PLA2800 – Family Law is a 3-credit, 45-contact-hour course covering the law of domestic relations as it is actually practiced in Florida, and the paralegal's substantial role in it. It is among the most practically useful courses in the paralegal curriculum, because family law is one of the highest-volume practice areas in the state and one where paralegals carry significant document-preparation responsibility.
The course is built around Chapter 61, Florida Statutes and the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure. Students work through the formation and dissolution of marriage, the mandatory financial affidavit and disclosure obligations, equitable distribution of marital assets and liabilities, alimony, child support under Florida's statutory guidelines, parenting plans and time-sharing, paternity, adoption, name changes, domestic violence injunctions, and modification and enforcement of existing orders.
Florida-specific procedure carries real weight here. The state uses Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms for most filings, and preparing them accurately is a core paralegal function. Florida is a no-fault dissolution state requiring only that the marriage be irretrievably broken. Terminology matters too: Florida abolished "custody" and "visitation" in favor of parental responsibility, parenting plans, and time-sharing, and using the older vocabulary in a filing marks the drafter as unfamiliar with current practice.
The course also confronts the ethical edge of family practice directly. Family law clients arrive in crisis, and they ask paralegals for advice constantly. The boundary against the unauthorized practice of law is under more pressure in this practice area than almost any other, and the course is explicit that a paralegal may prepare documents and relay information but may not advise a client on what to do.
Offered at approximately 21 Florida institutions, including College of Central Florida, Daytona State, Eastern Florida State, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Florida SouthWestern, Hillsborough, Indian River State, Miami Dade, Palm Beach State, Pensacola State, Pasco-Hernando, Santa Fe, St. Johns River, St. Petersburg, State College of Florida, Seminole State, Tallahassee State, and Valencia.
Family law practice exists in every Florida county, which makes it one of the more geographically portable paralegal specialties — unlike, say, corporate work concentrated in Miami and Tampa.
Florida institutions do not use a single number for this content. PLA2800 (Family Law) is the most common, used at Seminole State, Florida SouthWestern, Florida State College at Jacksonville, and Santa Fe among others — Santa Fe titles it Introduction to Family Law. Broward College instead offers PLA1800C, Domestic Relations, covering substantially the same subject at the 1000 level with an integrated lab component. The content overlaps heavily but the numbers and levels do not match, and SCNS equivalency does not cross course numbers. Anyone evaluating a transcript or planning a transfer should compare course numbers and descriptions rather than relying on the subject matter being the same.
Prerequisites vary. Florida State College at Jacksonville requires PLA1003; Florida SouthWestern requires ENC1101 with a grade of C. Many programs require both PLA1003 and the legal research course (PLA1104C or equivalent) before substantive practice courses. Verify locally.
Florida abolished the terms "custody" and "visitation" in 2008 in favor of parental responsibility, parenting plan, and time-sharing. National textbooks frequently still use the older vocabulary. Students should learn the Florida terms as the operative ones — filings using outdated language are a recognizable marker of inexperience, and some judges will require correction.
Family law clients are usually in distress and want guidance immediately. They will ask a paralegal whether to accept a settlement, whether to agree to a parenting plan, and what they should do. A paralegal may provide information and prepare documents but may not advise on a course of action — and the pressure to cross that line is greater in this practice area than in most. Instructors typically drill the distinction with scenarios, and students should expect to be assessed on it.
This course covers domestic violence, child abuse, and the dissolution of families, and some students will have direct personal experience of these. Programs generally approach the material professionally and resource-oriented rather than clinically. Students who find the content difficult should know that campus counseling services are available, and that the Florida Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-500-1119) and the national hotline (1-800-799-7233) operate around the clock. Understanding the injunction process is, for many graduates, among the most directly useful things they take from the program.
Generated August 31, 2026 · Updated August 31, 2026