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47 verbatim mandatory provisions from OCAD 2023-04 Policies and procedures of the Family Law Division of the Circuit Court, Okaloosa County, Florida.
First Judicial Circuit. Check the order's own effective and rescission dates before relying on it. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
• POLICIES AND PROCEDURES OF THE FAMILY LAW DIVISION OF THE CIRCUIT COURT, OKALOOSA COUNTY, FLORIDA WHEREAS, the Circuit Court for Okaloosa County, Florida, has established a Family Law Division effective April 1, 1992, and WHEREAS, a primary purpose of the Family Law Division is to coordinate services to one family so that multiple cases involving one child will be heard by one judge; and WHEREAS, the Family Law Division shall have jurisdiction over the following matters: dissolution of marriage; annulment; support unconnected with dissolution of marriage; paternity; child support; • WHEREAS, to assist litigants with cases involving family issues; to avoid conflict and minimize inconvenience to the family; and to maximize all resources readily available to resolve family disputes in a fair, timely, efficient and cost effective manner, the following pretrial Orders are hereby approved and shall take effect upon the individual Family Law Circuit Judge in Okaloosa County directing the Clerk of Court for Okaloosa County to issue said Orders in the Family Law cases assigned to said Circuit Judge, and providing an authorized electronic signature of the assigned Family Law Circuit Judge; and WHEREAS, the Judges assigned to the Family Law Division agree to establish these uniform procedures and policies relative to family law cases, it is, therefore, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED: 1. • These administrative policies and procedures shall be effective June 5, 2023. 2. • The administrative directive shall apply to all proceedings filed in the Family Law Division of the Circuit Court, First Judicial Circuit, Okaloosa County, Florida. • Parties representing themselves and counsel of record for parties shall abide by these policies and procedures. • Whenever the term “counsel” appears in this directive, it shall be defined to include parties representing themselves. 3. • The Family Law Cover Sheet required by Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.100(c)(3) (Form 12.928) is required to be filed at the time a petition is filed by the party initiating the action. 4. • A Notice of Related Cases required by Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.545(d) and Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.100(d) (Form 12.900(h)) is required to be filed at the time the initial pleading is filed by the party initiating the action. • In any domestic relations case, counsel shall identify any related litigation, including dependency cases, even if the matter is closed. 5. • The Clerk of Court for Okaloosa County shall provide two copies of the Family Law Standing Pretrial Order to the petitioner in an original action for dissolution of marriage, upon the filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage. • The petitioner shall have a copy of the Order served upon the respondent, along with the summons and copy of the petition for dissolution of marriage. • The Order of Referral to Mediation shall apply to all such actions, except for those cases where all the issues have been agreed upon by the parties and are evidenced by an agreement or stipulation, in writing, signed by the parties and/or their respective attorneys and filed with the Clerk of Court at the time of the filing of the action. • The Clerk of Court for Okaloosa County shall provide two copies of the Order of Referral to Family Mediation to the party filing one of the aforementioned petitions at the time of filing. • The party filing the petition shall have a copy of the Order served upon the respondent along with the summons and copy of the petition. • The full name and Social Security Number of the party and the minor child(ren) must be provided in the party’s Notice of Social Security Number, in accordance with §§61.052(7), 61.052(8), 742.031(3), and 742.032(3), Florida Statutes (2022) (Form 12.902(j)). • Each child’s full name and date of birth must be provided in the UCCJEA Affidavit, Parenting Plan, and proposed Final Judgment, in accordance with Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425(b) and §61.522, Florida Statutes (2022). 9. • When required by Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Rule 12.285, financial affidavits must be timely filed by the parties. • Financial affidavits shall be filed in uncontested dissolutions whether the parties represented by counsel or appearing pro se, even though child support or alimony has been agreed upon in a Marital Settlement Agreement. • If there is a material change in either party’s financial circumstances during the pendency of the proceedings, an amended updated financial affidavit shall be filed no later than 5:00 p.m. • (CST) three (3) business days prior to the hearing or trial, unless a different deadline is imposed by Court Order. • The financial affidavit must be consistent with Form 12.902(b) or 12.902(c) of the Family Law Forms. • Unless it is waived by the parties, each party shall file a verified Certificate of Compliance with Mandatory Disclosure pursuant to Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285(j) (Form 12.932) indicating that the party has exchanged certain financial information with the other party. • All parties involved in dissolution of marriage cases involving minor children and paternity cases will be required to attend and successfully complete a Department of Children and Families (DCF) approved Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course, at the parties’ own expense, and file proof of completion of the course prior to the final judgment being entered in the case. • The Clerk of Court for Okaloosa County shall provide two copies of the Order to the petitioner in the aforementioned cases at the time of filing. • The party filing the petition shall have a copy of the Order served upon the respondent. • A child support guidelines worksheet must be prepared and presented to the Court by counsel for the party requesting an award of child support, whether at a temporary hearing, contested trial, modification of child support hearing, or uncontested final hearing where a Marital Settlement Agreement has been reached. • If opposing counsel does not stipulate to the correctness of the worksheet submitted, he or she must present a separate worksheet on behalf of his or her client. 13. • Motions to compel discovery and motions to compel another party to comply with certain requirements under the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure (i.e., filing a financial affidavit, Mandatory Disclosure) or an Order of the Court (i.e., for completion of an approved parenting course) will not be set for a hearing or addressed without a hearing unless the motion states that the moving party or attorney has contacted opposing counsel in writing and attempted to resolve the matter without a hearing, but that the matter could not be resolved informally. • The letter to the opposing party shall give him or her ten (10) days to respond to the discovery request or to comply with certain requirements under the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure or an Order of the Court, or to request an extension of time within which to comply. • The ten (10) day letter shall refer to the Rule or Order in which the opposing party is non-compliant. • The moving counsel shall submit the proposed Order to the Court with a copy to the opposing party, and the Order shall state that the Court will reserve jurisdiction to assess attorney’s fees and costs to the non-complying party. 14. • Continuances will not be granted without a hearing if the opposing party or attorney objects. 15. • The original Consent to Withdrawal must be attached to the Motion to Withdraw, and a proposed order shall be submitted to the Court for signature. • The client’s Consent to Withdrawal shall include a designation of the client’s primary email address and up to two secondary email addresses for service of documents pursuant to Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicia1 Administration 2.516(b)(1)(C). • The proposed Order shall include the client’s current or last known mailing and the client’s designated primary and secondary email addresses for service of future documents. • If the client does not sign a Consent to Withdrawal, a hearing is necessary, and notice shall be provided to the client of the hearing. 16. • The time listed on each notice shall be the time set for the entire hearing. 17. • Whenever enforcement of delinquent child support, alimony or other monetary payment arrearage is sought, moving counsel must present to the Court, with a copy provided to opposing counsel or party, a written calculation sheet showing how the arrearage was calculated. • If payments were required to be made through the Clerk of the Court or the State of Florida Disbursement Unit, a clerk’s certificate current as of the date of the last payment due prior to the hearing shall be obtained and presented to the Court, with a copy provided to opposing counsel or party. • If interest on the arrearage is requested, its amount and method of computation must likewise be shown on the written calculation sheet. 18. • Copies of all proposed Orders, being sent to the Court for signature must first be provided to opposing counsel, and that opposing counsel shall attempt to agree upon the form and content of the proposed order within five (5) days of receipt unless an extension is requested. • If opposing counsel consents to the form and content of a proposed Order, the party who prepared that proposed Order shall submit via electronic communication (i.e., e-mail) that Order to the Court indicating that opposing counsel consents to the entry of the proposed Order. • If opposing counsel objects to the form and content of a proposed Order and the parties cannot work out the discrepancies, the party who prepared that proposed Order shall indicate that upon submission of the proposed Order to the Court. • If a party is pro se, opposing counsel shall attempt to obtain any objection(s) to the form or content of the proposed Order within five (5) days of receipt unless an extension is requested. • If the pro se party consents to the form and content of a proposed Order, opposing counsel shall submit via electronic communication that Order to the Court indicating that the pro se party consents to the entry of the proposed Order. • If the pro se party objects to the form and content of a proposed Order and the parties cannot work out the discrepancies, opposing counsel shall indicate that upon submission of the proposed Order to the Court. • Upon electronic submission of any proposed Order to the Court, it is required that the party preparing such proposed Order or Judgment shall list all names and the current email and/or mailing addresses of all parties, including those acting pro se, to whom the proposed Order is to be distributed to. 19.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES OF THE FAMILY LAW DIVISION OF THE CIRCUIT COURT, OKALOOSA COUNTY, FLORIDA WHEREAS, the Circuit Court for Okaloosa County, Florida, has established a Family Law Division effective April 1, 1992, and WHEREAS, a primary purpose of the Family Law Division is to coordinate services to one family so that multiple cases involving one child will be heard by one judge; and WHEREAS, the Family Law Division shall have jurisdiction over the following matters: dissolution of marriage; annulment; support unconnected with dissolution of marriage; paternity; child support;
Reviewer note: Document sha256: c427a25ca25beb41ccd2edc10468bc3890790e3b50179e386e67d4b960045e23 (48226 bytes). BenchPath harvested this circuit itself because no research corpus existed for it. Extraction is conservative: mandatory-language sentences only, so this rule is a faithful subset of the order, never a summary of it. Text layer cleaned 2026-09-08 (Phase 3a): page markers removed; wording untouched. Text layer cleaned 2026-09-08 (Phase 3f): page headers/footers, ligatures and letter-spaced headings normalised; wording untouched. Verbatim from the order's own text layer, harvested 2026-07-24; whitespace normalised only. No OCR was used. Only sentences containing mandatory language (shall, must, may not, no later than, within N) are reproduced — the full document is in custody and is the controlling text. [moved from the text 2026-09-14]
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.