IN THE INTEREST OF T. L. ET AL., MINOR CHILDREN, APPELLANTS,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1980-12-10
Nos. 78-2477/T4-296, 79-121/T4-371 and 79-290/T4-305
SHARP, J., concurs., DAUKSCH, C. J., concurs specially with opinion.
392 So. 2d 288 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1980) Caution
Cited by 8 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

In this consolidated appeal, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed the circuit court's adjudication of dependency for three minor children, rejecting the parents' challenges to the court's jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act and to the adequacy of legal representation and trial preparation time.


Holding

The failure to timely file the required information under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act constituted error but was not sufficient to deprive the court of jurisdiction, as other competent evidence established the court's jurisdiction. The court affirmed without addressing whether indigent parents have a right to court-appointed counsel because the mother was represented by counsel, and any prejudice from the denial of continuance was caused by counsel's actions rather than state action.


Headnotes

[1] A habeas corpus petition challenging temporary custody procedures is moot when a permanent adjudication of dependency has occurred.

[2] Failure to timely file information regarding a child's address and prior residences under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act is an error, but does not deprive the…

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Key Quotes

“While the failure of the court to require this information to be filed is error, it is not sufficient to deprive the court of jurisdiction.”

Establishes that procedural defects in compliance with the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act do not deprive a court of subject matter jurisdiction when other competent evidence supports jurisdiction.

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Facts & Procedural History

Three minor children were taken into custody by the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. An initial pleading to determine dependency was …

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Opinion of the Court
FRANK D. UPCHURCH, Jr., Judge.

FRANK D. UPCHURCH, Jr., Judge.

Three appeals have been consolidated for consideration. The first involves a habeas corpus petition directed at alleged improprieties of the court’s procedure in asserting temporary custody over minor children pending final adjudication of dependency. The issues raised in the habeas corpus petition are now moot because there has been a permanent adjudication of dependency; therefore, the petition for writ of habeas corpus is dismissed.

The adjudicatory hearing was concluded on December 8,1978, and the court entered its order finding the children dependent on December 14. Appellant took an appeal from that order. A further dependency order was rendered by the court on January 22, 1979, and appellant appealed from that order. Both appeals, for the purpose of this opinion, will be treated as one.

The questions raised on appeal are:

Whether the state’s failure to timely comply with the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act affected the circuit court’s jurisdiction over the subject matter. Whether the mother was entitled to court-appointed counsel and whether her counsel was given sufficient time to prepare for trial.

We find no reversible error and affirm. The Uniform Child Custody Act, sections 61.1302-61.1348, Florida Statutes (1979), regulates the conduct of “custody proceedings” which include dependency proceedings. § 61.1306(3), Fla.Stat. (1979).1 Section 61.132 of this act requires that:

[ E]very party in a custody proceeding, in his first pleading or in an affidavit at tached to that pleading, shall give information under oath as to the child’s present address, the places where the child has lived within the last five years, and the names and present addresses of the persons with whom the child has lived during that period.

In this case, the information was not filed until December 4, 1978, almost two months after the children were taken into custody and six weeks after the initial pleading to determine dependency was filed. Appellant contends that this requirement is jurisdictional. This argument ignores the express language of section 61.1308, Florida Statutes, which provides:

[ A] court of this state which is competent to decide child custody matters has jurisdiction to make a child custody determination by initial or modification decree if ... this state ... is the home state of the child at the time of commencement of the proceeding. . . .

This statute sets out the prerequisites for the exercise of the court’s jurisdiction. Detko/Roberts v. Stikelether, 370 So. 2d 383 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979). While the failure of the court to require this information to be filed is error, it is not sufficient to deprive the court of jurisdiction. There was other competent evidence apart from this filing for the court to determine that it had jurisdiction and the information was filed in time for the court’s consideration.2

As. to the second question, appellant argues that, even though she was indigent, the state never advised her of her right to counsel. There is some authority for the proposition that indigent parents are entitled to counsel at the state’s expense. In the Interest of R.W.H., 375 So. 2d 321 (Fla.2d DCA 1979); Davis v. Page, 618 F. 2d 374 (5th Cir. 1980). We need not address the point here because it is moot. Appellant was represented by counsel prior to the adjudicatory hearing.

The hearing was originally scheduled for October 27, but was continued until November 13 to give the appellant an opportunity to obtain counsel. Her attorney agreed to represent her on October 27. On November 13, after the hearing was underway and without previously moving to continue the hearing, counsel then moved to continue on the grounds that she was inadequately prepared. The judge denied the continuance. Appellant claims this denial prevented her from adequately presenting her side of the case. The second part of the hearing was scheduled for December 8. In denying the motion to continue, the judge announced that the appellant could present any rebuttal or impeachment evidence she deemed necessary to a complete presentation of her case at the December 8 hearing.

It therefore appears that if there were prejudice to appellant’s right to a fair hearing (and we do not so find), it was caused by her counsel rather than by any action of the state. It was also incumbent upon the trial judge to hold the adjudicatory hearing within ninety (90) days from the date the children were taken into custody. Fla.R. Juv.P. 8.180(b), (c).

AFFIRMED.

SHARP, J., concurs.

DAUKSCH, C. J., concurs specially with opinion.

. This section provides:

‘Custody proceeding’ includes proceedings in which a custody determination is one of several issues, such as an action for dissolution of marriage or separation, and includes child neglect and dependency proceedings. (Emphasis added.)

. Fla.R.Juv.P. 8.110(c), (d).

Concurrence
DAUKSCH, Chief Judge,

DAUKSCH, Chief Judge,

concurring specially:

While I concur in the result reached, I do have a comment. I do not think the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act has anything to do with this matter because the children and the mother are residents of Florida and there is no hint in the record of any interstate involvement in the custody or dependency of these children. See Adams v. Adams, 374 So. 2d 29 (Fla.3d DCA 1979).

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Citator

Cited By

  • Strommen v. Strommen, 927 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)
    …ction. However, failing to file the section 61.132affidavit is not in itself fatal to jurisdiction, despite the concededly broad language of Mouzon and its progeny. For example, in In re T.L. v. State, Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services, 392 So. 2d 288 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980), the Fifth District found that failure to file the UCCJA affidavit did not deprive a court of subject matter jurisdiction because there was sufficient information from which the court could determine that it had jurisdiction. Cle…
  • Walt v. Walt, 574 So. 2d 205 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
    …tion to make the child custody determination under the UCCJA “because of inadequate compliance with the requirements of section 61.132, Florida Statutes.” 458 So. 2d at 389. The husband relies on In the Interest of T.L. v. State, Department of HRS, 392 So. 2d 288 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980),,as supporting his argument that failure to timely file the required information did not preclude the Mississippi court from acquiring jurisdiction. In that case, HRS instituted dependency proceedings but failed to timely file th…
  • Courtney v. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs., 667 So. 2d 504 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)
    …ad significant involvement with the parents during the proceedings leading up to the dispositional hearing, especially with regard to their understanding of their right to counsel. See T.L. v. State, Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, 392 So. 2d 288 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). As for the parents’ second argument that the trial court erred by failing to set forth sufficient findings of fact in support of the dependency order, section 39.409, Florida Statutes (1991) requires only that the trial court “…

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