CS/HB 631

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to public records; amending s. 733.604,
3	F.S.; providing exemptions from public records
4	requirements for certain estate inventories and
5	accountings; requiring custodians to disclose certain
6	inventories or accountings to certain persons or by court
7	order; providing retroactive application; providing for
8	review and repeal of the exemptions; providing a statement
9	of public necessity; providing a contingent effective
10	date.
11
12	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14	Section 1.  Subsection (1) of section 733.604, Florida
15	Statutes, is amended to read:
16	733.604  Inventories and accountings; public records
17	exemptions Inventory.--
18	(1)(a)  Unless an inventory has been previously filed, a
19	personal representative shall file a verified inventory of
20	property of the estate, listing it with reasonable detail and
21	including for each listed item its estimated fair market value
22	at the date of the decedent's death. Unless otherwise ordered by
23	the court for good cause shown, the inventory or amended or
24	supplementary inventory is subject to inspection only by the
25	clerk of the court, the clerk's representative, the personal
26	representative, the personal representative's attorney, and
27	other interested persons.
28	(b)1.  Any inventory of an estate, whether initial,
29	amended, or supplementary, filed with the clerk of the court in
30	conjunction with the administration of an estate is confidential
31	and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
32	Constitution.
33	2.  Any inventory of an elective estate, whether initial,
34	amended, or supplementary, filed with the clerk of the court in
35	conjunction with an election made in accordance with part II of
36	chapter 732 is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s.
37	24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
38	3.  Any accounting, whether interim, final, amended, or
39	supplementary, filed in an estate proceeding is confidential and
40	exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
41	Constitution.
42	4.  Any inventory or accounting made confidential and
43	exempt by subparagraph 1., subparagraph 2., or subparagraph 3.
44	shall be disclosed by the custodian for inspection or copying:
45	a.  To the personal representative;
46	b.  To the personal representative's attorney;
47	c.  To an interested person as defined in s. 731.201; or
48	d.  By court order upon a showing of good cause.
49	5.  These exemptions apply to any inventory or accounting
50	filed before, on, or after July 1, 2009.
51	6.  This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset
52	Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
53	on October 2, 2014, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
54	through reenactment by the Legislature.
55	Section 2.  The Legislature finds that it is a public
56	necessity to exempt from public records requirements all
57	inventories of property of estates of decedents, including
58	amended and supplementary inventories, and all inventories of
59	elective estates of surviving spouses, whether initial, amended,
60	or supplementary. In addition, in order to preserve the privacy
61	of information that would otherwise be available in an
62	accounting filed in an estate proceeding, the Legislature finds
63	that it is a public necessity that all accountings, whether
64	interim, final, amended, or supplementary, filed in the estate
65	proceeding be made exempt from public records requirements. The
66	Legislature finds that the public disclosure of estate
67	inventories and accountings would make public financial
68	information of the decedent that would produce undue harm to the
69	heirs of the decedent or beneficiaries of the decedent's estate.
70	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2009, if
71	House Bill 599 or similar legislation is adopted in the same
72	legislative session or an extension thereof and becomes law.

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