Court Opinion

ID: 9781005
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 15:10:18.404784+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:34:17.150747
License: Public Domain

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
                             FOURTH DISTRICT

                          YOLANDO V. GREEN,
                              Appellant,

                                     v.

                           SHARON FARMER,
                               Appellee.

                              No. 4D22-2837

                            [August 30, 2023]

  Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, St.
Lucie County; Laurie E. Buchanan, Judge; L.T. Case No.
562022DR001435.

   Christopher V. Butler of Butler Legal P.A., Sanford, for appellant.

   No appearance for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

    Yolando Green appeals the circuit court’s order granting immediate
exclusive custody and care of a minor child to Sharon Farmer, the child’s
maternal grandmother. Because Farmer did not qualify under the statute
for temporary custody, we reverse the court’s order and remand for entry
of a dismissal without prejudice.

   Chapter 751 , Florida Statutes (2022), allows extended family members
to seek temporary custody of minors. The statute allows proceedings to
be brought by “(a) [a]ny extended family member who has the signed,
notarized consent of the child’s legal parents; or (b) [a]ny extended family
member who is caring full time for the child in the role of a substitute
parent and with whom the child is presently living.” § 751.02(1)(a)–(b),
Fla. Stat. (2022).

    Farmer filed a petition for temporary custody and was awarded
temporary custody. But Farmer was not caring for the minor when she
filed the petition. Nor did she have the consent of a parent of the minor.
As a result, she did not qualify under the statute to receive temporary
custody.
   We remand for dismissal without prejudice, as we recognize
proceedings pending when this appeal was filed may impact Farmer’s
entitlement to proceed under the statute.

  Reversed and remanded.

WARNER, DAMOORGIAN and KUNTZ, JJ., concur.

                         *        *          *

    Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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