Court overhauls Family Law Forms.

The Florida Supreme Court recently adopted amendments to the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms, on its own motion. See In re: Amendments to the Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms--Nomenclature, No. SC17-1948 (Fla. Feb. 1, 2018). The amendments replace gendered terms with gender-neutral terms, so that the forms are appropriate for use in the context of both opposite-sex and same-sex marriages, following the United States Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584 (2015). They also ensure that clear, concise, and consistent language is used across similar forms, and that the General Instructions and Glossary to the forms reflect recent changes to the forms and to harmonize various definitions contained in the forms with those contained in the Glossary. Several existing final judgment forms are amended to separate factual findings from decretals ones, and various forms are amended to reflect recent amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, adopted in In re Amendments to Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, 214 So. 3d 400 (Fla. 2017). The amendments also add language addressing parental consent to a child's mental health treatment to several parenting plan forms in accordance with recent amendments to section 61.13(2)(b)3.a., Florida Statutes (2017). Two new forms are also adopted for use in proceedings commenced pursuant to sections 61.09 and 61.10, Florida Statutes (2017). The court invites all interested persons to comment on the amendments, which are reproduced in full online at www. floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/opinions. shtml. All comments must be filed with the court...