Florida Court Records Apostille

Every Florida county has a Clerk of the Circuit Court who keeps the records of both the circuit court and the county court. When a judge signs an order or judgment, the clerk files it and can issue certified copies. Records our customers send abroad most often:

• Final judgments in civil cases — money judgments, foreclosures, contract disputes — when they must be recognized or enforced in another country.
• Probate records — letters of administration naming the personal representative of an estate, orders admitting a will, and orders of summary administration.
• Guardianship records — letters of guardianship and orders appointing a guardian of a minor or an incapacitated adult.
• Family orders — custody, parenting plans, paternity and support orders.

Three court records have their own pages: divorce decrees, name change orders and adoption documents.

A foreign bank, land registry or court has no way to know whether a Florida clerk's seal is genuine. The apostille is the Florida Secretary of State's confirmation of the clerk's signature and authority. For clerk-certified documents, the state issues the apostille together with a certificate of incumbency for the clerk — which is why the state fee is $20 instead of $10.

Typical situations: a personal representative closing a decedent's bank account in Spain or transferring an apartment in Colombia; a guardian managing an incapacitated parent's pension abroad; a creditor seeking recognition of a Florida judgment; a parent showing a foreign school or passport office who has custody.

Order a certified copy from the clerk of the county where the case was filed. Find your county's clerk through the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers directory; most clerks take requests online, by mail or at the counter. Under Florida law, the clerk's certification fee for a court record is $2, plus copy charges (typically $1 per page).

Two forms of certification are accepted for our filings:

• Original wet-ink certification — the clerk's or deputy clerk's signature and the clerk's seal on the copy itself.
• The clerk's official online or electronic certification — a certified copy issued through the clerk's own e-certification system, verifiable with the clerk.

What doesn't work: a plain printout from the online docket, a copy from your attorney's file, a "conformed" copy without the clerk's certificate, or a photocopy signed by a notary. Florida notaries are not allowed to attest copies of documents filed in a court proceeding or recorded by the clerk — so a notary can't rescue an uncertified copy.

Ask the clerk for a copy of the whole document and check it when it arrives:

$220 per document, $380 for two, or $160 each for three or more — the $10 or $20 state fee, the request form and FedEx shipping both ways inside the U.S. are included. For clerk-certified documents, the $20 state fee is already in that price. Need the finished document sent abroad? International return shipping is a flat $100 per order, to any country.

Online notarization isn't an option here: court records are public records and must come from the clerk, certified.

• Not certified by the clerk — docket printouts, attorney copies and notarized photocopies.
• Incomplete copy — page one only, or missing the judge's signature page.
• Altered after certification — pages removed or added, staples pulled.
• Another state's or another country's court — only Florida court records receive a Florida apostille.
• Stale probate letters — the apostille is issued, but the foreign bank wants letters certified recently.

See also our court records guide.

• Estates with assets abroad — Spain, Italy, Colombia and Mexico are frequent for property and bank accounts left by Florida residents. Local lawyers usually need apostilled letters of administration and the death certificate.
• Guardianship — managing pensions, accounts or property abroad for a ward.
• Custody and family orders — Dominican Republic and other countries where a parent must show authority for a child's travel, passport or schooling.
• Judgment recognition — a foreign court decides whether to recognize a Florida judgment; the apostille only makes the copy admissible as authentic.

Translation is almost always required for non-English-speaking countries. Ask whether it must be made locally.

For Hague Convention countries (HCCH status table; our list), the apostille completes the process. For non-Hague countries, the Florida Department of State issues a certificate of authentication instead, at the same price and turnaround, and the country then requires a U.S. Department of State authentication and legalization by its embassy or consulate. We don't handle or arrange those steps and don't refer them out. See non-Hague authentication. Questions about Florida courts themselves are best answered by the clerk or at flcourts.gov.