To fill out the Statement of Household Expenses and Contributions, pull together three to six months of bills, list everyone who lives with you, then work down the form entering two numbers for each expense: what the whole household pays, and what you personally pay. Sign it in front of a notary, file it with the clerk, and serve a copy on the other party. The two-column structure is the whole point of the form, and the rest of the work is making sure your numbers can be traced back to the records you already have.
Why the Form Exists
Florida family courts already require a Financial Affidavit in cases involving child support, alimony, or property division. The household expense statement is a supplement you file when you share a home with adults other than your spouse. It explains why your personal share of the rent, utilities, or groceries looks different from what a single-earner household would spend.
Without it, a judge may assume you carry the full cost of your housing, or may suspect you are hiding support coming in from someone else in the home. Either assumption can throw off a support calculation. Under Florida’s child support guidelines, a judge can also adjust the guideline amount based on reasonable existing expenses and the income of other people in the household, and this form is the evidence that supports such an adjustment.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines
Pull Your Records First
Before you write anything on the form, collect at least three to six months of bills, bank statements, and receipts. Averaging several months smooths out seasonal spikes, like a summer electric bill or a holiday grocery run, so the figures reflect a normal month.
You will want:
- Mortgage statements, the lease, or rent receipts.
- Utility invoices: electric, water, gas, internet, trash.
- Grocery and household-supply receipts.
- Bank and credit card statements showing recurring household charges.
Most of this paperwork overlaps with what Florida’s mandatory disclosure rules already require you to produce, so keep one organized set of originals.2Florida Courts, 11th Judicial Circuit. Required Documents for Mandatory Disclosure Opposing counsel can ask you to verify any figure you report.
To average a category, add the totals and divide by the number of months. Three water bills of $45, $60, and $51 average $52, and $52 is what you enter. Careless arithmetic is a common problem with self-prepared forms, so check every calculation twice before transcribing.
Case Caption and Household Roster
The top of the form matches the header on every other document in your case. Enter the petitioner and respondent names exactly as they appear on the original petition, along with the case number and the circuit and county. A wrong case number can land the filing in the wrong file or get it kicked back by the clerk.
Next, list every person living in the home. Give each person’s full legal name, their relationship to you, and whether they contribute financially. Labels like “roommate,” “mother,” or “minor child” tell the judge whether that person is sharing costs or is a dependent you support. The roster is what makes the expense columns below it make sense. If a roommate appears on the roster but contributes nothing in the expense section, expect the judge to ask why.
The Two Columns: Total Cost and Your Share
The expense section has two columns, and the difference between them is the entire reason the form exists. In the first column, enter the full household cost for each category no matter who pays. Rent of $1,800 goes in as $1,800. In the second column, enter only what you personally pay. If you and a roommate split that rent down the middle, your personal column shows $900.3Florida Judicial Circuit 13. Statement of Household Expenses and Contributions
Work through the rows one at a time. When somebody else covers a bill in full, enter the whole amount in the total column and zero in your personal column. That matters. Showing that a parent pays your electric bill may affect how the court views your financial need, but concealing it is worse than disclosing it. The judge needs the complete picture, even the parts that don’t help you.
Total each column at the bottom. The sum of your individual entries has to match the grand total in the personal-contribution column. This is where arithmetic errors show up, and it is the first thing a judge or opposing attorney will check. Numbers that don’t add up cost the form its credibility.
Expenses That Aren’t Billed Monthly
Plenty of real costs don’t arrive once a month. Auto insurance may bill every six months. Property taxes may come once a year. HOA dues may be quarterly. For anything that isn’t monthly, divide the annual total by twelve. Property taxes of $1,200 a year become $100 a month on the form. A $600 semi-annual insurance premium is also $100 a month.
The court expects this averaging, because the form is meant to show a representative month rather than a literal transcript of last month’s spending. Leaving an irregular cost off because it didn’t come due is a gap the other side will point out.
What Filers Routinely Forget
Rent, electricity, and groceries are easy to remember. Lawn care, pest control, household repairs, and shared streaming or phone plans are easy to miss. If an expense keeps the household running and you contribute to it, put it on the form. An incomplete list understates what your life actually costs and makes it look like you have more money left over than you do.
Sign It in Front of a Notary
This is a sworn document, and your signature carries the weight of testimony.4Florida Courts. Statement of Household Expenses and Contributions A notary public or a deputy clerk of the circuit court must witness you signing it. Banks and shipping stores commonly offer notary services, and Florida law caps the fee at $10 per notarial act.5The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 117.05 – Use of Notary Commission
Do not sign the form at home. The notary has to watch you sign and verify your identity with a government-issued photo ID. A form signed in advance and brought in for a stamp is improperly executed and can be rejected by the clerk.
Filing and Serving the Form
File the notarized statement with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where your case is pending. Florida uses the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, and attorneys are required to file electronically.6Florida Courts E-Filing Authority. Portal E-Filer User Manual If you are representing yourself, you can file through the same portal or bring paper copies to the courthouse. A separate filing fee is generally not required for this supplement when the underlying case is already open.
Then serve a copy on the other party. Florida’s family law rules allow service by email, mail, or hand delivery, but once you elect email service, you have to keep using it for the rest of the case.7Florida Judicial Circuit 13. Florida Family Law Form 12.914 – Certificate of Service Fill out a Certificate of Service (Form 12.914) recording the date and method of delivery, and file it with or soon after the statement. Skip this step and the court may refuse to consider the statement at your hearing because the other side didn’t have a fair chance to review it.
If the Numbers Are Wrong
The form carries a perjury warning on its face.4Florida Courts. Statement of Household Expenses and Contributions Criminal prosecution over a family law financial form is uncommon, but the day-to-day consequences land faster. If the judge finds you understated your contributions to look poorer or inflated them to look needier, the court can draw adverse inferences, meaning it assumes the worst-case version of whatever you tried to hide. The judge can also award attorney’s fees to the other side for the time spent uncovering the discrepancy, and in extreme cases hold you in contempt. The quickest way to lose credibility is to submit numbers that don’t match the bank statements you already disclosed.
Update It When Life Changes
Your duty to give the court accurate financial information runs until the judge signs the final order. If your household changes after you file, update the form. A roommate moving out, a parent who stops kicking in for utilities, or a rent increase all change the picture the court is working from.
File an amended statement when a material change happens. There is no fixed definition of material, but a workable test is whether the change would move the court’s calculation by more than a trivial amount. A $5 bump in your water bill probably doesn’t. A roommate leaving who was paying half the mortgage does. Attach the same kind of supporting documentation you used the first time, and serve the amendment on the other party the same way you served the original. A statement that was true in January but no longer true in June doesn’t protect you just because it was accurate when you signed it.