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15 verbatim mandatory provisions from S-2015-048.
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. Check the order's own effective and rescission dates before relying on it. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
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. • In an effort to ensure that all parties adhere to the statutory and other requirements for adoption filings, it is necessary to adopt uniform procedures for filing documents and providing sufficient time for the court to review all pleadings and required filings prior to the final hearing. • Required Documents Filed Prior to Final Hearing The court must conduct a final hearing in all termination of parental rights pending adoption and adoption proceedings arising under chapter 63. -- 1 of 4 -- Petitioner(s) must file all documents required to be filed under chapter 63 at least 21 days in advance of the scheduled final hearing. • A petitioner's failure to file any required document at least 21 days in advance of a final hearing may result in the cancellation of the hearing by the court, unless the court recognizes good cause for a shortened time frame. • Termination of Parental Rights Pending Adoption Proceedings In addition to the documents required by section 63.087, Florida Statutes, other documents which must be timely filed prior to the hearing include, but are not limited to: • Certificate of search of the Florida Putative Father Registry (section 63.054, Florida Statutes); • All affidavits of inquiry, diligent search, and service (section 63.088, Florida Statutes); • A certified copy of the minor' s birth certificate as provided in section 4 of this administrative order; • Interview summaries or statements, if applicable (section 63.082(3)(b), Florida Statutes); and • Any acknowledgment or affidavit (section 63.085, Florida Statutes). • Adoptions Proceedings In addition to the documents required by section 63.112, Florida Statutes, other documents which must be timely filed prior to the hearing include, but are not limited to: • Report of the final home investigation, if applicable (section 63.125, Florida Statutes); • Affidavit of expenses and receipts, if applicable (section 63.132, Florida Statutes); and • Any acknowledgment or affidavit, if applicable (section 63.085, Florida Statutes). 4. • Accordingly, in termination of parental rights proceedings under Page 2 of4 -- 2 of 4 -- chapter 63 (including proceedings involving joint petitions), a certified copy of the child's birth certificate must be filed, except that if the child's adoptive name is listed on the birth certificate, the certified copy must be filed in the related adoption file and a copy with the child's adoptive name redacted must be filed in the termination of parental rights proceeding. 5. • Required Inquiry In any termination of parental rights pending adoption proceeding in which the Petitioner does not submit a sworn affidavit as prescribed by section 63.088(4), Florida Statutes, the Petitioner must ensure that the persons identified in that statutory subsection are present at the hearing and prepared to address each inquiry enumerated under the statute. • In addition, by way of notice filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Petitioner must alert the court of its intent to have the required inquiry conducted orally at the hearing. • The notice must be filed at least 30 days in advance of the final hearing. • Separate Proceedings Except in cases where joint petitions are expressly permitted under chapter 63, a petition for termination of parental rights pending adoption and the petition for adoption must be filed under separate case numbers. • Reports to the court of intended placement under section 63.092, Florida Statutes, and petitions for declaratory statement under section 63.102, Florida Statutes, if applicable, must be filed in the adoption proceeding. 7. • Statement Regarding Jurisdiction in TPR Proceedings If a Notice of Related Cases form (required in all actions filed in the Family Law Division under Administrative Order S-2014-022 (Unified Family Court)) or Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act information.(required in a petitioner's first pleading or an attached affidavit under section 61.522, Florida Statutes) lists a separate action that may affect the court's jurisdiction to proceed in the termination of parental rights proceeding, the Petitioner must file a Statement Regarding Jurisdiction either within the body of the petition, or as a stand-alone document at the time the original petition is filed. • The Statement Regarding Jurisdiction must contain a brief statement of the relationship of the actions and any other information relevant to the Court's jurisdiction to proceed. • The Petitioner must attach, or file no later than 21 days Page 3 of4 -- 3 of 4 -- prior to the final hearing, certified copies of the most recent order( s) from another court that (1) involves a child custody determination concerning the minor child; or (2) addresses the jurisdiction of that court over the child subject to the proceeding in this Court. • To the extent the Petitioner is unable to obtain the court order(s), Petitioner must state this and explain the circumstances arising within the Statement Regarding Jurisdiction. 8.
In an effort to ensure that all parties adhere to the statutory and other requirements for adoption filings, it is necessary to adopt uniform procedures for filing documents and providing sufficient time for the court to review all pleadings and required filings prior to the final hearing.
Reviewer note: Document sha256: cc201039c6cfc1349527808c5a7b6a90c88ae89374b41e9608aacca3d1138776 (1195114 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.
Florida follows the federal summary-judgment standard. The motion must be served at least 40 days before the hearing; the nonmovant's response is due no later than 20 days before the hearing.
How Florida procedural deadlines are computed: exclude the trigger day; count every day for periods of 7 days or more; for periods under 7 days, skip intermediate weekends and legal holidays; roll forward when the last day is a weekend or holiday.
Judge Siperstein requires every motion to be set within 5 days of filing and heard within 60 days, or it may be deemed abandoned.