Resources · Real Documents Library
The documents nobody shows you
Real motions, real attorney invoices and real discovery responses from my own family court case, with the names taken out and everything else left in.
Get the documentsWhy I'm sharing these
When I was representing myself, the thing I wanted more than almost anything was to see what a real motion looked like, one written by an actual person in an actual family case, so I'd have something to shape my own around. I searched for weeks and kept coming up empty, and it took me a long time to understand why. Appellate decisions get published, but the motions, responses and billing records that fill a trial court file almost never do, and in Florida, family case documents are harder for the public to reach online than most other court records. So unless a case goes all the way up on appeal, the paperwork that decides most families' lives just stays in the clerk's system where hardly anyone can see it.
I kept thinking that if I'd been able to look at even a few real examples, I would have spent less money, lost less sleep and made fewer mistakes, and I suspect a lot of parents feel the same way. So I went back through my own case file and redacted the documents I thought would be most useful, and I'm putting them here for anyone who's trying to figure out what these things are supposed to look like.
My hope is that seeing them takes a little of the mystery out of the process, whether you're working with a lawyer and want to understand what you're paying for, or you're on your own and staring at a blank page at eleven at night.
Carrie Bailey, founder of Signals & Structure
A few things I want to be upfront about
I'm not a lawyer, and nothing on this page is legal advice. These are examples from one case, filed under one set of rules at one moment in time, and I can't tell you whether any of it fits your situation or how a court would see it, which I know is frustrating, because I remember how badly I wanted someone to just tell me.
I'd also gently point out that these aren't templates. Some of what I filed worked and some of it didn't, and they were written for the specific facts, rules and deadlines in my case, so they're best used to understand how these documents are built rather than copied. Court rules and local procedures change, and every county and judge can have their own requirements, so if you're drafting something of your own, it's worth checking the current rules and talking with a family law attorney or your local self-help center if you can.
And these come from my case, not yours, which means they tell one side's story. I've tried to share them in a way that's about learning how the process works, not about the other parent in my case, and I'd ask that they be used in that same spirit.
How the redactions work
Every name, address, phone number, email, case number and court location has been replaced with a label in a black box, like these:
I kept the dates, the dollar amounts, the hourly rates and the billing descriptions, because those are the parts that actually teach you something. On the attorney invoices, some black boxes have no label at all, and those were already redacted by the law firm before the invoices were produced to me, so I don't know what's under them either. The people who billed time show up as TK1 through TK9, and the key further down matches each one to their hourly rate, so you can see how a firm spreads work between attorneys, paralegals and assistants.
The library
Each document has a short note about what it is and what's worth noticing. You can read all of that right here, and the PDFs themselves come to your inbox when you request the library below.
Motions I wrote myself
Motion to Vacate or Rehear
- What it is
- After a general magistrate's recommended order found me in contempt on two issues, I filed this motion asking the court to vacate those findings or rehear them. It's the first big motion I wrote entirely on my own.
- Why I'm sharing it
- It shows how a self-represented parent can walk a court through the record, with transcript citations by page and line, the exact parenting plan language at issue, and case law, and it's the kind of document I couldn't find a single real example of when I needed one.
- What to look for
- Notice how each argument starts from what the order said, then points to the transcript or exhibit that shows something different, and how the parenting plan's own definition of a child-related expense does a lot of the work. You'll also see places where the motion drifts into frustrations with counsel and the process, which is very human and something I'd trim today.
🔒 PDF included in the library email
Motion to Strike and Response to Motion to Vacate
- What it is
- When the other side filed their own motion to vacate after the deadline, I filed this motion to strike it as untimely, combined with a response to their arguments about attorney's fees and the mediation requirement in our agreement.
- Why I'm sharing it
- It's a good example of two things parents run into constantly, which are deadlines under the rules and prevailing party fee clauses, and of how you can quote your own marital settlement agreement to make a point.
- What to look for
- Look at how the timeliness argument comes first and stays short, because a missed deadline can decide a motion on its own, and then notice how the response section quotes the agreement's dispute resolution and fee clauses word for word before arguing what they mean.
🔒 PDF included in the library email
What legal fees actually look like
A family law firm's invoices, 20 months
- What it is
- These are the monthly bills from the law firm representing the other parent in my case, which were produced to me when I asked for the records behind a request that I pay their fees.
- Why I'm sharing it
- Most people have never seen a family law bill until they're holding their own, and by then they're already paying it. These show how work is broken into tenths of an hour, how many different people touch a single case, and how quickly the weeks before a hearing add up. None of it is unusual, which is exactly why it's worth seeing before you're in it.
- What to look for
- Look at how many entries are 0.1 hours, which is six minutes, for reading a single email or notice, and at the range of hourly rates, from around $95 to $435, and how the work is divided among them. Watch the months before a hearing, when the entries multiply. Shorthand like RR, OC and NOH shows up on almost every page, and there's a glossary below.
🕑 These will be added to the library soon, and everyone on the list will get them automatically.
Response to a Request for Production of fee records
- What it is
- This is the other side's formal answer when I asked for every billing record, rate and payment behind their fee claim.
- Why I'm sharing it
- If you ever have to respond to a fee request, it helps to see what you can ask for, what a firm hands over, and what it objects to.
- What to look for
- Notice which requests get a full answer and which get an objection that the request is vague, overly broad or unduly burdensome, because those phrases come up in discovery all the time.
🕑 Coming soon
Still to come
I'm still working through the rest of my file, including invoices from the attorneys who represented me, so you can see both sides of what a case like this costs, and a transcript-based support document I filed with my motion to vacate. If there's a kind of document you've been looking for and couldn't find, I'd love to hear about it, since that's how I'll decide what to add next.
Get the full library as it grows
Tell me where to send it and I'll email you the documents that are ready now, plus a note each time I add something new. It's free, and I'll only write when there's something worth opening.
Send me the library Signup and delivery are handled securely through the Signals & Structure store on Stan. You can unsubscribe anytime, and your email is never sold or shared.Invoice glossary
| Shorthand | What it means |
|---|---|
| RR | Receive and review |
| OC | Opposing counsel |
| FW / FH | Former wife / former husband |
| NOH | Notice of hearing |
| ROS | Return of service, proof that someone was served |
| RTP / RFP | Request for production of documents |
| NPNP | Notice of production from a non-party, sent before records are subpoenaed |
| FA | Financial affidavit |
| GM | General magistrate |
| UMC | Uniform motion calendar, a short hearing slot |
| CMC | Case management conference |
| TC | Telephone call |
| AO | Agreed order |
| 0.1 | Six minutes of billed time |
Timekeeper key
| Label | Hourly rate |
|---|---|
| TK1 | $435 |
| TK2 | $350 |
| TK3 | $275 |
| TK4, TK5, TK6 | $185 |
| TK7 | $175 |
| TK8, TK9 | $95 |
Firms don't always say on the invoice who is an attorney and who is a paralegal, so I've only listed the rates rather than guessing at titles.
Questions people ask
Can I copy one of these motions for my own case?
You're welcome to use them to understand structure and format, but I'd be careful copying the arguments, because they were written for specific facts, rules and deadlines in my case, and some of them didn't work. Your county's self-help center and a family law attorney are the right places to check what your own filing needs.
Why do I have to give my email to get the PDFs?
Partly because these are real documents from a real family, and I'd feel better knowing they go to people who actually want to learn from them rather than to automated scrapers, and partly because it's the only way I can let you know when I add something new. The descriptions on this page will always stay open to everyone.
Why are the dollar amounts still visible?
Because the amounts are what make the invoices useful. Seeing a real hourly rate and how fast six-minute entries add up says more than any article about legal fees could.
Is this from a real case?
Yes, it's from my own post-judgment case in Florida. Everything that could identify the people involved, especially my daughter, has been removed.
Do you have documents from other states?
Not yet, since everything here comes from a Florida case, and procedure really does vary from state to state, so it's worth checking your own state's rules and forms.
Can I send you my documents to review?
I'd rather you didn't, and not because I'm not interested. I'm not a lawyer, so I can't review filings, and your case file should stay yours. That's the same reason the Signals & Structure tools run on your own computer instead of mine.
Most of what makes family court so exhausting is how much of it happens out of sight, and the parents with the least money usually have the least access to the examples everyone else takes for granted. Putting a few real documents out in the open won't fix that, but it might help someone walk into their next hearing understanding a little more about what's in front of them, and my hope is that it makes the process a bit less lonely too. And if seeing how quickly all of this adds up nudges even one family toward mediation or a clearer plan before things get that far, that would mean more to me than anything else on this page.
These documents are shared for educational purposes only and are not legal advice or legal forms. They come from a single Florida family law case, reflect the rules and circumstances at the time they were filed, and have been redacted to protect the privacy of everyone involved, including a minor child. Signals & Structure is not a law firm, and using this page doesn't create any professional relationship. For advice about your own situation, please speak with a licensed attorney in your state.