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Answer, Waiver, and Request for Copy of Final Judgment (12.903(a))

Reviewed by the Amicably document team · Updated August 18, 2026

Form 12.903(a), Answer, Waiver, and Request for Copy of Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage, is what a cooperating spouse signs after being served with a Florida divorce petition to admit it, skip the final hearing, and let the case move to judgment without them in the room. It is the single most important form in an uncontested case where one spouse files and the other agrees.

This guide walks through exactly what the form does and does not waive, who signs it and when, what has to be filed alongside it, and the mistakes that get a case sent back to the drawing board.

What the form is, and who signs it

Form 12.903(a) is a Florida Supreme Court approved family law form. Only the respondent, the spouse who did not file the case, signs it, and only after being served with the petition. By signing, the respondent admits every allegation in the petition, agrees to everything requested (property division, alimony, parenting arrangements, child support), and asks the clerk to mail a copy of the final judgment once the case is over.

Route-scoping matters here. This form belongs to a regular uncontested divorce, with or without children, where one spouse is the petitioner and the other cooperates without contesting anything. A simplified dissolution, where both spouses file together as co-petitioners, does not use this form at all, because there is no respondent to serve and no petition to be served with. If your case is a simplified dissolution, this form is not part of your packet.

What signing it actually waives

It is easy to over-read this form, and over-reading it leads to wrong claims about the process. Signed Form 12.903(a) waives three specific things: notice of the final hearing, notice of anything else that happens in the case afterward, and the respondent's own appearance at the final hearing. It does not waive service of the original petition. The form's own instructions are written for someone who has already been served, and the statewide guidance for self-represented litigants still describes personal service by a deputy sheriff or a certified process server as the default requirement for starting a case.

What actually happens in practice softens that requirement. Because signing this form is treated as a general appearance, many circuits accept a mailed petition followed by a filed, notarized 12.903(a) with no sheriff or process server ever involved. That is common practice in a lot of counties, not a guarantee everywhere, so a cooperating spouse should not assume formal service can be skipped without confirming how their circuit actually handles it.

If the other spouse will not sign, none of this applies. Formal service (a summons served by a sheriff or a certified process server) becomes the required next step, and the case is no longer moving through the cooperating-respondent path this form is built for.

Why it has to be signed last

Signing Form 12.903(a) means accepting the petition and any marital settlement agreement exactly as they stand at the moment of signing. That makes the order you assemble a packet in more than a formality: this form has to be the last thing the respondent signs, after every other term is locked in.

1. Step 1The petition is filed and served on the respondent, or the respondent is given a copy directly if service is being handled informally.
2. Step 2Both spouses finalize every term: the marital settlement agreement, a parenting plan if there are children, and any alimony election.
3. Step 3Financial affidavits are exchanged, or the joint waiver of financial affidavits is signed, in that order.
4. Step 4The respondent signs Form 12.903(a) before a notary public or deputy clerk, once nothing above is still in motion.
5. Step 5The signed form is filed with the clerk in the county where the petition was filed, generally within 20 days of being served.

If the petition changes after the respondent signs, for example an amendment to the property division, the earlier signature no longer matches what is actually being asked of the court. The safest practice is to treat any post-signature amendment as a reason to sign a fresh copy.

Section by section

The form itself runs a few pages once the instructions are set aside. Here is what each part is asking for.

1. Caption and case number. The court, county, and case number exactly as they appear on the petition, so the answer is matched to the right file.
2. Admission paragraph. A single statement admitting all allegations in the petition, rather than the paragraph-by-paragraph admit or deny used on the other 12.903 forms.
3. Waiver of notice and appearance. The respondent waives notice of the final hearing, waives notice of anything else filed afterward, and waives appearing at the final hearing.
4. UCCJEA and Social Security Number references. If the case involves minor children, this section points to the UCCJEA affidavit filed with the answer; every case includes a reference to the Notice of Social Security Number.
5. Financial affidavit acknowledgment. A note confirming the financial affidavit has been or will be timely filed, unless both spouses have signed the joint waiver instead.
6. Request for copy of final judgment. The mailing address where the respondent wants the final judgment sent once it is entered.
7. Nonlawyer assistance disclosure. Completed if a nonlawyer document preparer helped fill it out; left blank if the respondent completed it alone.
8. Signature and notarization. Signed and sworn before a notary public or deputy clerk, with a certificate of service showing a copy went to the other spouse.

What gets filed alongside it

Form 12.903(a) rarely travels alone. What else is required depends on whether the case involves children and how the spouses are handling financial disclosure.

Mistakes that get a case sent back

Signing before the paperwork is final. A respondent who signs while the settlement agreement is still being negotiated risks admitting terms that change before filing, which can force a second signed copy.

Treating it as a substitute for service. The form waives notice and appearance, not service of the original petition. Filing it without addressing service first, where formal service is actually required in that circuit, is a common and avoidable error.

Missing accompanying forms. A signed 12.903(a) filed without the UCCJEA affidavit in a case with children, or without the Notice of Social Security Number, is an incomplete filing and typically gets flagged by the clerk.

Skipping notarization. The signature must be sworn before a notary public or a deputy clerk; an unnotarized copy is not accepted. A video notarization session covers this without an in-person visit.

Missing the response window. Filing well past 20 days from service, without coordinating with the petitioner first, can put the case at risk of a default being sought before the answer is on file.

This is exactly where a document preparation service earns its fee: sequencing the settlement agreement, the financial disclosure, and this form in the right order, so the respondent signs once and the filing is complete the first time.

Frequently asked questions