AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA FAMILY LAW FORMS

Fla. | 2001-12-06
No. SC01-2455
WELLS, C.J., and SHAW, HARDING, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, LEWIS, and QUINCE, JJ., concur.
817 So. 2d 721 Florida Supreme Court (2001) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The Florida Supreme Court approved amendments to four family law forms to remove requests for social security numbers where such information is not necessary. The Court adopted the recommendations of the Advisory Workgroup and the Florida Family Law Rules Committee to protect litigants' privacy.


Holding

The Court adopted amendments to forms 12.902(c), 12.902(d), 12.981(b), and 12.941(e) deleting the request for social security numbers. The amended forms are effective for immediate use, though the Court expresses no opinion as to their correctness or applicability.


Headnotes

[1] The Florida Supreme Court has the authority to review and amend its approved family law forms.

[2] The Florida Supreme Court may amend family law forms to remove requests for social security numbers when they are not necessary.

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Key Quotes

“this Court has reviewed the Family Law Forms and determined that some of the forms request a social security number where the social security number is not necessary.”

Establishes the Court's finding that triggered the amendments.

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Facts & Procedural History

The Court reviewed the Family Law Forms and determined that some forms requested social security numbers without legitimate purpose. Input was sought …

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Pursuant to the procedures approved by this Court in Amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure and Family Law Forms, 810 So. 2d 1 (Fla.2000), this Court has reviewed the Family Law Forms and determined that some of the forms request a social security number where the social security number is not necessary. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. Input on this issue was sought and received from the Advisory Workgroup on the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms. Additionally, the Florida Family Law Rules Committee has filed a separate petition with this Court wherein the Committee agrees that the request for social security numbers should be removed from all Family Law Forms where no legitimate purpose is served.1

We hereby adopt the amendments to forms 12.902(c), 12.902(d), 12.981(b) and 12.941(e) deleting the request for a social security number.2 The amended forms are set forth in the appendix to this opinion, fully engrossed, and effective for immediate use. By approval of these forms, we express no opinion as to their correctness or applicability.

This opinion and the forms discussed herein may be accessed and downloaded from this Court’s website at www. flcourts.org.

It is so ordered.

WELLS, C.J., and SHAW, HARDING, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, LEWIS, and QUINCE, JJ., concur. APPENDIX

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FLORIDA FAMILY LAW RULE OF PROCEDURE FORM 12.902(c), FAMILY LAW FINANCIAL AFFIDAVIT

This form should be used when you are involved in a family law case which requires a financial affidavit and your individual gross income is $50,000 OR MORE per year. This form should be typed or printed in black ink. After completing this form, you should sign the form before a notary public. You should then file the original with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the petition was filed and keep a copy for your records.

A copy of this form must be mailed or hand delivered to the other party in your case, if it is not served on him or her with your initial papers. This must be accomplished within 45 days of service of the petition.

Where can I look for more information?

Before proceeding, you should read “General Information for Self Repre sented Litigants” found at the beginning of these forms. The words that are in “bold underline ” in these instructions are defined there. For further information, see rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure.

If this is a domestic violence case and you want to keep your address confidential for safety reasons, do not enter the address, telephone, and fax information at the bottom of this form. Instead, file Petitioner’s Request for Confidential Filing of Address, Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.980(i).

The affidavit must be completed using monthly income and expense amounts. If you are paid or your bills are due on a schedule which is not monthly, you must convert those amounts. Hints are provided below for making these conversions.

Hourly' — If you are paid by the hour, you may convert your income to monthly as follows: Hourly amount x Hours worked per week = Weekly amount Weekly amount x 52 Weeks per year = Yearly amount Yearly amount -h 12 Months per year = Monthly Amount Daily — If you are paid by the day, you may convert your income to monthly as follows: Daily amount x Days worked per week = Weekly amount Weekly amount x 52 Weeks per year = Yearly amount Yearly amount 12 Months per year = Monthly Amount Weekly — If you are paid by the week, you may convert your income to monthly as follows: Weekly amount x 52 Weeks per year = Yearly amount Yearly amount -s-12 Months per year = Monthly Amount Bi-weekly — If are two weeks, convert income to monthly as follows: Bi-weekly amount x 26 = Yearly amount Yearly amount h-12 Months = Monthly Amount Bi-monthly — If you are paid twice per month, you may convert your income to monthly as follows: Bi-monthly amount x 2 = Monthly Amount Expenses may be converted in the same manner. Remember, a person who is NOT an attorney is called a nonlawyer. If a nonlawyer helps you fill out these forms, that person must give you a copy of a Disclosure from Nonlawyer, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.900(a), before he or she helps you. A nonlawyer helping you fill out these forms also must put his or her name, address, and telephone number on the bottom of the last page of every form he or she helps you complete. INSTRUCTIONS FOR FLORIDA SUPREME COURT APPROVED FAMILY LAW FORM 12.902(d), UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION ACT (UCCJA) AFFIDAVIT

This form should be used in any case involving custody of or visitation with any minor child(ren). This affidavit is required even if the custody and visitation of the minor ehild(ren) are not in dispute.

A copy of this form must be mailed or hand delivered to the other party in your case, if it is not served on him or her with your initial papers.

Where can I look for more information?

Before proceeding, you should read “General Information for Self Represented Litigants” found at the beginning of these forms. The words that are in “bold underline ” in these instructions are defined there. For further information, see sections 61.1302-61.1354, Florida Statutes.

If you are the petitioner in an injunction for protection against domestic violence case and you have filed Petitioner’s Request for Confidential Filing of Address, Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.980®, you should write “confidential” in any space on this form that would require you to write the address where you are currently living.

This form must be completed and signed by the person being adopted, the adoptee, if he or she is over 12 years of age. It must be signed in the presence of a notary public or deputy clerk and two witnesses other than the notary public or deputy clerk.

This form should be typed or printed in black ink. After completing this form, you should file the original with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the adoption petition is filed and keep a copy for your records.

A copy of this form must be mailed or hand delivered to the people identified in the instructions for Joint Petition for Stepparent Adoption, Florida Family Law Form 12.981(a).

. The request for a social security number will remain on forms 12.902(j), Notice of Social Security Number, and 12.912(a), Memo for Certificate of Military Service.


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Cited By

  • …s of Fla.; see also In re Report & Recommendations of Judicial Management Council, 832 So. 2d 712, 715 (Fla.2002) (discussing the Legislature’s initiative in forming the Study Committee on Public Records). . See Amendments to Fla. Family Law Forms, 817 So. 2d 721, 721 (Fla.2001).…
  • Thomas v. Smith, 882 So. 2d 1037 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)
    …Family Law Rules of Procedure, 853 So. 2d 303 (Fla.2003). The supreme court has also approved amendments to the Florida Family Law Forms designed to delete unnecessary requests for social security numbers. Amendments to the Florida Family Law Forms, 817 So. 2d 721 (Fla.2001). The First District Court of Appeal concluded that investigative subpoenas issued by the Attorney General to “payday” lenders did not implicate the right to privacy found, in article I, section 23, of the Florida Constitution after the At…
  • …Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure. For the reasons that follow, the Court declines to consider the out-of-cycle proposals at this time. After the Rules Committee submitted its petition, the Court issued Amendments to Florida Family Law Forms, 817 So. 2d 721 (Fla.2001), which removed the request for social security numbers from the specified family law forms. The Court’s prior decision addressed one of the primary purposes of the Rules Committee’s out-of-cycle petition, which was to protect the confiden…

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