CIVIL COURT REVIEW

NEW CLERK ACADEMY

NOVEMBER 2015

CIVIL COURT REVIEW

Circuit (CA) & County Civil (CC)

Family Law (DR)

Juvenile Dependency (DP)

Probate (CP)

Appeals (AP)

TYPES OF CIVIL CASES

Circuit Civil (CA) cases are governed by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and statutes, and include:

Cases with damages over $15,000

Professional malpractice (FS 766 & 768)

Product l iabil ity (FS 768)

Automobile negligence (FS 768)

Other negligence (FS 768)

Condominium cases (FS 718)

Breach of contract and indebtedness

Real property (FS 689 - 723)

Mortgage foreclosures/sales (FS 45 & 702)

Eminent domain (FS 73)

TYPES OF CIVIL CASES

Circuit Civil cases (cont.):

Appeals from county court

Administrative agency appeals

Discrimination (FS 760)

Equitable relief

Forfeitures (FS 932)

Bond forfeitures (FS 903)

Foreign judgments (FS 55)

Civil cases filed by prisoners

Extraordinary writs

TYPES OF CIVIL CASES (CONT. )

Circuit Civil cases (cont.):

Declaratory judgment (court will declare the rights of

parties on a question of law)

Replevins & Garnishments

Transfers of lien (FS 713.24)

Possessory liens (FS 559.917)

CHERI HIGH, Escambia County


County Civil (CC) cases are governed by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and statutes, and include:

Cases with damages less than $5,000

Cases with damages more than $5,000 but do not exceed $15,000

Landlord/tenant evictions (FS 34 & 83)

Foreclosures (FS 45 & 702)

Vehicle Titles (FS 319)

Car Towing (FS 713.78)

Prisoner Cases

Animal Custody (FS 828.073)

Dangerous Animals (FS 767)


Small Claims cases are governed by the Florida

Small Claims Rules and statute, and include: Cases with damages up to $5,000

KATHY HENLEY, Okaloosa County


Mortgage Foreclosure Issues in CA & CC cases

Life cycle of a foreclosure case, the processing of any surplus funds,

legal references, and fees related to foreclosure sales.

Successful practices and procedures (including online sales and

eliminating paper case files) that helped the Clerk and the Court deal

with the foreclosure boom in a down economy.

Important “lessons learned” about how to deal with huge workload

increases in such a short window of time.

Administrative Orders: when mediation occurs, how to handle retired

judges and federal law

CHERI HIGH, Escambia County


Family Law (DR) cases are governed by the Florida Family Law Rules and statutes, and include:

Adoption (FS ch. 63): Adult’s legal rights re natural parents are terminated and duties to adoptive parents are substituted.

Termination of Parental Rights/Adoption (FS 63): An action for stepparent and other adoptions of minor children, where parental rights must be terminated before adoption can proceed.

Emancipation (FS 743.09): Parents/guardians surrender parental duties of minor child.

Name Change (FS 68.07)


Family Law Cases (cont.)

Delayed Birth Certificate (FS 382.0195): Obtaining legal birth certificate when original never issued.

Dissolution of Marriage (FS ch. 61): “Regular” and simplified. Legal process to terminate marriage; also known as divorce. Majority of cases involve child custody and support. Can include alimony or retirement benefits that are ordered by the court to be paid through the depository.

Out-of-State and Out-of-County Enforcement and Modification (FS ch. 61 & 88)

Paternity (FS ch. 742): Court action to determine the biological father and to enforce support obligations.

KEN KENT, FCCC


Family Law Cases (cont.) Injunctions for Domestic, Repeat, Dating, Stalking & Sexual

Violence (FS ch. 741 & 784)

www.flcourts.org

GYPSY BAILEY, Leon County


http://www.flcourts.org/

Child Support Issues in DR cases

State’s Child Support Program, the program’s mission, structure,

funding and methods. Specific topics that will be covered include the

Cooperative Agreements between the Department of Revenue and the

Clerks; Random Moment Sampling.

Writ of Garnishments – how to notify employers that child support

obligation has been fulfilled; Include other government agencies that

Clerks integrate with to discuss how our output is used/processed by

their agency (DOR, DHSM, FDLE, OSCA, etc.)

URESA cases / foreign support orders

LINDA CUSHING, Escambia County


Juvenile Dependency - governed by the Florida Rules

of Juvenile Procedure and Chapter 39

A dependent child is one who is found by the court to:

Have been abandoned, abused, or neglected by the child's

parent or parents or legal custodians

Have been surrendered to the DCFS or a licensed child-

placing agency for purpose of adoption

Have been voluntarily placed with a licensed child-caring

agency, a licensed child-placing agency, an adult relative, or

DCFS, after which placement a case plan has expired and

the parents or legal custodians have failed to comply with

the requirements of the plan


Juvenile Dependency (cont.)

Have been voluntarily placed with a licensed child -placing

agency for the purposes of subsequent adoption, and the

parents have signed a consent pursuant to the Florida Rules

of Juvenile Procedure

Have no parent or legal custodians capable of providing

supervision and care

Be at substantial risk of imminent abuse, abandonment, or

neglect by the parents or legal custodians .



Children in Need of Services (CINS) (FS ch. 984) :

"Child in need of services" means a child for whom there is no

pending investigation into an allegation or suspicion of

abuse, neglect, or abandonment; no pending referral

alleging the child is delinquent; or no current supervision by

DJJ or DCFS for an adjudication of dependency or

delinquency. The child must also be found by the court:

To have persistently run away from the child's parents or

legal custodians, despite reasonable efforts of the child, the

parents or legal custodians, and appropriate agencies to

remedy the conditions contributing to the behavior



Children in Need of Services (CINS) :

To be habitually truant from school, while subject to

compulsory school attendance, despite reasonable efforts to

remedy the situation

To have persistently disobeyed the reasonable and lawful

demands of the child's parents or legal custodians, and to be

beyond their control, despite efforts by the child's parents or

legal custodians and appropriate agencies to remedy the

conditions contributing to the behavior



Families in Need of Services (FINS) :

"Family in need of services" means a family that has a child who is running away; who is persistently disobeying reasonable and lawful demands of the parent or legal custodian and is beyond the control of the parent or legal custodian; or who is habitually truant from school or engaging in other serious behaviors that place the child at risk of future abuse, neglect, or abandonment or at risk of entering the juvenile justice system. A family is not eligible to receive services if, at the time of the referral, there is an open investigation into an allegation of abuse, neglect, or abandonment or if the child is currently under supervision by DJJ or DCFS due to an adjudication of dependency or delinquency.

LINDA CUSHING, Escambia County


Probate - governed by the Florida Probate Rules and statutes

Guardianships (FS ch. 744): If a minor inherits over $15,000, or receives a settlement

of over $15,000, a guardian must be appointed to manage the money until the minor reaches the age of majority.

An adult can voluntarily ask the court to appoint someone to manage his/her finances if a doctor feels that he/she is incompetent to understand the nature of the delegation.

An adult may lack the abil ity to care for him/herself and to make decisions as to healthcare, etc.

The person must be adjudicated incapacitated and then the court can appoint a guardian of the person and property. After this appointment, the guardian has a legal duty to fi le certain reports with the court each year and this division must audit these reports .

TYPES OF CIVIL ACTIONS (CONT. )

Estate

Refers to property in a decedent’s name that must be transferred after death to the rightful owners. Probating a will generally refers to this court process.

A will is an instrument executed by the decedent that disposes of his/her property after his/her death and normally appoints a personal representative who is charged with carrying out his/her wishes.

If there is no will, Florida Statutes determine the distribution of the assets (FS ch. 731-738).


Mental Health

Baker Act (FS 394): For emergency pickup and evaluation of persons who are mentally ill and refuse to seek treatment and are a danger to themselves and/or others.

Marchman Act (FS 397): For assessment, stabilization and treatment for substance abuse.


CP/GA/MH Issues

Recording - Which documents are sent to Official Records

Importance of Clerk guardianship duties and the role of the Clerk in

auditing the filings and reports

MECOM

Public relations outreach – how to get information to citizens; use of

website forms and links to other resources; use of check lists;

probate list of forms provided on website, forms in office due to

copyright

KATHY HENLEY, Okaloosa County

GYPSY BAILEY, Leon County


Appeals - governed by the Rules of Appellate Procedure

Misdemeanor, traffic and county civil cases are appealed

to Circuit Court (unless they are ident i f ied as “of g reat impor tance” ,

and thus can be appealed d i rect ly to the F i r s t D istr ic t Cour t o f Appeal ) .

Circuit civil, family law, felony, juvenile, and probate

cases are appealed to the First District Court of Appeal .


Appeals

Parties to a case have 30 days following the court’s order

to fi le a notice of appeal, along with an appellate fi l ing fee.

The Clerk is responsible for transferring all records to a

higher court when an action is appealed.

When the appellate court has made a decision, the order

and a mandate are sent to the Clerk and the records are

returned. The order/mandate must be read carefully to

determine whether further action needs to be taken in the

case.


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CIVIL REPORTS

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