Preservation is not production.

The most common records mistake in family cases is overclaiming: treating a letter like a subpoena, a request like a demand, a preservation notice like production. This desk keeps the lanes honest — what letters can and cannot do, the routes that actually produce records, and the volatile sources that will not wait. Nothing on this platform sends anything for you: every letter is a draft YOU print and serve. Legal information, not legal advice.

Wired to the law it implements

Retrieved live from the source-locked corpus — never generated.

Fla. Stat. § 90.104 Fla. Stat. § 90.402 Fla. Stat. § 90.403 Fla. Stat. § 90.503 Fla. Stat. § 90.504 Fla. Stat. § 90.5036 Fla. Stat. § 90.802 Fla. Stat. § 90.803 Fla. Stat. § 90.901 Fla. Stat. § 90.902 Fla. Stat. § 90.952 Fla. Stat. § 90.953 Fla. Stat. § 90.954 Fla. Stat. § 92.525 Fla. Stat. § 934.03

A preservation letter does NOT…

produce a single document — it asks that things be KEPT, not handed over
create a subpoena, a court order, or any compulsion
bind every third party everywhere — a stranger to the case decides under its own policies and law
guarantee sanctions if something is later missing — spoliation analysis has its own questions
substitute for the disclosure exchange or the court's discovery tools
need to be dramatic — overclaiming in a letter is how letters get ignored

What it DOES do: put a custodian on notice that specific material matters, politely and accurately. The Preserve Evidence tool builds the custodian inventory and letters that say exactly what they are — a voluntary request that never pretends to compel.

The routes that actually produce records

“must be served on the other party for inspection and copying within 45 days of service of the initial pleading on the respondent.”

Fla. Fam. L. R. P. 12.285 — read the full section →

The Rule 12.285 exchange →
Most of the other side's financial documents are already owed BOTH ways in money-related family cases — the exchange is the production engine.
Your own custodians' release processes →
Schools, providers, banks, and employers produce YOUR records (and your child's) through their ordinary processes — the records-request letter below is that ask.
Public-records requests →
Police reports, 911 audio, and agency records come through each agency's public-records process.
The court's discovery tools →
Subpoenas and formal discovery run through the case — the lane where counsel earns the fee, and where this platform routes rather than drafts.

Preserve your own evidence — the other half of the honesty

Deleting threads, wiping devices, or closing accounts mid-case can cost you far more than the content ever would — courts weigh what the loss cost the other side and what the timeline shows. Two honest distinctions carry this territory: keeping what exists is not the same as creating records that never existed (nobody is faulted for notes never taken), and exactly when a preservation duty arises in a Florida civil case is contested legal territory — this platform states the risk, never a certainty, and routes the question to counsel. The practical rule needs no statute: assume everything in your case folder matters, and delete nothing.

The sources that will not wait

No retention numbers are stated here on purpose: retention windows belong to each source, and the source's OWN settings, policies, and help pages state them. The card tells you where to look and what to do today.

Home and doorbell cameras
Consumer systems commonly overwrite on short cycles. The number that matters is YOUR device's — its own settings and help pages state the actual window.
Today: Export important clips now; keep native timestamps.
Carrier voicemail
Carrier systems purge messages on their own schedules — the carrier's own help pages state the window for your plan.
Today: Save the audio files off the carrier system.
Disappearing-message apps
Some apps delete by design, on timers the app's own settings show.
Today: If a thread matters, preserve it before the timer does its job — and never alter the original.
Social accounts and posts
Platforms edit, delete, and deactivate; account closure can take content with it. The platform's own policies state what survives and for how long.
Today: Capture with handle, timestamp, and URL; note the capture date.
Payment-app histories
Access depends on the account staying open; statements and exports are the durable form.
Today: Download full exports; do not close accounts mid-case.
Workplace and school portals
Portal access commonly ends with enrollment or employment; the records behind them persist with the institution.
Today: Save what you can reach today; request the rest through the release process.

Getting copies of your own records

School records
Your child's
The school's own release process; federal education-privacy law shapes parent access — the school's registrar states the required forms.
The Navigator page for this item type →
Medical & therapy records
Yours, or your child's
The provider's release process. Counseling and therapy records carry privilege questions — a child's therapy records deserve counsel's eyes BEFORE you request or use them.
The Navigator page for this item type →
Financial records
Your own accounts
Your institutions produce your own statements on request; the other side's come through the disclosure exchange, not letters.
The Navigator page for this item type →
Employment & wage records
Your own
HR or payroll produces your own file and wage history through their process.
The Navigator page for this item type →

The Records Request Letter

The Drafting Studio assembles a plain request for copies of your own records — or your child's — through the custodian's ordinary release process. It compels nothing and says so on its face; it never requests the other party's records; and like every operative document here it rides the recorded self-representation election, carries DRAFT bands until finalized, and is printed and sent BY YOU. Dependency (DCF) records are a different world with their own confidentiality rules — that request belongs with counsel or the agency's own guidance, and this letter does not attempt it.

Open the Drafting Studio → choose "Records Request Letter"

Safety before records: letters reveal return addresses, and record requests can telegraph what you are preparing. If domestic violence touches your case, start at the safety page and talk with an advocate before sending anything — a different mailing address for responses is one common answer, and evidence planning in injunction cases belongs with an advocate and counsel.

Nothing on this platform auto-sends: there is no mailer, and every letter is a draft you print and serve yourself. Statutory excerpts are verbatim from the hash-verified corpus. Legal information, not legal advice.