Rule 5.125. Preparation, service, and submission of order after hearing. The court may prepare the order after hearing and serve copies on the parties or their attorneys. Alternatively, the court may order one of the parties or attorneys to prepare …
To schedule the use of any audio/video equipment maintained by the court, call 727-453-7928. Equipment reservations should be phoned in a minimum of seven days in advance of the proceeding. If you are requesting use of the Nomad evidence presentation system, the person who will be using the equipment must be trained.
All hearing officers have authority under Fla. Fam. L. Rs. P. 12.491 and 12.615 to conduct hearings, evaluate evidence, and render findings of fact, and then make conclusions of law and recommendations which are sent to a circuit judge in the form of an order. Parties have ten days from the date of the order to file a “Motion to Vacate” the hearing officer’s recommended order.
At the top of the Minute Order locate the following: date and time of the hearing, the department number and judge who presided at the hearing. Print that information in the blank spaces where indicated at item 1 of the form. If any of the typed information on the Minute Order is crossed out, use the hand-written information instead.
Final Judgment of injunction: A final injunction may – depending on the type of action filed – address provisions for contact, temporary exclusive use and possession of the home, temporary support, temporary custody and visitation with the parties’ minor child (ren) and payment of temporary child support.
Note: If the temporary injunction is denied, the Court may still set a hearing at which the judge will consider entering a permanent (non-emergency) injunction. 3. The return hearing: At the return hearing the judge will hear the facts of the case and decide whether a final judgment of injunction will be granted.
There are several mandatory forms that must be filed in cases with minor children, such as a Financial Affidavit and a Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act affidavit. You must also attend, in person, an approved parent education and family stabilization course.
The temporary injunction will address matters of contact between the parties, temporary use and possession of the home and temporary custody of the minor child (ren). A “return” hearing will be scheduled with notice given to the other side at which time the court will decide whether to extend the injunction.
But if you must proceed without a lawyer, contact the clerk of court for forms to be used in filing a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. There are several mandatory forms that must be filed in cases with minor children, such as a Financial Affidavit and a Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act affidavit. You must also attend, in person, an approved parent education and family stabilization course. NOTE: Court approval is required before you may attend an on-line course.
Equipment reservations should be phoned in a minimum of seven days in advance of the proceeding. If you are requesting use of the Nomad evidence presentation system, the person who will be using the equipment must be trained. To schedule training, call the above numbers.
If you feel the child is in some kind of immediate danger in the other parent's home, you should contact the Florida Department of Children and Families at 1-800-96-ABUSE (1-800-962-2873. If the child is not in Florida you should contact the authorities responsible for abuse allegations in the jurisdiction where the child is located.
A typical case that might go before a hearing officer is when a person is ordered by the court to pay child support but has failed to pay. This type of case is usually initiated when the Department of Revenue files a legal paper called a “Motion for Contempt.”.
Child support in Florida is determined by the Child Support Guidelines which have been adopted by the Florida Legislature. These guidelines are found in the Florida Statutes, at section 61.30, and are effective throughout the State.
The law says that 75 percent of the daycare expense should be added to the guideline amount. Also, if one parent provides health insurance for the child, the amount is added to the guideline amount. Each party is responsible for their percentage share of these expenses.
If the Respondent requests a genetic/DNA test, and the test reveals that the Respondent is the father, he may be responsible for child support dating back to a period of up to two years.
First, the court must determine the identity of the father. Second, once the identity of the father is legally determined, the court must determine the amount of child support the father should pay. In many cases, a Respondent may already know whether he is the father of the child. If that is the case, the Respondent will have an opportunity ...
If you do not pay your child support, your driver’s license can be suspended. You may be ordered to pay a fine. Money in your bank account can be seized, as well as any income tax refund to which you may be entitled. You can also go to jail, and even prison.
The parent who does not have the children living with them , by law, must pay child support if they are able to pay. Another case that might be heard by a hearing officer is based on a “Petition for Modification.”. This is when one party has requested a change in the amount of child support that is currently ordered.
The Findings and Order after Hearing, form FL-340 is needed for all court orders and will serve as the cover page for your Order. Type or print this and all other forms. You must print clearly and legibly.
You will only need those forms relating to the orders made by the Judge at your hearing. If you are uncertain whether you need a particular form, read the instructions for that form. Attach only those forms relating to orders from your Minute Order. All forms will be covered in these instructions, so skip the ones that do not apply.
It is important that you attend the hearing so that you can provide the judge all of the information that is available and necessary to either issue a final protection order or to dismiss the case.
If you have an attorney with you, the attorney can make certain that evidence is given to the judge. The judge will likely ask the other person if there are any issues or concerns, called objections, with your request. The judge will then decide whether to accept the item as evidence.
When a judge decides that the petition for a protection order or a renewal should be granted based on the contents of the petition, the judge may sign an ex parte order. If this is the case, the respondent has the opportunity to request a hearing, to provide an opportunity to say why the protection order or renewal should be denied.
In some cases, even if an attorney is present, the judge may not allow the attorney to ask the parties questions during the hearing. Each side will be given an opportunity to testify in court, or in other words to explain to the judge why a protection order should or should not be granted.
For example, if something happened that caused you to be fearful, you should tell the judge what happened, that it caused you to be scared and how that affected your life if it did.
The judge may also sign a show cause order, requiring a hearing on the petition and affidavit submitted. If you received an ex parte domestic abuse protection order, you also have an opportunity to request the court to have a hearing.
Yes, if you have photographs or other evidence, including the original application for the protection order, and you want the judge to consider this evidence when making a decision, you will need to ask the judge to consider them as evidence. For example, you may say to the judge “Your Honor, I would like to have my Petition ...
The key to conducting an attorney fee hearing properly is preparation. An attorney fee hearing is like a miniature non-jury trial, but it is often overlooked and underestimated as to its importance. Oftentimes attorneys come to the hearing unprepared.
To prepare for an attorney fee hearing, the first step is to find out what the presiding judge expects of you. That will assist you in constructing your motion, developing strategy and presenting evidence. Sometimes, your judge will have a standard order preliminary to the fee hearing.
A contractual provision. A demand for arbitration. or several other bases. Some of these should not be pled in the complaint, some can be pled in the complaint (arbitration demand), and some must be pled in the complaint (contractual provisions) to be enforceable.
If you think you can present your evidence in an hour, it needs to be noticed for two hours, as your opposing party is to be given equal time to respond. Once you are in the courtroom, just like in a trial, the first thing you should do is pre-mark exhibits for identification.
Drafting your motion for attorney fees and costs is important, because that is the first time you are educating the court on the basis for awarding fees and costs. The motion needs to advise: What you are seeking (e.g. Fees, costs, or both) The legal basis for it. The court’s basis for jurisdiction.
The use of demonstrative aids is permitted and can be a powerful tool for an attorney fee hearing. Give yourself plenty of hearing time when noticing the hearing. This is probably not a one-hour hearing.
Though case law does not require an attorney fee affidavit, it can be instrumental in presenting your evidence, because it forces you to assemble the key information needed.
The Findings and Recommendations entered by the Hearing Officer have the same force and effect as Orders entered by a Circuit Judge. Cases that are heard by a Hearing Officer include the establishment, enforcement, and modification of child support, alimony connected to on-going child support, and uncontested paternity issues.
Magistrates are appointed to hear Family Division cases dealing with a variety of family issues. The issues include the establishment, enforcement, and modification of child support and alimony, dissolution of marriage, parental responsibility and time-sharing issues, property rights, debts, attorney's fees, contested paternity matters, Baker Acts, post judgment proceedings, and any other issue the Court refers to the Magistrate. The Magistrate can hear child support issues (just like a Hearing Officer) without an Order of Referral. The Magistrate also hears non-child support matters only after the Court enters an Order of Referral to the Magistrate.
Hearing Officers and Magistrates are attorneys that the Circuit's Chief Judge appoints to perform certain quasi-judicial duties.
After the hearing on the Motion to Vacate, if the Judge determines that the motion is unfounded, the original Order will stand. If not, the Judge may either enter his or her own Order based on the evidence, or refer the case back to the Hearing Officer for a re-hearing.
The Judge will wait ten (10) days from the date of the recommended Order before entering an Order confirming the Magistrate’s Decision and Recommended Order. In the alternative, both parties may waive the ten-day exception period and consent to the court’s immediate entry of the Magistrate’s recommended Order.
The Magistrate can hear child support issues (just like a Hearing Officer) without an Order of Referral. The Magistrate also hears non-child support matters only after the Court enters an Order of Referral to the Magistrate.
There is no requirement that a special Order of Referral must be issued for a case to be heard by the Hearing Officer. A litigant cannot object to a Hearing Officer hearing an IV-D or Non IV-D case dealing with child support. After a Hearing Officer enters the Findings and Recommendations, the Circuit Judge signs the Order immediately.
Assuming that the judge does not disqualify himself or herself sua sponte, counsel may consider filing a motion to disqualify or recuse the trial judge from further presiding in the action . This article will explain the procedure counsel must follow when filing such a disqualification motion, review the requirements imposed upon trial judges when determining disqualification motions, and examine the case law addressing the legal sufficiency of disqualification motions. Additionally, the procedure and law applicable to disqualification of trial judges in federal cases will be briefly discussed.
Rule 2.160 (d) sets forth the following bases for a disqualification motion, at least one of which must be shown in the motion: 1. that the party fears that he or she will not receive a fair trial or hearing because of specifically described prejudice or bias of the judge;
Initial and Successive Disqualification Motions. If an initial disqualification motion alleges a fear of prejudice or bias under rule 2.160 (d) (1), the trial judge is required to determine only the “legal sufficiency” of the motion and is prohibited from passing on the truth of the facts averred.
An important requirement contained in rule 2.160 (e) is that a disqualification motion must be made within 10 days after the “discovery of the facts constituting the grounds” for the motion.
2. that the judge before whom the case is pending, or some person related to said judge by consanguinity or affinity within the third degree, is a party thereto or is interested in the result thereof; 3. that the judge is related to an attorney or counselor of record in the cause by consanguinity or affinity within the third degree; or.
This is accomplished by the filing of a motion for reconsideration within 20 days of the order of disqualification. Id.
In Bryant, the court held that due process was denied the contemnor since the judge was the only witness available to prove the contempt charge, and the judge testified without being under oath and refused to be cross-examined. Judicial Disqualification in Federal Cases.
Criminal Division “V” electronically serves orders to attorneys/parties that have registered their primary and secondary e-mail addresses with the 15th Circuit. Please ensure that you have registered for judicial e-service.
If the Court directs an attorney to prepare and submit an Order after a hearing, the Order must state the date the hearing was held. All parties must have received and reviewed the Order before it is submitted through Online Services. If parties are not in agreement with the form of the Order, that must be noted in the cover letter to the Judge.
If you have questions of a legal nature, or questions concerning how to proceed, please contact or visit the Self Help Center located on the First Floor, Room 1434 of the North County Government Center/Courthouse or on the Second Floor, Room 1.2500 of the Main Branch Courthouse located at 205 North Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL 33401. In addition, the Palm Beach County Bar Association has available a Lawyer Referral and Information Service by calling 561-687-3266.
Requests or Motions for an Emergency Hearing are decided by the Judge. The Movant files a Motion for an Emergency Hearing with the Clerk of the Court. The Clerk will deliver the motion to the Judge's office and the Judge will then review the Motion and determine if it is a "true" emergency and if a hearing is warranted.
Judge Scher requires E-Service. The Court requires all proposed orders to be filed by utilizing the on-line system (OLS). All propose d orders must be sent to opposing counsel and indicate if the opposing objects or agrees to the proposed order.
Requiring an order to be filed before it can be enforced is also important because it preserves the right of appellate review. One has the right to seek supersedeas of a judge’s order but the Court of Appeals will not consider supersedeas until the order is filed.
Without a signed order it impossible for an attorney to advise a client exactly what his or her legal rights and obligations are. Even a signed but unfiled order is still unenforceable. That is because the order does not become valid until it is actually filed with the clerk’s office.