FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN & FAMILIES, PETITIONER,
v.
S.D., MOTHER, AND D.N., FATHER, RESPONDENTS
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The Florida Department of Children & Families sought to quash a trial court's custody release order that placed a child with the maternal grandmother during a shelter hearing following the death of the child's twin. The appellate court granted the petition because the trial court failed to include the statutorily required finding that the placement was in the child's best interest.
A trial court may not enter a custody release order without including the statutory finding that the placement is in the child's best interest as required by Florida Statute § 39.521(2)(r). The trial court departed from the essential requirements of law by failing to follow this statutory requirement.
[1] A trial court departs from the essential requirements of law by failing to make a statutorily required finding that placement of a child is in the child's best interest.
[2] A trial court's custody release order may be quashed by writ of certiorari when the court fails to follow statutory requirements for determining child placement.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The trial court departed from the essential requirements of the law by failing to follow this statutory requirement.”
Establishes that the trial court's omission of the statutorily required best-interest finding constituted reversible error.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceInfant Dei. N. was taken into DCF care on April 24, 2008, after the death of her twin, with allegations of abuse by the parents. A March 31, 2008 home…
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SUAREZ, J.
The Florida Department of Children & Families (“DCF”) petitions this court for a writ of certiorari and requests that we quash the trial court’s Custody Release Order dated April 24, 2008. We grant the petition.
Infant, Dei. N., was taken into DCF care for a second time on April 24, 2008. DCF filed the present affidavit and Petition for Placement after the death of Dei. N.’s twin on April 24, 2008, alleging abuse by the parents. The trial court started the shelter hearing on April 25, 2008, and was presented with a March 31, 2008 home study that identified the mother and maternal grandmother as the caregivers. The March 31 home study, unlike a prior home study, did not approve placement of Dei. N. in this home. The trial court continued the shelter hearing by stating that the trial court could not make a finding of probable cause at that time as the trial court required additional information to determine the risk to the child. The trial court then entered the custody release order in question, removed Dei. N. from the care of DCF and placed her with the maternal grandmother.1 In doing so, the trial court apparently chose to reject the unfavorable March home study and rely on the prior home study, yet failed to place in its order the statutorily required finding that the trial court determine such placement to be in the child’s best interest. See § 39.521(2)(r), Fla. Stat. (2007). The trial court departed from the essential requirements of the law by failing to follow this statutory requirement.2
We grant the petition for writ of certiorari and quash the custody release order. Dei. N. shall remain in the custody of DCF until the conclusion of the required shelter hearing.
Petition for Certiorari granted.
. The custody release order stated that the parents could only have visitation under the supervision of the maternal grandmother. The mother and father live in the same home with the maternal grandmother. . We do not address the issue of whether, by placing Dei. N. in the custody of the maternal grandmother, the court was actually placing the child in a shelter without making the required probable cause finding.
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N. C. v. Dept. of Child. & Families (Fla. 2d DCA 2020)…ing that "the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law when it did not dismiss the claims for failure of respondent to follow pre-suit procedures" of the Florida Medical Malpractice Act); Fla. Dep't of Children & Families v. S.D., 983 So. 2d 655, 656 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (granting petition and quashing custody release order because "[t]he trial court departed from the essential requirements of the law by failing to follow th[e] statutory requirement" of including a finding as to the child's b…