2]. It may cover the child's education, health care, and physical, social, and emotional well-being [2].

Personal service

Delivery of a summons and copies of the court papers to the other party by a deputy sheriff or a private process server [5]. The summons instructions say the person filing cannot do this personally, or by mail or hand delivery [5].

Petition

"A written request to the court for legal action, which begins a court case" [1].

Petitioner

The person who files the petition that starts a court case. The petitioner keeps that label for the whole case [1].

Pro se

Latin for "for oneself." A pro se or self-represented litigant is "a person who appears in court without the assistance of a lawyer" [1].

Residency requirement

The rule on how long a person has to live in Florida before filing for divorce here. Florida law says one of the spouses must reside in Florida for 6 months before the petition is filed [4].

Respondent

The person who is served with a petition asking for legal action against him or her [1]. The respondent keeps that label for the whole case [1].

Service of process

The official way court papers are handed to the other party. The Florida courts' instructions put it this way: "Service means giving a copy of the required papers to the other party using the procedure that the law requires." [5]

Shared parental responsibility

A court-ordered relationship in which both parents keep full parental rights and responsibilities and make major decisions about the child together [2].

Sole parental responsibility

A court-ordered relationship in which one parent makes decisions about the minor child [2].

Summons

The court paper used to start personal service on the other party when a case begins [5]. The clerk signs it, and it is delivered with the petition [5].

Time-sharing schedule

The part of a parenting plan that sets out the time, including overnights and holidays, that a minor child spends with each parent [2].

Landlord-tenant words

Advance rent

Money paid to a landlord for future rent periods. It does not include rent paid early for the current period [7].

Court registry

An account kept by the clerk of court that holds money paid in during a case. In a residential eviction case, section 83.60(2) can require a tenant who raises a defense other than payment to pay rent into the registry, with a short deadline that is explained in the summons and has serious consequences if missed [13]. Read section 83.60(2) and the summons itself, and contact legal aid or a lawyer quickly if you are in this situation.

Dwelling unit

In Florida's landlord-tenant law, a structure or part of a structure rented as a home, residence, or sleeping place [7]. The definition also covers a rented mobile home, and a structure or part of one furnished, with or without rent, as part of someone's employment for use as a home or sleeping place [7].

Eviction (action for possession)

The court case a landlord files to get a rental unit back. The landlord files a complaint in the county court of the county where the rental is located [12]. Florida law says a landlord may not take back possession except through such a court action, a tenant's surrender of the unit, abandonment, or one other narrow situation the statute describes [12].

Landlord

"The owner or lessor of a dwelling unit" [7].

Notice to vacate

An informal name people use for several different written notices about a tenancy. It is not a court order. For example, when rent is unpaid, section 83.56(3) describes a landlord's written demand for payment of the rent or possession of the premises within 3 days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays; if the nonpayment continues after that period, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement [10]. Under section 83.57, either the landlord or the tenant may end a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given at least 30 days before the end of a monthly period [11].

Rent

The periodic payments a tenant owes the landlord for occupancy under a rental agreement, plus any other payments that a written rental agreement designates as rent [7].

Rental agreement (lease)

Any written agreement, or oral agreement for less than 1 year, for the use and occupancy of a rental [7].

Security deposit

Money the landlord holds to secure the tenant's performance of the rental agreement [7]. When the tenant vacates the premises at the termination of the rental agreement, section 83.49 says a landlord who does not intend to make a claim must return the deposit, with any interest that is required, within 15 days after termination [9]. A landlord who intends to make a claim must send written notice of the claim, in the way the statute requires, within 30 days after termination [9]. Section 83.49(5) adds a notice duty for some tenants: unless a written rental agreement provides otherwise, a tenant who vacates or abandons before the end of the term in the rental agreement, or who leaves a week-to-week, month-to-month, quarter-to-quarter, or year-to-year tenancy, must give at least 7 days' written notice by certified mail or personal delivery, including an address where the tenant can be reached [9]. Failure to give that required notice relieves the landlord of the 30-day claim-notice requirement but does not waive the tenant's rights to the deposit [9].

Tenancy (month-to-month)

The arrangement under which a tenant lives in a rental. When a rental agreement does not say how long it lasts, Florida law sets the length by how often rent is paid: rent paid monthly makes a month-to-month tenancy [8].

Tenant

"Any person entitled to occupy a dwelling unit under a rental agreement" [7].

Questions

What is the difference between the petitioner and the respondent?

The petitioner is the person who files the petition that starts the case, and the respondent is the person served with it [1]. Each keeps that label for the whole case, even if the respondent later files a counterpetition [1].

What does pro se mean in Florida court?

It means a person is handling a court case without a lawyer. The Florida courts' glossary defines a pro se or self-represented litigant as "a person who appears in court without the assistance of a lawyer" [1].