Case Name: J.T. and N.T., Parents of J.L.K., J.T., Jr., et al., Children, Appellants, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2001-11-30
Citations: 800 So. 2d 692
Docket Number: No. 5D01-1428
Parties: J.T. and N.T., Parents of J.L.K., J.T., Jr., et al., Children, Appellants, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, Appellee.
Judges: GRIFFIN, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 800
Pages: 692–696

Head Matter:
J.T. and N.T., Parents of J.L.K., J.T., Jr., et al., Children, Appellants, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, Appellee.
No. 5D01-1428.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Nov. 30, 2001.
Ryan Thomas Truskoski of Ryan Thomas Truskoski, P.A., Orlando, for Appellant N.T.
Timothy A. Straus of Moyer, Straus & Patel, P.A., Altamonte Springs, for Appellant J.T.
Kelly A. Swartz, Child Welfare Legal Services, Department of Children and Families, Orlando, for Appellee.

Opinion:
COBB, J.
This appeal challenges an order terminating parental rights. The parents, who did not attend the adjudicatory hearing, contend that the trial court erred in not continuing said hearing at the request of their counsel, who did appear. Indeed, counsel for the parents was aware of the date, time and place of the adjudicatory hearing and requested a continuance at the outset of the proceeding:
the reason being that my clients both normally have been here. They have been notified. They usually appear. They're not here.... (Emphasis added).
The trial court denied the motion and was informed by counsel for the Department of Children and Families that the parents had been at the advisory hearing where they were notified of the time and date of the adjudicatory hearing. The parents' counsel, having already conceded that her clients had been notified, did not challenge this assertion.
The instant record reflects without contradiction that the parents received notice of the adjudicatory hearing. No issue as to the adequacy of the notice was raised at the hearing. Under these circumstances, if the parents believe the notice was somehow infirm, it is their burden to seek relief from the order by making a proper showing pursuant to Florida Rule of Juvenile Procedure 8.270(b) which governs relief from judgments or orders.
The parents' reliance on In re E.L., 732 So.2d 37 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) is misplaced. In E.L., the mother's counsel did not concede that his client had been notified of the hearing. Equally important, in E.L., the court terminated parental rights based solely upon the mother's default in failing to appear at the hearing. See § 39.801(3)(d), Fla. Stat. Here, the court took testimony and found that termination was proper, irrespective of the parents' non-appearance, given the evidence of their failure to substantially comply with the case plans and their failure to remedy the conditions which led to the children's removal from their care. The termination was not predicated simply upon the parents' default.
Finally, the motion for continuance, which merely asserted that the parents were no-shows without asserting any ground whatsoever for such non-appearance, was properly denied. C.J. v. Department of Children and Families, 756 So.2d 1108 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)(decision to grant or deny continuance is within sound discretion of trial court). Accordingly, we affirm the order terminating parental rights.
AFFIRMED.
GRIFFIN, J., concurs.
PLEUS, J., concurs specially, with opinion.