IN THE INTEREST OF R.G. AND Z.G. B.G., THE NATURAL FATHER OF R.G. AND Z.G., APPELLANT,
v.
THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court reversed a parental rights termination order because the trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over the father, as the summons failed to comply with Rule 8.505's mandatory language requirements and did not indicate service of the petition.
A parental rights termination order must be reversed when the summons fails to include the statutory warning language required by Rule 8.505, Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, and does not indicate that the petition was served with the summons.
[1] Parental rights termination requires strict compliance with Rule 8.505's mandatory summons language to establish personal jurisdiction over the parent.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“You must either appear on the date and at the time specified or send a written response to the court before that time. Your failure to appear or respond may be treated as consent to the termination of your parental rights and you may lose all legal rights as a parent to the child or children named in the petition attached to the summons.”
Required language that must be included in summons under Rule 8.505, Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure
B.G., the natural father of R.G. and Z.G., was served with a summons in a parental rights termination proceeding. The summons lacked the required stat…
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PER CURIAM.
The appealed order terminating the father’s parental rights must be reversed because the court did not obtain personal jurisdiction over the father in accordance with the requirements of law, and the error was adequately preserved by timely objection to such jurisdiction. The summons issued and served did not include the language required by rule 8.505, Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, to adequately advise the parent of the consequences of not responding and appearing at the stipulated date and time.1 Furthermore, the return of service indicated that a copy of the summons was served on the parent, but did not indicate that a copy of the petition was served with the summons.
REVERSED.
ZEHMER, BARFIELD and WEBSTER, JJ., concur. . That rule provides in part:
The summons shall notify the required persons of the filing of the petition and shall contain the following language:
"You must either appear on the date and at the time specified or send a written response to the court before that time. Your failure to appear or respond may be treated as consent to the termination of your parental rights and you may lose all legal rights as a parent to the child or children named in the petition attached to the summons."
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Guardian AD Litem Program v. In the Interest of K.D. and R.A., 864 So. 2d 1213 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)…So. 2d 1038, 1041 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (observing that without proper service of process upon a defendant in a termination proceeding, “the court lacks personal jurisdiction over the defendant”); B.G. v. Fla. [*1215] Dep’t of Health & Rehab. Servs., 611 So. 2d 71 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). We read the language of rule 8.500(f) — that the “court loses jurisdiction unless another party adopts the petition within 72 hours” — as dispensing with the requirement that the petition be re-served upon the parent. Thus, we r…