Florida Senate - 2026 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1128
Ì537224ÊÎ537224
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
02/10/2026 .
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The Committee on Judiciary (Grall) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Subsection (10) is added to section 61.13,
6 Florida Statutes, to read:
7 61.13 Support of children; parenting and time-sharing;
8 powers of court; evidentiary hearing reports.—
9 (10)(a) The following time-sharing matters must be accorded
10 priority on the court’s calendar:
11 1. An evidentiary hearing on an initial verified motion
12 affirmatively seeking to establish temporary parental
13 responsibility and time-sharing. Such motion must be filed
14 separately from the initial petition for dissolution or petition
15 to establish paternity, as applicable. The initiating party must
16 attach a proposed temporary parenting plan to the motion. The
17 responding party must file and serve a proposed temporary
18 parenting plan within 10 days after receipt of service of the
19 verified motion and attached proposed temporary parenting plan.
20 However, failure of the responding party to file or serve a
21 proposed temporary parenting plan is not a bar to moving forward
22 on the motion. Portions of the proposed temporary parenting
23 plans which are not in dispute must be adopted as a voluntary
24 agreed schedule between the parties. Absent good cause, the
25 court shall conduct a hearing on the contested issues within 30
26 days after the motion is served. The court may not refer the
27 parties to mediation as a condition precedent to the court
28 setting or conducting a hearing unless the court has the consent
29 of both parties. The court shall issue an order on temporary
30 parental responsibility and time-sharing within 30 days after
31 the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing.
32 2. An evidentiary hearing on a motion to enforce compliance
33 with an existing time-sharing order. The court shall conduct a
34 hearing on a motion seeking to enforce compliance with an
35 existing time-sharing order within 5 business days after the
36 motion is served. If the judge assigned to the case is not able
37 to conduct the hearing within 5 business days, an available
38 family division judge must conduct the hearing during regular
39 business hours. The court shall issue an order within 5 days
40 after the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing.
41 (b)1. Beginning July 1, 2027, and annually each July 1
42 thereafter, the Office of the State Courts Administrator shall
43 prepare and publish on its website a publicly accessible annual
44 report on evidentiary hearings held under paragraph (a) in each
45 judicial circuit. The report must include, at a minimum, all of
46 the following:
47 a. The number of evidentiary hearings held under
48 subparagraphs (a)1. and 2.
49 b. The average time from the filing of a motion to the
50 issue of an order.
51 c. Rates of compliance with the statutory timeframes for
52 rulings on motions.
53 2. Upon publication, the Office of the State Courts
54 Administrator shall submit the report to the President of the
55 Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
56 3. Reports prepared under this paragraph may not contain
57 personal identifying information of litigants or minor children.
58 4. The Supreme Court may adopt rules to implement this
59 section, including data collection and reporting standards.
60 Section 2. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 742.031,
61 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
62 742.031 Hearings; court orders for support, hospital
63 expenses, and attorney fees.—
64 (1) Hearings for the purpose of establishing or refuting
65 the allegations of the complaint and answer must be held in the
66 chambers and may be restricted to persons, in addition to the
67 parties involved and their counsel, as the judge in his or her
68 discretion may direct. The court shall determine the issues of
69 paternity of the child and the ability of the parties parents to
70 support the child. Each party’s social security number must be
71 recorded in the file containing the adjudication of paternity.
72 If the court finds that the alleged father is the father of the
73 child, it must so order. If appropriate, the court may order the
74 father to pay the complainant, her guardian, or any other person
75 assuming responsibility for the child moneys sufficient to pay
76 reasonable attorney fees, hospital or medical expenses, cost of
77 confinement, and any other expenses incident to the birth of the
78 child and to pay all costs of the proceeding. Bills for
79 pregnancy, childbirth, and scientific testing are admissible as
80 evidence without requiring third-party foundation testimony and
81 constitute prima facie evidence of amounts incurred for such
82 services or for testing on behalf of the child. The court shall
83 order either or both parties parents owing a duty of support to
84 the child to pay support under chapter 61. The court must issue,
85 upon motion by a party, a temporary order requiring child
86 support for a minor child under s. 61.30 pending an
87 administrative or judicial determination of parentage if there
88 is clear and convincing evidence of paternity on the basis of
89 genetic tests or other evidence. The court shall may also make a
90 determination of an appropriate parenting plan, including a
91 time-sharing schedule, in accordance with chapter 61.
92 (2) If a judgment of paternity contains only a child
93 support award with no parenting plan or time-sharing schedule,
94 the obligee parent shall receive all of the time-sharing and
95 sole parental responsibility without prejudice to the obligor
96 parent. If a paternity judgment contains no such provisions, the
97 mother shall be presumed to have all of the time-sharing and
98 sole parental responsibility.
99 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.
100
101 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
102 And the title is amended as follows:
103 Delete everything before the enacting clause
104 and insert:
105 A bill to be entitled
106 An act relating to family law; amending s. 61.13,
107 F.S.; requiring that certain time-sharing matters be
108 accorded priority on a court’s calendar; providing
109 procedural requirements for evidentiary hearings on
110 motions seeking to establish temporary parental
111 responsibility and time-sharing and on motions to
112 enforce compliance with existing time-sharing orders;
113 requiring the Office of the State Courts Administrator
114 to prepare and publish on its website a publicly
115 accessible annual report for certain evidentiary
116 hearings held in each judicial circuit; requiring that
117 the report include specified information; requiring
118 the office to submit the report to the Legislature;
119 prohibiting the reports from containing certain
120 personal identifying information; authorizing the
121 Supreme Court to adopt rules; amending s. 742.031,
122 F.S.; requiring, rather than authorizing, a court to
123 make a determination of appropriate parenting plans in
124 certain proceedings; deleting provisions requiring the
125 obligee parent to receive, or the mother to be
126 presumed to have, all time-sharing and sole parental
127 responsibility under certain circumstances; providing
128 an effective date.