In re: Amendments to the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms – 12.948(a)-(e)

CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedDecember 5, 2019
DocketSC19-1897
StatusPublished

This text of In re: Amendments to the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms – 12.948(a)-(e) (In re: Amendments to the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms – 12.948(a)-(e)) 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.

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In re: Amendments to the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms – 12.948(a)-(e), (Fla. 2019).

Opinion

Supreme Court of Florida ____________

No. SC19-1897 ____________

IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT APPROVED FAMILY LAW FORMS—Forms 12.948(a)-(e).

December 5, 2019

PER CURIAM.

Pursuant to the procedures approved in Amendments to the Florida Family

Law Rules of Procedure & Family Law Forms, 810 So. 2d 1, 13-14 (Fla. 2000),

this Court has internally reviewed the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family

Law Forms and has determined that adoption of new forms: 12.948(a) (Agreement

Granting Temporary Custodial Responsibility During Deployment); 12.948(b)

(Motion for Temporary Order Granting Custodial Responsibility During

Deployment); 12.948(c) (Order Granting Temporary Custodial Responsibility

During Deployment); 12.948(d) (Motion to Modify or Terminate Temporary Grant

of Custodial Responsibility or Limited Contact to Nonparent During Deployment);

and 12.948(e) (Agreement to Terminate Order Granting Temporary Custodial Responsibility During Deployment), is needed. 1 Input was received from the

Advisory Workgroup on the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms,

which provided valuable assistance.

In 2018, the Legislature adopted the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and

Visitation Act which addresses issues of child custody and visitation arising when

a parent deploys for military or other national service. See Ch. 2018-69, Laws of

Fla. Five new forms are created to implement the Uniform Act, which is codified

as Part IV of Chapter 61, Florida Statutes (2018).

The new forms are hereby adopted as set forth in the appendix to this

opinion, fully engrossed. The new forms shall become effective immediately upon

the release of this opinion and may be accessed and downloaded from the Florida

State Courts’ website at http://www.flcourts.org/resources-and-services/court-

improvement/problem-solving-courts/family-courts/family-law-forms.stml. By

adoption of the new forms, we express no opinion as to their correctness or

applicability. We also direct that new forms be published for comment. Interested

persons shall have seventy-five days from the date of this opinion to file comments

with the Court.2

1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. 2. All comments must be filed with the Court on or before February 18, 2020, as well as a separate request for oral argument if the person filing the comment wishes to participate in oral argument, which may be scheduled in this case. If filed by an attorney in good standing with The Florida Bar, the comment -2- It is so ordered.

CANADY, C.J, and POLSTON, LABARGA, LAWSON, LAGOA, and MUÑIZ, JJ., concur.

THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.

Original Proceeding – Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms

must be electronically filed via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal (Portal) in accordance with In re Electronic Filing in the Supreme Court of Florida via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, Fla. Admin. Order No. AOSC13-7 (Feb. 18, 2013). If filed by a nonlawyer or a lawyer not licensed to practice in Florida, the comment may be, but is not required to be, filed via the Portal. Comments filed via the Portal must be submitted in Microsoft Word 97 or higher. See In re Electronic Filing in the Florida Supreme Court, Fla. Admin. Order No. AOSC17- 27 (May 9, 2017). Any person unable to submit a comment electronically must mail or hand-deliver the originally signed comment to the Florida Supreme Court, Office of the Clerk, 500 South Duval Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1927; no additional copies are required or will be accepted.

-3- APPENDIX

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FLORIDA SUPREME COURT APPROVED FAMILY LAW FORM 12.948(a) AGREEMENT GRANTING TEMPORARY CUSTODIAL RESPONSIBILITY DURING DEPLOYMENT (12/19)

When should this form be used?

This form should be used when one parent who is a servicemember is being deployed and the parties wish to temporarily establish or change the custodial responsibility, parenting plan, or time-sharing schedule. A servicemember is a member of the uniformed services and includes: • Active and reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or the Coast Guard of the United States • The United States Merchant Marine • The commissioned corps of the United States Public Health Service • The commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration • The National Guard of a state or territory of the United States, Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia

Deployment means the movement or mobilization of a servicemember for less than 18 months pursuant to uniformed service orders that: • Are designated as unaccompanied; • Do not authorize dependent travel; or • Otherwise do not permit the movement of family members to the location to which the service member is deployed.

Custodial responsibility includes all the powers and duties relating to caretaking authority and decisionmaking authority for a child. It includes physical custody, legal custody, parental responsibility, parenting time, right to access, time-sharing, visitation, and authority to grant limited contact with a child.

Caretaking authority means the right to live with and care for a child on a day-to-day basis. The term includes physical custody, parenting time, right to access, time-sharing, and visitation.

Decisionmaking authority means the power to make important decisions regarding a child’s education, religious training, health care, extracurricular activities, and travel. The term does not include the power to make decisions that necessarily accompany a grant of caretaking authority.

Limited contact means the authority of a nonparent to visit a child for a limited time. The term includes authority to take the child to a place other than the child’s residence.

Instructions for Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.948(a), Agreement for Temporary Custodial Responsibility During Deployment (12/19) -4- This agreement is temporary and terminates after the Deployed Parent returns from deployment unless the agreement has been terminated in a record or by written agreement, or by court order. A Nonparent who is an adult family member of the child or a non-family member with whom the child has a close and substantial relationship may be granted temporary caretaking authority, decisionmaking authority, and/or limited contact. A close and substantial relationship means a positive relationship of substantial duration and depth in which a significant emotional bond exists between a child and a nonparent.

The Agreement Granting Temporary Custodial Responsibility During Deployment must: • To the extent permissible, identify the destination, duration, and conditions of the deployment that is the basis for the agreement; • Specify the allocation of caretaking authority among the Deploying Parent, the Other Parent, and any agreed-upon Nonparent; • Specify any decisionmaking authority that accompanies a grant of caretaking authority; • Specify any grant of limited contact to an agreed-upon Nonparent; • Provide a process to resolve any dispute that may arise if custodial responsibility is shared by the Other Parent and an agreed-upon Nonparent, or by other agreed-upon nonparents.

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In re: Amendments to the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms – 12.948(a)-(e), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-amendments-to-the-florida-supreme-court-approved-family-law-forms-fla-2019.