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2008 Legislative
Update
Legislation from the 2008
Session will dramatically impact your practice more so
than any in decades. Whether you attend live at
the Section's Legislative and Leadership
Conference at the
beautiful Marco Island Beach Resort and Spa,or by phone,
you can't afford to miss this year's legislative
update!
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FYI: CLE
Alert
On September 18, 2008, in Ft
Lauderdale, the Section is hosting a CLE on
Paternity and Dependency that will
include information on the administrative
establishment of paternity, See HB 7073 (Ch. 2008-92)
featured at right and FS Ch. 409. Keep
checking the Section website
for details.
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Commentator
Editors, Robin J Scher and
Laura Smith are looking for writers for the Winter 2008
Commentator. The theme for this edition will be Domestic
Violence and other Criminal or Tort issues in
Family Law Cases. Articles are due no later
than October 1, 2008. If you are interested in
writing please contact Robin at rjs1990esq@bellsouth.net
Your assistance would be greatly
appreciated.
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For the
latest information on what's happening with your
Section, check out our website: http://www.familylawfla.org
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Summer Hall
Family Law Section
Administrator
850-561-5650
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Effective July 1, 2008
...
For all of you who
are still unaware, most new laws created in
the 2008 Legislative Session which ended in May,
go into effect July 1, 2008. Those
affecting our practices, with a few exceptions,
are no different.
The 2008
Legislative Session resulted in one of the most
successful years our Section has had in
Tallahassee in many. A big thank you
to those responsible for the success of the
Session, which also includes all the bills that
were successfully defeated. While many
were involved, it was the diligence, dedication
and just plain hard work, of and under the
phenomenal leadership of Legislation Committee
Chairs, Elisha Roy and Jeff Weissman, the
Section's Legislation Committee, along with the
expert assistance of our lobbyists at Becker &
Poliakoff, that made it all happen.
Legislation which passed this year
will significantly change Florida domestic
relations' practice and the lives of the families
we serve for the better.
Long awaited were the
changes to FS 61.075 and equitable
distribution. Not only can one now seek
an interim partial distribution of marital
assets should the circumstances warrant it,
but SB 1474 (Ch 2008-46) creates a gift presumption in personal
property which mirrors the one
that exists with respect to real
property. And, finally, for all who
never quite understood it in the first place (that
would be the majority of us, even if we're
ashamed to admit it) rejoice - Special
Equity has been abolished! SB 1474 (Ch. 2008
- 46) doesn't leave your clients without recourse,
however. Specifically provided for are
claims for the unequal distribution of
marital property or for the enhancement in
value or appreciation of nonmarital
property.
Overruling the 5th
DCA's preference for interest over principal, HB
7073 (Ch. 2008-92) delineates how payments on child
support judgments are to be applied. It also
requires parents who receive their support
payments through FLSDU to set up accounts in which
thier payments shall be electronically
deposited. This law, which actually became
effective on May 28, 2008, also requires a
correctional facility to assist an
incarcerated putative father in complying
with an administrative order to appear for genetic
testing issued under FS 409.256 and
specifies that the effect of an
administrative order to appear for genetic testing
is equivalent to a court order. There are
several other changes to FS Ch. 409
regarding license suspensions that one
should not overlook in this law change as
well.
While substantial revisions to various
provisions of Florida's Adoption Act (Ch. 63) and
provisions for service of process by publication
for termination of parental rights (Ch 49) are the
main changes promulgated by HB 663 (Ch.
2008
- 151), there are also changes to
Chapters 39 and 742 in this major glitch
bill.
But, without question, the most sweeping
legislation
related to children comes from the
one exception, SB 2532 (Ch. 2008-61). Because its impact
is so extensive, requiring a revision
not only to many statutes, but numerous Supreme Court forms,
as well as the likely creation of new ones,
this law does not go into effect until October 1,
2008, giving us all lots of time to
read its 61 pages - twice.
In a
simplistic explanation, this law eliminates
the terms "custody", "custodial" and
"non-custodial parent", "primary residence",
"primary residential parent"
and "visitation" from Chapter 61 and
all other statutes which utilize these arcane
and often litigation inducing terms, in
exchange for shared parenting plans and
time-sharing arrangements.
However, the law goes further
by expanding the considerations of
shared parental responsibility and in the
establishment of these parenting plans, which
include time-sharing schedules, now
mandatory. Another important
bill that the Section spearheaded for passage on
behalf of its general magistrates and child
support hearing officers, was SB 0766 (Ch. 2008-41) which now
exempts from public records
requirements their home addresses
and telephone numbers.
Last but not by any means least, as a
result of the Court budget crisis,
SB 1790 (Ch 2008
-111), provides for the substantial increase
in filing fees and costs related to our
practice. Most notably are the
requirement of payment of a fee for the
filing of a counter petition, issuance of a
summons, and the increase in the
administrative fee for the determination of and
payment plan for indigent litigants.
For details, discussion and a full
legislative wrap-up, be sure to attend the 2008
Legislative Update on August 1, 2008.
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