Get Form 12.983(b) 2010-2026

You must file a response called an "Answer" within 20 days after being served with legal papers and a summons. The Answers and supporting documents for the most common Family Division proceedings can be obtained on the Florida Courts website at .flcourts.gov.

Typically, you'll take your answer and counterclaim for child custody to the same court listed on the petition and summons. The court clerk will stamp all your forms with the date, time and possibly a file number. Most likely, you'll have to pay a filing fee. If you cannot afford it, ask for a fee waiver.

If the respondent files a counterpetition, the petitioner should then file an Answer to Counterpetition, Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.903(d), and either admit or deny the allegations in the respondent's counterpetition. Mandatory disclosure.

After the child's birth and any time until the child reaches age 18, the mother and child's father can establish paternity if they fill out and sign the Acknowledgment of Paternity form (Form DH-432) *. Both parents must fill out and sign this form in the presence of two witnesses or a notary public.

To disestablish paternity or terminate a child support obligation, the male must file a petition in the circuit court having jurisdiction over the child support obligation. The petition must be served on the mother or other legal guardian or custodian of the child.

A guardian is someone to whom the law has entrusted the custody and control of another person. The unwed mother has legal custody of the child automatically. Naming the father on a birth certificate does not grant them any rights in the State of Florida.

You have 20 days to file an answer to the other party's petition. A copy of this form, along with all of the other forms required with this answer, must be mailed, e-mailed, or hand delivered to the other party in your case.

The answer is used to admit or deny the allegations contained in the petition, and the counterpetition is used to ask for whatever you want the court to do for you. The other party has 20 days to answer your counterpetition after being served with your counterpetition.