Case Name: In re AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA FAMILY LAW RULES
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2008-10-16
Citations: 995 So. 2d 407
Docket Number: No. SC08-92
Parties: In re AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA FAMILY LAW RULES.
Judges: QUINCE, C.J., and WELLS, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, and LEWIS, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 995
Pages: 407–445

Head Matter:
In re AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA FAMILY LAW RULES.
No. SC08-92.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Oct. 16, 2008.
Robyn L. Vines, Chair, Family Law Rules Committee, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Raymond T. McNeal, Past Chair, Family Law Rules Committee, Ocala, FL, and John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, FL, for Petitioner.
Thomas J. Mato, Chief Counsel, Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Program, Tallahassee, FL, Responding with comments.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
We have for consideration the regular-cycle report of proposed rule amendments filed by the Florida Bar's Family Law Rules Committee. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.
BACKGROUND
The Family Law Rules Committee submitted its regular-cycle report recommending various amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure and family law forms. The committee proposed amendments to rules 12.015, Family Law Forms; 12.040, Attorneys; 12.310, Depositions Upon Oral Examination; 12.400, Confidentiality of Records and Proceedings; 12.410, Subpoena; 12.490, General Magistrates; 12.610, Injunctions for Domestic, Repeat, Dating, and Sexual Violence; 12.650, Override of Family Violence Indicator; and 12.750, Family Self-Help Programs. The committee also proposes new forms 12.900(g), Agreement Limiting Representation, and 12.900(h), Notice of Related Cases, as well as amendments to forms 12.930(c), Standard Family Law Interrogatories for Modification Proceedings, 12.982(c), Petition for Change of Name (Minor Children), and 12.982(f), Petition for Change of Name (Family). The proposals were published for comment in The Florida Bar News on March 1, 2008. The Florida Department of Revenue filed a comment with regard to the proposed amendment to rule 12.040 and proposed new form 12.900(h) and a request for oral argument. Oral argument was heard in this matter on June 10, 2008.
AMENDMENTS
After consideration of the committee's report, the comments filed, and the parties' presentations at oral argument, we adopt the amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules as proposed by the committee with one exception. In 2003, the Court adopted Florida Family Law Rule 12.040, Attorneys, in Amendments to the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar & the Family Law Rules of Procedure (Unbundled Legal Services), 860 So.2d 394 (Fla.2003). The main purpose of rule 12.040 is to provide the appropriate procedure to allow a litigant in a family law case to retain an attorney for limited representation. The rule requires an attorney who is providing such representation to file a notice of limited appearance, the purpose of which is to provide notice to the court and to opposing parties of the limited scope of the attorney's representation of the litigant. After adopting the rule, the Court requested that the committee clarify whether the rule applied to attorneys for the Department of Revenue. In its report in this case, the committee responded that it intended that the rule apply to attorneys for the Department when the Department is involved in Title IV-D proceedings to determine paternity or establish, enforce, or modify an obligation of support or whenever the Department intervenes in a non-IV-D proceeding. In addition, the committee proposed adding new subdivision (c)(2) to the rule to provide:
(2) An attorney for the LV-D child support enforcement agency who appears in a family law matter governed by these rules, whether in an initial proceeding or in any subsequent modification or enforcement action in the proceeding, shall file a notice [of limited appearance] in compliance with subdivisions (c)(1) and (e) which shall also state: whether the recipient of IV-D services is a party to the case; any limits on the legal services being performed for the recipient of IV-D services; any limits on the issues that may be addressed by the attorney during the proceeding.
The Department of Revenue filed a comment objecting to this proposed amendment. While the Department does not object to the committee's determination that rule 12.040 applies to its attorneys under the stated circumstances, the Department's position is that the attorney represents only the IV-D agency and not the recipient of the IV-D services and thus, the notice of limited representation filed by the attorney should clarify the attorney's representation of the IV-D agency only and the limited issues the attorney is authorized to address in representing the IV-D agency as a party in the proceeding. In light of its position, the Department has proposed alternative language for new subdivision (c)(2) as follows:
An attorney for the State's Title IVD child support enforcement agency who appears in a family law matter governed by these rules shall file a notice informing the recipient of Title IV-D services and other parties to the case that the IV-D attorney represents only the Title IV-D agency and not the recipient of IV-D services. The notice must state that the IV-D attorney may only address issues concerning determination of paternity, and establishment, modification, and enforcement of support obligations. The notice may be incorporated into a pleading, motion, or other paper filed with the court when the attorney first appears.
We adopt this alternative language as proposed by the Department of Revenue.
As noted, other amendments to the Family Law Rules are adopted as proposed by the committee. A committee note is added to rules 12.310, Depositions Upon Oral Examination, and 12.410, Subpoena, to draw attention to the requirements of rule 12.407, Testimony and Attendance of Minor Child, which requires court approval before a child is deposed or is subpoenaed to appear at a hearing. Subdivision (f) of rule 12.490, General Magistrates, is amended to clarify that exceptions to a general magistrate's report should be "filed" within 10 days of service of the report. Similarly, subdivision (g) of rule 12.492, Special Magistrates, is amended to clarify that exceptions to a special magistrate's report must be "filed" within ten days of service of the report, and that cross-exceptions be filed within five days of the "filing" of the exceptions.
Along with the rule amendments discussed above, two new forms are adopted, forms 12.900(g), Agreement Limiting Representation, and 12.900(h), Notice of Related Cases. Form 12.900(g) is a retainer agreement for unbundled legal services and is intended to be used as a "rider" or supplemental agreement, in addition to a standard attorney-client fee agreement. New form 12.900(h) is for use in complying with Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.545(d), which requires the petitioner in a family law case to file with the court a notice of related cases.
Several existing forms are also amended. Item 4.d.(4) of form 12.903(c), Standard Family Law Interrogatories for Modification Proceedings, is amended to request the "present" value of the party's interest in a pension. The instructions to and the introductory portion of form 12.982(c), Petition for Change of Name (Minor Children), are amended to require that the petitioner's, not the child's, fingerprints be attached to the petition. Similarly, the instructions to and the introductory portion of form 12.982(f), Petition for Change of Name (Family), are amended to require that each adult family member's fingerprints be attached to the petition.
CONCLUSION
The Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure are hereby amended as set forth in the appendix to this opinion. New language is indicated by underscoring; deletions are indicated by struck-through type. The committee notes are offered for explanation only and are not adopted as an official part of the rules. The amended family law forms are set forth fully engrossed and ready for use. The amendments shall become effective January 1, 2009, at 12:01 a.m.
It is so ordered.
QUINCE, C.J., and WELLS, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, and LEWIS, JJ., concur.
QUINCE, C.J., specially concurs with an opinion.
CANADY and POLSTON, JJ., did not participate.
. Rule 12.015, Family Law Forms, contains a list of Family Law Rules of Procedure Forms. This rule is amended to add the two new forms adopted in this case, form 12.900(g), Agreement Limiting Representation, and 12.900(h), Notice of Related Cases, and to add form 12.913(c), Affidavit of Diligent Search, which was previously adopted by the Court in In re Amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, 962 So.2d 302 (Fla.2007).
. Minor editorial amendments are also made to a number of rules, including amendments to correct references to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, which have been renumbered.