Family Law

You may pay online by credit card or electronic check; from your bank checking or savings account; by cash through Amscot, MoneyGram, and Western Union; and by mail. For more information, click here.

DOR is the primary public agency to provide public child support enforcement activities. This is a link to the Child Support Enforcement Program section of DOR’s website

The Florida Supreme Court provides forms for child support enforcement for pro se litigants here.

You can use DOR’s child support services online or DOR’s SDU Voice Response System at +1 (877) 769-0251. You will need your Social Security number and case number to obtain payment information. For more information, click here.

Yes, the SDU permits both for IV-D cases. For more information and the DOR options form, click here. For non-IV-D cases, you can still get direct deposit by completing this form and returning it to our office.

In 1999, federal law required the State of Florida to collect child support through a state disbursement unit (SDU). Pursuant to Section 61.1824, Florida Statutes; the Federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1999 (commonly known as the Welfare Reform Act); and Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act, the Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) created the SDU to provide one central address for the collection and disbursement of child support payments in cases enforced by DOR (also known as IV-D cases).

• You must have a Leon County child support order and provide the following information to our office:
  • Case Number
  • Payer’s date of birth
  • Payer’s social security number
  • Payer’s last known address
• You must not currently be under contract with the Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Program.
• Your child support payments must be paid through the State Disbursement Unit.
• If your child support payments are made monthly, semi-monthly, or biweekly, payment must be 30 days’ delinquent. If your payments are made weekly, payment must be 15 days’ delinquent.
• The payer must have a Florida driver license.

• You may fill out a request form in the Family Law Division of the Clerk’s Office, located in Suite 100 of the Leon County Courthouse, 301 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301; or
• You may send us a letter requesting to participate in the program. Please include your case number.

• Upon a delinquency of child support payments, a Notice of Intent to Suspend Driver License is mailed to the payer. Upon receiving the Notice, the payer has three options to avoid driver license suspension:
  • Pay the delinquency.
  • Enter into a written agreement for repayment of the delinquency with the payee.
  • File a Notice to Contest Driver License Suspension if there is a disagreement regarding the amount or if there is a claim of mistaken identity.
• If the payer fails to select one of these options within 20 days from the date of the Notice, the Family Law Division will mail a request to suspend to DHSMV. Once suspended, the driver license cannot be reinstated until either the delinquency is paid in full or until the payer and payee enter into a written agreement for repayment of the delinquency.

• Case Number
• Payer’s date of birth
• Payer’s social security number
• Payer’s last known address

Pursuant to FS 61.13016, when a payer is 15 days’ delinquent in making a payment in support in non-IV-D cases, and upon the request of the person expecting payment, the Clerk must provide notice to the payer of the delinquency and the intent to suspend by regular United States mail that is posted to the payer’s last address of record with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Counseling

• Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence Hotline (800) 500-1119 or TDD (800) 621-4202.
• Refuge House – 24-hour hotline 681-2111

Local Shelters

• Tallahassee Leon Shelter/Kearney Center, (850) 792-9000
• Salvation Army, (850) 222-0304

Food and Clothes

• ECHO (Emergency Care & Help Organization), (850) 224-3267
• Salvation Army, (850) 222-0304
• Department of Children and Family Services, (866) 762-2237

Rent & Utility Assistance

• Catholic Social Services. (850) 222-2180
• Capital Area Community Action Agency, (850) 222-2043, ext. 309
• Telephone Counseling & Referral Service 211

Victim Services

• State Attorney’s Office Victim/Witness Services (850) 606-6113
• Tallahassee Police Dept, Victim Advocacy. (850) 891-4200
• Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Victim Advocate Unit. (850) 606-3300
• Tallahassee Urban League (850) 222-6111
• Office of the Attorney General, Crime Victim Services
• Florida Department of Corrections, Victim Assistance (800) 226-6667 (English/Espanola)
• TDD Users, the Florida Relay Service 771 (English/Espanola)

• A hearing must be scheduled and the respondent must be personally served with a copy of the Petition, Notice of Hearing, and the Temporary Injunction. The hearing will be scheduled for the next available court session.
• You will be provided with copies of these documents; you must attend the hearing or the injunction will be dismissed.
• Any injunction granted by the Court will remain in effect until modified or dissolved by the judge. Copies of all injunctions are placed on file with local law enforcement agencies.

An injunction is a court order, also referred to as a restraining order, that directs a person not to have any contact with you.

These statutes provide the requirements for each type of injunction. And this video explains the process in detail.

The Refuge House has a volunteer office in the Leon County Courthouse and can be reached at 850-606-4157. Volunteers with this organization will provide counseling and assist in completing injunction forms and obtaining emergency shelter at the Refuge House.

Once the forms are completed, the Petition for Injunction should be filed with our office in the Leon County Courthouse, Suite 100, during normal business hours. Click here for our current hours of operation. Our staff will

create the case and take the file to the judge for review; there is currently no filing fee for filing for an injunction. If the judge finds merit to the petition, a Temporary Injunction and Notice of Hearing will be entered.
During weekends and holidays, assistance may be sought at the Leon County Jail, located on Appleyard Drive, at 8:00 a.m., where a deputy clerk will be present and judge will be present.