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25 verbatim mandatory provisions from 16-30-b.
Eighteenth 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. • MEDIATION - FAMILY MEDIATION MANDATORY REFERRAL OF ALL CONTESTED FAMILY LAW CASES TO MEDIATION _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Whereas, mediation is a process whereby a neutral third party acts to encourage the resolution of disputes through a non-adversarial process and assists the parties in reaching a mutually acceptable agreement; and Whereas, certain disputes that include family matters in marriage dissolution and post-dissolution proceedings, in domestic proceedings between unmarried parents, and modifications thereof; and matters of juvenile dependency can be amicably and expeditiously resolved through mediation prior to hearing by the Court; and Whereas, the mediation process can result in cost and schedule efficiencies to the parties; and Whereas, mediation of certain matters promotes prompt and efficient administration of justice by the Court; reduces litigation; and reduces Court dockets; and Whereas, applicable provisions of Florida Statute Chapter 44 - Mediation Alternatives to Judicial Action; • The Family Mediation Program (“Program”) shall be governed by applicable Florida Statutes and Rules of Procedure. • The Program office staff shall be responsible for scheduling mediations as ordered by the Court for matters including, but not limited to, shared parental responsibility, time-sharing, child support, alimony, , and division of property and debt, juvenile dependency, and any other domestic disputes appearing on the court docket. • This Program will be administered under the direction of the Office of the Trial Court Administrator and the Chief Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit and shall include both staff mediator(s) and contract mediators. 2. • The Family Mediation Program shall appoint only mediators who are Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediators. • The Program staff shall be responsible for referring applicable cases to private mediation. -- 1 of 3 -- 2 3. • Any party who seeks to schedule a final hearing for either a pre-judgment family law matter or a modification of a post- judgment matter, including domestic proceedings between unmarried parents, shall first participate in a mediation conference through the Family Mediation Program herein established, or through a private mediator, unless otherwise ordered by the Court. b. • Petitioner, or counsel of record, must notify the Mediation Office of any settlement or dismissal of the action prior to the mediation. 4. • Current Financial Affidavits for BOTH parties MUST be filed prior to obtaining an Order to Family Mediation. • If Financial Affidavits are not filed, the mediation will not be scheduled, and an Order to Family Mediation will not be issued. 5. • Pursuant to Florida Statute 44, upon motion or request of a party, the Court shall not refer any case to mediation if it finds there has been a history of domestic violence that would compromise the mediation process. • Fees defined by that Statute shall be paid in full by the parties prior to the scheduled mediation session(s). • Failure to pay all mediation fees prior to the scheduled mediation session(s) may result in the Court’s imposition of sanctions. b. • The Order to Family Mediation shall be accompanied by an invoice which identifies the mediation fee owed and the due date. • Fees must be paid prior to the scheduled mediation, whether or not the other party has paid the fees. • If applicable, an approved Application of Civil Indigent Status must be submitted to the Mediation Program on or before the payment due date. c. • If a party fails to pay an assessed mediation fee, the initial mediation shall be conducted. • Failure to pay a mediation fee shall result in the mediation office filing a report to the Court, identifying the party who failed to pay the fee pursuant to the applicable governing documents. e. • Parties and counsel must appear at the mediation conference on time and must pay the required mediation fee prior to the time the mediation conference is scheduled to begin. • Session length shall not be extended due to the failure of parties and/or counsel to arrive punctually or the failure to pay required fees. -- 2 of 3 -- 3 f. • If either party or counsel fails to appear or causes the mediation to be cancelled due to tardiness, that party, or counsel, shall be charged the combined total of both parties’ fees for the missed mediation session, regardless of indigency. • Approval to appear by telephone is required by the Mediation Office, at least ten (10) business days prior to the mediation session. • The party must live outside of Brevard, Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Indian River, and Volusia Counties; 2. • Any party requesting to appear by telephone shall submit a current Financial Affidavit and proof of income to the Mediation Office at least ten (10) business days prior to the mediation or their request will not be granted, and they will be expected to appear in person. • The Family Mediation Program shall keep a record of the case name, number, assigning judge, mediator, the attorneys, and the outcome of the mediation in all cases referred to the Family Mediation Program.
MEDIATION - FAMILY MEDIATION MANDATORY REFERRAL OF ALL CONTESTED FAMILY LAW CASES TO MEDIATION _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Whereas, mediation is a process whereby a neutral third party acts to encourage the resolution of disputes through a non-adversarial process and assists the parties in reaching a mutually acceptable agreement; and Whereas, certain disputes that include family matters in marriage dissolution and post-dissolution proceedings, in domestic proceedings between unmarried parents, and modifications thereof; and matters of juvenile dependency can be amicably and expeditiously resolved through mediation prior to hearing by the Court; and Whereas, the mediation process can result in cost and schedule efficiencies to the parties; and Whereas, mediation of certain matters promotes prompt and efficient administrati
Reviewer note: Document sha256: 045c60457522398a984ff377c3b73526ad4d4c029b744313d31d71071eac3447 (108111 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.
Judge Shull requires ALL motions set for special-set hearing to go to mediation before the hearing is held.
Judge Burkhart will not schedule a temporary-relief hearing until mediation has been held ON the temporary relief sought — mediation first, hearing second.
Judge Sharrit refers ALL cases to mediation (exceptions only by leave) and openly encourages Special Magistrates under Rule 1.490(b) to beat the hearing-time bottleneck.