Family Law

Florida Senate
-
2026

CS for SB 1128

By
the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Grall

590-02738-26 20261128c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to family law; amending s. 61.13,
3 F.S.; requiring that certain time-sharing matters be
4 accorded priority on a court’s calendar; providing
5 procedural requirements for evidentiary hearings on
6 motions seeking to establish temporary parental
7 responsibility and time-sharing and on motions to
8 enforce compliance with existing time-sharing orders;
9 requiring the Office of the State Courts Administrator
10 to prepare and publish on its website a publicly
11 accessible annual report for certain evidentiary
12 hearings held in each judicial circuit; requiring that
13 the report include specified information; requiring
14 the office to submit the report to the Legislature;
15 prohibiting the reports from containing certain
16 personal identifying information; authorizing the
17 Supreme Court to adopt rules; amending s. 742.031,
18 F.S.; requiring, rather than authorizing, a court to
19 make a determination of appropriate parenting plans in
20 certain proceedings; deleting provisions requiring the
21 obligee parent to receive, or the mother to be
22 presumed to have, all time-sharing and sole parental
23 responsibility under certain circumstances; providing
24 an effective date.
25
26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28 Section 1. Subsection (10) is added to section 61.13,
29 Florida Statutes, to read:
30 61.13 Support of children; parenting and time-sharing;
31 powers of court
; evidentiary hearing reports
.—
32
(10)
(a)

The following time-sharing matters must be accorded

33
priority on the court’s calendar:

34
1.
An evidentiary hearing on an initial
verified motion

35
affirmatively
seeking
to establish
temporary parental

36
responsibility and time-sharing
. Such motion must be filed

37
separately from the initial petition for dissolution or petition

38
to establish paternity, as applicable. The initiating party must

39
attach
a proposed
t
emporary
p
arenting
p
lan
to the motion. The

40
responding party must file and serve a proposed temporary

41
parenting plan within 10 days after receipt of service of the

42
verified motion and attached proposed temporary parenting plan.

43
However, failure of the responding party to file or serve a

44
proposed temporary parenting plan is not a bar to moving forward

45
on the motion. Portions
of
the
proposed
temporary p
arenting

46
p
lan
s

which are not in dispute
must be adopted as a voluntary

47
agreed schedule between the
parties
. Absent good cause, the

48
court
shall

conduct
a hearing on the contested issues
within
30

49
days after the
motion is served
. The court may not refer the

50
parties to mediation as a condition precedent to the court

51
setting or conducting
a hearing
unless the court has
the consent

52
of both parties. The court
shall
issue an order on temporary

53
parental responsibility and time-sharing
within
30 days after

54
the
conclusion of the
evidentiary hearing.

55
2.
An evidentiary hearing on a motion to enforce compliance

56
with an existing time-sharing order.
The
court
shall

conduct
a

57
hearing
on
a motion seeking to enforce compliance with an

58
existing time-sharing order
within
5 business days after the

59
motion is
served
. If the judge assigned to the case is not able

60
to conduct the hearing within 5 business days, a
n available

61
family division
judge must
conduct
the hearing
during regular

62
business hours.
The court shall issue an order within
5
days

63
after the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing.

64
(b)1. Beginning July 1, 2027, and annually each July 1

65
thereafter, the Office of the State Courts Administrator shall

66
prepare and publish on its website a publicly accessible annual

67
report on evidentiary hearings held under paragraph (a) in each

68
judicial circuit. The report must include, at a minimum, all of

69
the following:

70
a. The number of evidentiary hearings held under

71
subparagraphs (a)1. and 2.

72
b. The average time from the filing of a motion to the

73
issue of an order.

74
c. Rates of compliance with the statutory timeframes for

75
rulings on motions.

76
2. Upon publication, the Office of the State Courts

77
Administrator shall submit the report to the President of the

78
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

79
3. Reports prepared under this paragraph may not contain

80
personal identifying information of litigants or minor children.

81
4. The Supreme Court may adopt rules to implement this

82
paragraph, including data collection and reporting standards.

83 Section 2. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 742.031,
84 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
85 742.031 Hearings; court orders for support, hospital
86 expenses, and attorney fees.—
87 (1) Hearings for the purpose of establishing or refuting
88 the allegations of the complaint and answer must be held in the
89 chambers and may be restricted to persons, in addition to the
90 parties involved and their counsel, as the judge in his or her
91 discretion may direct. The court shall determine the issues of
92 paternity of the child and the ability of the
parties

parents
to
93 support the child. Each party’s social security number must be
94 recorded in the file containing the adjudication of paternity.
95 If the court finds that the alleged father is the father of the
96 child, it must so order. If appropriate, the court may order the
97 father to pay the complainant, her guardian, or any other person
98 assuming responsibility for the child moneys sufficient to pay
99 reasonable attorney fees, hospital or medical expenses, cost of
100 confinement, and any other expenses incident to the birth of the
101 child and to pay all costs of the proceeding. Bills for
102 pregnancy, childbirth, and scientific testing are admissible as
103 evidence without requiring third-party foundation testimony and
104 constitute prima facie evidence of amounts incurred for such
105 services or for testing on behalf of the child. The court shall
106 order either or both
parties

parents
owing a duty of support to
107 the child to pay support under chapter 61. The court must issue,
108 upon motion by a party, a temporary order requiring child
109 support for a minor child under s. 61.30 pending an
110 administrative or judicial determination of parentage if there
111 is clear and convincing evidence of paternity on the basis of
112 genetic tests or other evidence. The court
shall

may
also make a
113 determination of an appropriate parenting plan, including a
114 time-sharing schedule, in accordance with chapter 61.
115
(2) If a judgment of paternity contains only a child

116
support award with no parenting plan or time-sharing schedule,

117
the obligee parent shall receive all of the time-sharing and

118
sole parental responsibility without prejudice to the obligor

119
parent. If a paternity judgment contains no such provisions, the

120
mother shall be presumed to have all of the time-sharing and

121
sole parental responsibility
.

122 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.