Amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure & Family Law Forms

810 So. 2d 1, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 13, 2000 Fla. LEXIS 2272, 2000 WL 1352932
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedSeptember 21, 2000
DocketNo. SC99-2
StatusPublished
Cited by57 cases

This text of 810 So. 2d 1 (Amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure & Family Law Forms) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure & Family Law Forms, 810 So. 2d 1, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 13, 2000 Fla. LEXIS 2272, 2000 WL 1352932 (Fla. 2000).

Opinion

PARIENTE, J.

The Family Law Rules Committee (“the rules committee”) and the Family Court Steering Committee (“the steering committee”) have submitted to this Court proposed amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure and the Florida Family Law Forms.1 We published the committees’ proposed amendments in the January 1 and January 15, 2000 editions of The Florida Bar News, and nearly all of the resulting comments related to the proposed domestic and repeat violence injunction forms. We herein accordingly focus most of our attention on those forms, and additionally address who shall have continuing responsibility for the family law forms.

I. BACKGROUND

Simplifying the process has been, and continues to be, a primary goal of this Court in the family law context. Beginning with the establishment of the circuit court family divisions in 1991, this Court set out to “provide a better means for resolution of family issues in this state.” In re Report of the Comm’n on Family Courts, 588 So.2d 586, 592 (Fla.1991). Upon adopting family law rules and forms in 1995, this Court “extensively redrafted the [proposed] rules to eliminate as much complexity as possible ... [and] in an effort to assist the many pro se litigants in family law cases, ... redrafted the [proposed] rules to include Florida Supreme Court Approved Simplified Forms and instructional commentary and appendices.” In re Family Law Rules of Procedure, 663 So.2d 1047, 1048 (Fla.1995).

In again amending the family law rules and forms later in 1995, this Court directed “particular emphasis on revisions to [2]*2further simplify the family law process for the many pro se litigants in family law cases.” In re Family Law Rules of Procedure, 663 So.2d 1049, 1053 (Fla.1995). In later amending the family law rules and forms in 1998, this Court reiterated that “[t]he development of common sense rules and forms in family law cases, understandable by both lawyers and pro se litigants alike, is essential,” that “the rules governing family law eases should be crafted to establish an easy-to-understand process,” and that “[o]ur goal must be to simplify the process. Otherwise, we deny many citizens meaningful and affordable access to the courts, particularly when so many of them are self-represented.” Amendments to the Fla. Family Law Rules, 713 So.2d 1, 2 (Fla.1998).

This is especially true in the domestic violence context, wherein a great many of the litigants are unrepresented. As found by the Legislature, “the incidence of domestic violence in Florida is disturbingly high, and despite efforts of many to curb this violence, ... one person dies at the hands of a spouse, ex-spouse, or cohabitant approximately every 3 days.” § 741.32(1), Fla. Stat. (1999) (“Certification of Batterers’ Intervention Programs”); see also Weiand v. State, 732 So.2d 1044, 1053 (Fla.1999) (“It is now widely recognized that domestic violence ‘attacks are often repeated over time, and escape from the home is rarely possible without the threat of great personal violence or death.’ ”).

With so much at stake, simplicity in seeking, obtaining, and understanding the relief granted in domestic violence injunction cases is absolutely essential, especially in cases involving pro se litigants. We have in the past recognized that “domestic and repeat violence injunctions are an important and significant responsibility of family courts,” In re Family Law, 663 So.2d at 1049, and that it is extremely important to have “domestic violence issues addressed in an expeditious, efficient, and deliberative manner.” In re Report of the Comm’n on Family Courts, 646 So.2d 178, 182 (Fla.1994). We now reiterate that “we do not want these important issues to become bogged down in an administrative morass.” Id.

Uniformity in the form injunction orders themselves is likewise essential in this context. In adopting and requiring the use of standardized injunction forms in domestic and repeat violence cases in 1998, this Court recognized that, at that time, “most counties use[d] different injunction forms, which often result[ed] in enforcement problems across county lines for law enforcement officers” and that “standardized forms would assist law enforcement officers in the enforcement of injunctions because, at a glance, they would be able to easily determine the terms of an injunction no matter which court generated the injunction.” Amendments to the Fla. Family Law Rules, 713 So.2d at 3; see also In re Amendments to the Fla. Family Law Rules of Procedure (Self Help), 725 So.2d 365, 367 (Fla.1998) (explaining that adoption of the mandatory domestic violence injunction forms was to provide for statewide consistency in the use of the forms, and that “[t]his consistency was necessary given the distinct problems that are inherent in domestic violence cases”).

II. THE PROPOSED DOMESTIC AND REPEAT VIOLENCE INJUNCTION FORMS

The steering committee now explains that, after the adoption of the mandatory domestic and repeat violence injunction forms, “attorneys, judges, legal services organizations and other affected individuals and groups raised a number of concerns about the forms,” and that “[t]he Domestic Violence Subcommittee of the [3]*3Steering Committee carefully reviewed those concerns in developing the recommendations in [the present] petition.” As a result, according to the steering committee, “[t]he most significant proposed change to the form injunctions is the creation of separate forms for domestic violence cases involving children and domestic violence cases not involving children.”

We approve the steering committee’s proposal to create separate domestic violence injunction forms for cases involving children and cases not involving children. We below more specifically discuss the content of those domestic violence injunction forms, as well as the repeat violence injunction forms, proposed by the steering committee.2 We also address related rule 12.610(c)(2)(A) proposed by the rules committee, which specifically pertains to the domestic and repeat violence injunction forms. We do not attempt to address every proposal and every comment received; rather, we focus our attention on the especially significant and pertinent proposals and comments, and particularly discuss all comments that have resulted in a modification to the proposed domestic and repeat violence injunction forms or related rule 12.610(c)(2)(A).

In so doing, we again emphasize the importance of simplicity and uniformity in these mandatory injunction forms. At the same time, however, we recognize that a “one size fits all” approach has the potential of rendering the injunction forms cumbersome for trial judges to use and litigants to understand. Accordingly, we have actively solicited and remain especially sensitive to comments from judges and others who use the forms on a daily basis.

A. Notice of Hearing

1. “For Example” Language:

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Bluebook (online)
810 So. 2d 1, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 13, 2000 Fla. LEXIS 2272, 2000 WL 1352932, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/amendments-to-the-florida-family-law-rules-of-procedure-family-law-forms-fla-2000.