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THE BILL ITSELF

CS/SB 1128

Family Law

VERSION S 1128 c1 · BACK TO THE SUMMARY · OFFICIAL RECORD

underlined language is being added; struck language is being deleted. Line numbers are the Legislature's own — the same ones amendments cite.

Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 1128 By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Grall 590-02738-26 20261128c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to family law; amending s. 61.13,
3 F.S.; requiring that certain time-sharing matters be
4 accorded priority on a court’s calendar; providing
5 procedural requirements for evidentiary hearings on
6 motions seeking to establish temporary parental
7 responsibility and time-sharing and on motions to
8 enforce compliance with existing time-sharing orders;
9 requiring the Office of the State Courts Administrator
10 to prepare and publish on its website a publicly
11 accessible annual report for certain evidentiary
12 hearings held in each judicial circuit; requiring that
13 the report include specified information; requiring
14 the office to submit the report to the Legislature;
15 prohibiting the reports from containing certain
16 personal identifying information; authorizing the
17 Supreme Court to adopt rules; amending s. 742.031,
18 F.S.; requiring, rather than authorizing, a court to
19 make a determination of appropriate parenting plans in
20 certain proceedings; deleting provisions requiring the
21 obligee parent to receive, or the mother to be
22 presumed to have, all time-sharing and sole parental
23 responsibility under certain circumstances; providing
24 an effective date.
26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
28 Section 1. Subsection (10) is added to section 61.13,
29 Florida Statutes, to read:
30 61.13 Support of children; parenting and time-sharing;
31 powers of court ; evidentiary hearing reports .—
32 (10)(a) The following time-sharing matters must be accorded
33 priority on the court’s calendar:
34 1. An evidentiary hearing on an initial verified motion
35 affirmatively seeking to establish temporary parental
36 responsibility and time-sharing. Such motion must be filed
37 separately from the initial petition for dissolution or petition
38 to establish paternity, as applicable. The initiating party must
39 attach a proposed temporary parenting plan to the motion. The
40 responding party must file and serve a proposed temporary
41 parenting plan within 10 days after receipt of service of the
42 verified motion and attached proposed temporary parenting plan.
43 However, failure of the responding party to file or serve a
44 proposed temporary parenting plan is not a bar to moving forward
45 on the motion. Portions of the proposed temporary parenting
46 plans which are not in dispute must be adopted as a voluntary
47 agreed schedule between the parties. Absent good cause, the
48 court shall conduct a hearing on the contested issues within 30
49 days after the motion is served. The court may not refer the
50 parties to mediation as a condition precedent to the court
51 setting or conducting a hearing unless the court has the consent
52 of both parties. The court shall issue an order on temporary
53 parental responsibility and time-sharing within 30 days after
54 the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing.
55 2. An evidentiary hearing on a motion to enforce compliance
56 with an existing time-sharing order. The court shall conduct a
57 hearing on a motion seeking to enforce compliance with an
58 existing time-sharing order within 5 business days after the
59 motion is served. If the judge assigned to the case is not able
60 to conduct the hearing within 5 business days, an available
61 family division judge must conduct the hearing during regular
62 business hours. The court shall issue an order within 5 days
63 after the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing.
64 (b)1. Beginning July 1, 2027, and annually each July 1
65 thereafter, the Office of the State Courts Administrator shall
66 prepare and publish on its website a publicly accessible annual
67 report on evidentiary hearings held under paragraph (a) in each
68 judicial circuit. The report must include, at a minimum, all of
69 the following:
70 a. The number of evidentiary hearings held under
71 subparagraphs (a)1. and 2.
72 b. The average time from the filing of a motion to the
73 issue of an order.
74 c. Rates of compliance with the statutory timeframes for
75 rulings on motions.
76 2. Upon publication, the Office of the State Courts
77 Administrator shall submit the report to the President of the
78 Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
79 3. Reports prepared under this paragraph may not contain
80 personal identifying information of litigants or minor children.
81 4. The Supreme Court may adopt rules to implement this
82 paragraph, including data collection and reporting standards.
83 Section 2. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 742.031,
84 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
85 742.031 Hearings; court orders for support, hospital
86 expenses, and attorney fees.—
87 (1) Hearings for the purpose of establishing or refuting
88 the allegations of the complaint and answer must be held in the
89 chambers and may be restricted to persons, in addition to the
90 parties involved and their counsel, as the judge in his or her
91 discretion may direct. The court shall determine the issues of
92 paternity of the child and the ability of the parties parents to
93 support the child. Each party’s social security number must be
94 recorded in the file containing the adjudication of paternity.
95 If the court finds that the alleged father is the father of the
96 child, it must so order. If appropriate, the court may order the
97 father to pay the complainant, her guardian, or any other person
98 assuming responsibility for the child moneys sufficient to pay
99 reasonable attorney fees, hospital or medical expenses, cost of
100 confinement, and any other expenses incident to the birth of the
101 child and to pay all costs of the proceeding. Bills for
102 pregnancy, childbirth, and scientific testing are admissible as
103 evidence without requiring third-party foundation testimony and
104 constitute prima facie evidence of amounts incurred for such
105 services or for testing on behalf of the child. The court shall
106 order either or both parties parents owing a duty of support to
107 the child to pay support under chapter 61. The court must issue,
108 upon motion by a party, a temporary order requiring child
109 support for a minor child under s. 61.30 pending an
110 administrative or judicial determination of parentage if there
111 is clear and convincing evidence of paternity on the basis of
112 genetic tests or other evidence. The court shall may also make a
113 determination of an appropriate parenting plan, including a
114 time-sharing schedule, in accordance with chapter 61.
115 (2) If a judgment of paternity contains only a child
116 support award with no parenting plan or time-sharing schedule,
117 the obligee parent shall receive all of the time-sharing and
118 sole parental responsibility without prejudice to the obligor
119 parent. If a paternity judgment contains no such provisions, the
120 mother shall be presumed to have all of the time-sharing and
121 sole parental responsibility.
122 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.