Case Name: AMENDMENTS TO the FLORIDA PROBATE RULES
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1996-10-03
Citations: 683 So. 2d 78
Docket Number: No. 87666
Parties: AMENDMENTS TO the FLORIDA PROBATE RULES.
Judges: KOGAN, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW, GRIMES, HARDING, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 683
Pages: 78–109

Head Matter:
AMENDMENTS TO the FLORIDA PROBATE RULES.
No. 87666.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Oct. 3, 1996.
John W. Frost, III, President, Bartow; Edward R. Blumberg, President-elect, Miami; and John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director, Tallahassee, on behalf of The Florida Bar; and Wilson Smith, Chair, Florida Probate Rules Committee, Miami, Florida, for Petitioner.
Rohan Kelley, John G. Grimsley and John Arthur Jones, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, In-tervenors.
Charles E. Ray of Messer and Ray, Port St. Lucie, Florida; and Stephen Krosschell, Holiday, Interested Parties.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
The Florida Bar Probate Rules Committee has submitted its quadrennial report of proposed changes to the Florida Probate Rules. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 2(a) of the Florida Constitution.
The rules committee proposes several substantive amendments to the rules, including changes to conform to the Rules of Civil Procedure and to conform to statutory changes. Four proposed rule changes are amendments of the committee notes and not the body of the rule. The other recommended changes are intended to simplify and clarify the rules.
The Board of Governors of The Florida Bar and the Executive Council of the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section of the Bar approved the proposed changes. The committee's report and a summary of the proposed amendments were published for comment in the April 15, 1996, issue of The Florida Bar News. The text of the proposed amendments were placed on the Court's Internet site.
Two comments dealing with rules 5.100 and 5.560 were received. Stephen Krossc-hell, a member of the Appellate Rules Committee, points out that proposed Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.110(a)(2) governs appeals in probate matters and is intended to supersede Florida Probate Rule 5.100. See In re Amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, No. 87,134 (currently pending before Court). He further notes that proposed rule 9.110(a)(2) is different from rule 5.100 and appears to preclude appeals that rule 5.100 permits. In order to remove a possible trap to the practitioner who looks to rule 5.100 and is unaware of rule 9.110(a)(2), Krosschell urges us to delete all but the last sentence of rule 5.100 and to amend it to provide that the appeals of probate and guardianship orders are governed by the appellate rules. We agree and have so amended rule 5.100, as indicated in the appendix to this opinion.
The second comment regards the proposed amendment of rule 5.560, which would eliminate the requirement that the social security or tax identification number of a proposed guardian be included in a petition for appointment of guardian of an incapacitated person. Probate Rules Committee member Charles E. Ray has voiced his opposition to this amendment. Ray states that the guardian's social security number is a tool that aids the courts in administering these guardian-ships and in keeping track of the guardians. Ray urges the Court to delay implementation of the rule 5.560 changes until the rules include a requirement that the application for appointment as guardian include the guardian's social security number. We agree. Accordingly, we decline to implement that part of the proposed change to rule 5.560 at this time.
Rohan Kelley, John G. Grimsley, and John Arthur Jones also filed a motion to intervene and propose changes to rules 5.180 and 5.400. This Court granted the motion and the inter-venors' proposed amendments were published in the May 15, 1996, issue of The Florida Bar News. No comments dealing with the intervenors' proposed amendments were filed. The intervenors' proposed amendments are intended to conform to a 1995 amendment of section 738.6171, Florida Statutes, regarding disclosure of attorney fees. See eh. 95-401, § 2, at 3278-81, Laws of Fla. The rules committee had completed its committee work by the July 1, 1995, effective date of the statutory amendment and thus did not address this statutory change. At oral argument, Committee Chair Wilson Smith recommended adopting the interve-nors' proposals. Accordingly, rules 5.180 and 5.400 are amended to include the specific fee waiver disclosure requirements found in section 733.6171(9), Florida Statutes (1995).
After reviewing the report of the rules committee, the intervenors' proposals, and the comments filed by interested parties, we approve the appended amendments to the Florida Probate Rules. The amendments reflect the substantive changes recommended by the rules committee and the intervenors. However, we decline to delete the rule 5.560 requirement that the guardian's social security number be included on a petition for appointment of guardian until the committee addresses the concerns presented to this Court. We also amend rule 5.100 to ensure that it conforms with the appellate rules. New language is indicated by underscoring; deletions are indicated by strike-through type. The committee notes are offered for explanation and guidance only and are not adopted as an official part of the rules. The amendments shall become effective January 1,1997.
It is so ordered.
KOGAN, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW, GRIMES, HARDING, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.
. Proposed Florida Appellate Rule 9.110(a)(2) provides that in probate and guardian proceedings parties may seek review of orders that "finally determine a right or obligation of an interested person as defined in the Florida Probate Code." The Appellate Rules Committee Notes state that proposed subdivision (a)(2) is "not intended to change the definition of final order for appellate purposes" and that such orders "may be appealed before the administration of the probate or guardianship is complete and the fiduciary is discharged."