Senate Bill 2510c1

    Florida Senate - 1999                           CS for SB 2510

    By the Committee on Judiciary and Senator Diaz-Balart





    308-1971-99

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to fees for self-help services;

  3         creating s. 25.389, F.S.; authorizing the chief

  4         judge of each circuit to establish the amount

  5         of the fees in certain cases; amending s.

  6         25.388, F.S.; providing for funds to be

  7         deposited in the Family Courts Trust Fund;

  8         providing an effective date.

  9

10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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12         Section 1.  Section 25.389, Florida Statutes, is

13  created to read:

14         25.389  Fees for services to self-represented litigants

15  in family-law cases.--

16         (1)  A self-help fee not to exceed $50 may be assessed

17  to self-represented litigants in family-law cases for the

18  forms necessary for one action and related services. No other

19  fee may be assessed for family-law self-help services. The

20  chief judge of each judicial circuit shall establish the

21  amount of the fee and may include a waiver of the fee for

22  indigency. The chief judge shall determine the specific

23  services available in a circuit; however, the services

24  provided shall be limited by rules of the Supreme Court. The

25  amount of the maximum fee shall be adjusted annually by the

26  Chief Justice on January 1, based upon the most recent

27  adjustment to the consumer price index.

28         (2)  Fees shall be paid to the clerk of the court. The

29  clerk may retain a handling fee of $1.50 and shall deposit the

30  remainder of the funds in the Family Courts Trust Fund.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999                           CS for SB 2510
    308-1971-99




  1         (3)  The fees assessed under this section may be

  2  recovered as costs pursuant to s. 61.16.

  3         Section 2.  Subsection (3) of section 25.388, Florida

  4  Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended to read:

  5         25.388  Family Courts Trust Fund.--

  6         (3)  The trust fund shall be funded with moneys

  7  generated from fees assessed pursuant to ss. 28.101, 25.389,

  8  and 741.01(4).

  9         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

10  law.

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12          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
13                             SB 2510

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15  Clarifies that the bill's provisions apply only to litigants
    in family law cases.
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    Expressly establishes that no other fee may be assessed for
17  family law self-help services.

18  Provides that any self-help fees assessed under this section
    may be recovered as costs pursuant to s. 61.16, F.S.
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    Changes the amount the clerk of the court may retain as a
20  handling fee from 1% to $1.50.

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