Florida Civil Procedure Rule Changes Take Effect January 1, 2027: Discovery, Subpoenas, and Court Forms

If you are involved in a civil lawsuit in Florida, or expect to be, a few of the rules that shape your case are about to change. In three opinions released on October 1 and October 8, 2026, the Supreme Court of Florida amended the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, and every change takes effect January 1, 2027, at 12:01 a.m. You will no longer have to hand over copies of your damages documents with your initial disclosures, but you must make them available for inspection. Unsigned discovery papers must be struck by the court if a signature is not promptly supplied after the problem is pointed out. Proof of service for subpoenas must now follow section 92.525, Florida Statutes, and five common court forms get updated signature blocks and notary certificates.

Who Is Affected

These changes may matter to you if:

• You are a plaintiff or defendant in a Florida civil case governed by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure

• You are representing yourself in a lawsuit, since the signing rule applies to self-represented litigants as well as attorneys

• You serve subpoenas, or you rely on someone else to serve them in your case

• You owe a judgment and have been asked to complete a fact information sheet

• You are a lender or servicer that files foreclosure complaints when the original note cannot be located, or a creditor who files satisfactions of judgment

The new rules apply starting January 1, 2027, and the Court stated that filing a motion for rehearing will not delay that date.

Key Changes

Damages documents in initial disclosures. Unless an exemption applies or the court orders otherwise, each party in a Florida civil case must provide initial discovery disclosures without waiting for a request. Under rule 1.280(a)(1)(C) today, a party must provide a computation of each category of damages along with copies of the documents those numbers are based on. In its October 8 opinion, the Court changed that so a party is "no longer required" to provide the copies with the computation. Instead, you must make those documents or materials available for inspection and copying under rule 1.350. You still do not have to compute noneconomic damages, and privileged or protected material remains excluded.

Signing disclosures and discovery papers. Rule 1.280(k) was reorganized to more closely match Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(g). Every initial disclosure and every discovery request, response, or objection must be signed by at least one attorney of record, or by the self-represented litigant, and must include an address, email address, and telephone number. As the Court explained in its opinion on rule 1.280(k), a new subdivision now reads that "other parties have no duty to act on an unsigned disclosure, request, response, or objection until it is signed, and the court must strike it unless a signature is promptly supplied after the omission is called to the attorney's or party's attention." The amended rule also states that if a certification violates the rule without substantial justification, the court must impose an appropriate sanction, which may include paying the reasonable expenses and attorney's fees the violation caused.

Proof of service for subpoenas. Under amended rule 1.410(d)(3), when a subpoena is not served by an officer authorized by law, the person who served it must prove service by affidavit "consistent with section 92.525, Florida Statutes." That statute allows a document to be verified under oath before an authorized officer or by signing a written declaration that begins "Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing [document] and that the facts stated in it are true."

Updated court forms. In its October 1 opinion, the Court amended five forms so they ask for the same information in the signature block and use notary certificates that match section 117.05(13), Florida Statutes. The new notary certificates ask the notary to mark whether the signer appeared by physical presence or by online notarization. The updated forms are:

• Form 1.914(c), Affidavit of Claimant in Response to Notice to Appear

• Form 1.924, Affidavit of Diligent Search and Inquiry

• Form 1.944(b), Mortgage Foreclosure complaint when the location of the original note is unknown

• Form 1.977, Fact Information Sheet

• Form 1.981, Satisfaction of Judgment

What did not change. The rules committee also proposed amendments to rule 1.442, which governs proposals for settlement. The Court declined to adopt them because the proposed changes "appear to touch on matters of substantive law," so the current settlement proposal rule stays in place.

Practical Implications

If your damages claim depends on records like invoices, repair estimates, medical bills, or lost income statements, the new rule changes how you share them, not whether you need them. You will still owe the other side a computation for each category of economic damages, and your supporting records need to be organized and ready for inspection and copying.

If you are representing yourself, pay close attention to signatures. Every disclosure, discovery request, response, and objection you serve should carry your signature, address, email address, and phone number. Under the new rule, an unsigned paper can be struck if you do not fix it promptly after someone points out the missing signature.

A few other groups should update their paperwork before January 1, 2027:

• Process servers and others who serve subpoenas should make sure their affidavits of service meet section 92.525

• Lenders, servicers, and creditors should switch to the updated versions of Forms 1.944(b) and 1.981

• Anyone completing a Fact Information Sheet after a judgment should use the new form with the updated signature block and notary certificate

If you have questions about how these changes affect a case you are already in, it is worth raising them with your attorney now, before the new rules take effect.