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The Florida Senate

2015 Florida Statutes

Title XLIII DOMESTIC RELATIONS
Chapter 744 GUARDIANSHIP Entire Chapter
SECTION 107
Court monitors.
F.S. 744.107
744.107 Court monitors.—
(1) The court may, upon inquiry from any interested person or upon its own motion in any proceeding over which it has jurisdiction, appoint a monitor. The court shall not appoint as a monitor a family member or any person with a personal interest in the proceedings. The order of appointment shall be served upon the guardian, the ward, and such other persons as the court may determine.
(2) The monitor may investigate, seek information, examine documents, or interview the ward and shall report to the court his or her findings. The report shall be verified and shall be served on the guardian, the ward, and such other persons as the court may determine.
(3) If it appears from the monitor’s report that further action by the court to protect the interests of the ward is necessary, the court shall, after a hearing with notice, enter any order necessary to protect the ward or the ward’s estate, including amending the plan, requiring an accounting, ordering production of assets, freezing assets, suspending a guardian, or initiating proceedings to remove a guardian.
(4) Unless otherwise prohibited by law, a monitor may be allowed a reasonable fee as determined by the court and paid from the property of the ward. No full-time state, county, or municipal employee or officer shall be paid a fee for such investigation and report. If the court finds the motion for court monitor to have been filed in bad faith, the costs of the proceeding, including attorney’s fees, may be assessed against the movant.
1(5) The court may appoint the office of criminal conflict and civil regional counsel as monitor if the ward is indigent.
History.—ss. 18, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 10, ch. 89-96; s. 4, ch. 90-271; s. 1068, ch. 97-102; s. 2, ch. 2006-77; s. 2, ch. 2015-83.
1Note.—Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides that “[s]ections 709.2109 and 744.3203, Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, 744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, 744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, 2015.”