IN RE FLORIDA RULES OF FAMILY COURT PROCEDURE
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The Florida Supreme Court granted a petition from the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar to establish separate rules of procedure for family law matters and created a Family Law Rules Committee to propose these rules. The Court recognized that family law cases, comprising over 50% of civil filings in Florida, differ sufficiently from general civil cases to warrant distinct procedural rules.
The Court established separate rules of procedure for family law matters and amended rule 2.130(b)(3) of the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration to include a Family Law Rules Committee. The Court requested that The Florida Bar immediately appoint this committee and submit an initial set of family law rules by September 1, 1993.
[1] Separate rules of procedure should be established for family law matters due to their unique characteristics and significant caseload.
[2] The Florida Supreme Court has the authority to establish rules of procedure for various court matters, including family law.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Family law cases now comprise more than fifty percent of the general civil law cases filed in this state.”
Establishes the significant proportion of family law cases in Florida's civil docket, supporting the need for specialized procedural rules.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFamily law cases represent more than 50% of general civil law cases filed in Florida. In 1991, the Court required the establishment of family law divi…
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OVERTON, Justice.
This cause is before us on the petition of the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar and numerous individual petitioners to establish separate rules of procedure governing family law matters and to amend rule 2.130(b)(3), Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, to include a Family Law Rules Committee. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. Family law cases now comprise more than fifty percent of the general civil law cases filed in this state. The Family Law Section asserts that family law cases differ from general civil law cases in a number of respects, including the fact that a number of statutes, rules, and administrative processes apply only to family law cases. The Section notes that in 1991 this Court required the establishment of family law divisions in all circuits except those serving rural areas. See In re Report of the Comm’n on Family Courts, 588 So. 2d 586 (Fla.1991).
Upon receipt of the petition in this cause, we asked for responses from interested parties. No objections to the establishment of separate rules for family court procedure have been filed. Recognizing that family law cases are different from other civil matters and that the creation of family divisions in the circuit courts underscores the differences between family courts and other civil matters, the Rules of Judicial Administration Committee voted unanimously to support the establishment of separate rules for family law cases. The Juvenile Rules Committee also filed a response in favor of establishing separate family court rules, noting that the family law rules should be distinct from the Juvenile Court Rules.
We agree that separate rules of procedure for family law matters should be established. Accordingly, we amend rule 2.130(b)(3), Florida Rules of Judicial Administration to establish a committee to propose rules in family law matters, as follows:
The Florida Bar shall appoint the following committees to consider rule proposals: Civil Procedure Rules Committee, Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, Small Claims Rules Committee, Traffic Court Rules Committee, Appellate Court Rules Committee, Juvenile Court Rules Committee, Code and Rules of Evidence Committee, Rules of Judicial Administration Committee, Probate Rules Committee, Workers’ Compensation Rules Committee, and Family Law Rules Committee.
We request that The Florida Bar immediately appoint the Family Law Rules Committee and request that the initial set of rules for family law be submitted to this Court on or before September 1, 1993. To avoid confusion among members of the Bar who practice in both family law and other civil areas, we request the committee to maintain as much uniformity as possible between its proposed Family Law Rules and the Rules of Civil Procedure. Additionally, we request the committee to use particular care to avoid conflicts with the Rules of Juvenile Procedure.
It is so ordered.
BARKETT, C.J., and McDONALD, SHAW, GRIMES, KOGAN and HARDING, JJ., concur.
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Amendments to the Fla. Fam. Law Rules of Procedure & Fam. Law Forms, 810 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 2000)…ficial rules or commentary of the Florida Supreme-Court. Commentary 1995 Adoption. These rules were adopted after the Florida Supreme Court determined that separate rules for family court procedure were necessary. See In re Florida R. Fam. Ct. P., 607 So. 2d 396 (Fla.1992). The court recognized that family law cases are different from other civil matters, emphasizing that the 1993 creation of family divisions in the circuit courts underscored the differences between family law matters and other civil matter…
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In re Fam. Law Rules of Procedure, 663 So. 2d 1049 (Fla. 1995)…ficial rules or commentary of the Florida Supreme Court. Commentary 1995 Adoption. These rules were adopted after the Florida Supreme Court determined that separate rules for family court procedure were necessary. See In re Florida R. Fam. Ct. P., 607 So. 2d 396 (Fla.1992). The court recognized that family law cases are different from other civil matters, emphasizing that the 1993 creation of family divisions in the circuit courts underscored the differences between family law matters and other civil matter…
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In re Fam. Law Rules of Procedure, 663 So. 2d 1047 (Fla. 1995)…e. In accordance with our prior determination to have separate rules for family law cases, we have for adoption the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure as proposed by the Family Law Rules Committee (the Committee). See In re Fla. R. Family Ct P., 607 So. 2d 396 (Fla.1992) {Family Law Rules I). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. After the proposed rules were submitted to this Court by the Committee, the rules were published in The Florida Bar News for comment. A divided Board of Governors of…
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- In re Report of the Comm'n on Fam. Courts, 588 So. 2d 586 (Fla. 1991)