Senate Bill 0962

    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 962

    By Senator Geller





    29-424-00

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to parent-child privilege;

  3         creating s. 90.5045, F.S.; creating a

  4         parent-child privilege to prevent disclosure of

  5         communications that were intended to be made in

  6         confidence; providing proceedings in which the

  7         privilege does not exist; providing for waiver

  8         of the privilege; providing an effective date.

  9

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

11

12         Section 1.  Section 90.5045, Florida Statutes, is

13  created to read:

14         90.5045  Parent-child privilege.--

15         (1)  A child and the parent of that child have a

16  privilege, because of the family relationship, to refuse to

17  disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing,

18  communications that were intended to be made in confidence

19  between them.

20         (2)  The privilege may be claimed by either the child

21  or the parent, or by the guardian or conservator of the child

22  or parent. The authority of a child or the child's parent, or

23  guardian or conservator of the child or parent, to claim the

24  privilege is presumed in the absence of contrary evidence.

25         (3)  There is no privilege under this section:

26         (a)  In any proceeding brought by or on behalf of the

27  child against the child's parent.

28         (b)  In any proceeding brought by or on behalf of the

29  child's parent against the child.

30         (c)  In a criminal proceeding in which the child is

31  charged with a crime committed at any time against the person

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






    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 962
    29-424-00




  1  or property of the child's parent, or the person or property

  2  of any other child of the child's parent.

  3         (d)  In a criminal proceeding in which the child's

  4  parent is charged with a crime committed at any time against

  5  the person or property of the child, or the person or property

  6  of a child of the child.

  7         (e)  In any criminal or other governmental

  8  investigation involving allegations of sexual abuse, physical

  9  abuse, neglect, abandonment, or nonsupport of a child by a

10  parent of that child.

11         (f)  In any criminal or other governmental

12  investigation involving allegations of sexual or physical

13  abuse of a parent by a child of that parent.

14         (g)  In any proceeding governed by the Florida Family

15  Law Rules of Procedure or Florida Juvenile Rules of Procedure.

16         (4)  This privilege may be waived if both the parent

17  and the child expressly consent to the disclosure of the

18  communications; however, if the child has not reached majority

19  or been otherwise emancipated, the child's stated consent is

20  invalid or ineffective unless it is approved by a court of

21  competent jurisdiction, which approval must be withheld unless

22  approval of the stated consent would serve the best interests

23  of the child.

24         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.

25

26            *****************************************

27                          SENATE SUMMARY

28    Establishes a parent-child privilege to prevent
      disclosure of communications that were intended to be
29    made in confidence between them. Specifies certain
      proceedings in which the privilege may not be asserted.
30    Provides for a waiver of the privilege under certain
      circumstances.
31

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