| 17 | | - | short title; providing definitions; providing a civil 4 |
|---|
| 18 | | - | cause of action if a child is unlawfully abducted from 5 |
|---|
| 19 | | - | a parent for a specified amount of time; providing a 6 |
|---|
| 20 | | - | standard of proof and specified damages; authorizing 7 |
|---|
| 21 | | - | reasonable attorney fees and costs for either party 8 |
|---|
| 22 | | - | under certain circumstances; providing when a 9 |
|---|
| 23 | | - | specified timeframe begins; providing affirmative 10 |
|---|
| 24 | | - | defenses; requiring a specified court division to 11 |
|---|
| 25 | | - | preside over such cause of action; providing a statute 12 |
|---|
| 26 | | - | of limitations; tolling such statute of limitations 13 |
|---|
| 27 | | - | under certain circumstances; providing an effective 14 |
|---|
| 28 | | - | date. 15 |
|---|
| 29 | | - | 16 |
|---|
| 30 | | - | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17 |
|---|
| 31 | | - | 18 |
|---|
| 32 | | - | Section 1. Section 772.111, Florida Statutes, is created 19 |
|---|
| 33 | | - | to read: 20 |
|---|
| 34 | | - | 772.111 Civil remedy for parental abduction. — 21 |
|---|
| 35 | | - | (1) This act may be cited as the "Parental Abduction Act." 22 |
|---|
| 36 | | - | (2) As used in this section, the term: 23 |
|---|
| 37 | | - | (a) "Child" means a minor child who is the subject of an 24 |
|---|
| 38 | | - | order granting a parent of the child a right to time -sharing or 25 |
|---|
| 17 | + | short title; providing a civil cause of action if a 4 |
|---|
| 18 | + | minor is unlawfully kept from a parent or guardian for 5 |
|---|
| 19 | + | a specified amount of time; authorizing reasonable 6 |
|---|
| 20 | + | attorney fees and costs for either party under certain 7 |
|---|
| 21 | + | circumstances; providing a standard of proof; 8 |
|---|
| 22 | + | authorizing the court to award punitive damages; 9 |
|---|
| 23 | + | providing affirmative defenses; requiring a specified 10 |
|---|
| 24 | + | court division to preside over such cause of action if 11 |
|---|
| 25 | + | possible; providing an effective date. 12 |
|---|
| 26 | + | 13 |
|---|
| 27 | + | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 |
|---|
| 28 | + | 15 |
|---|
| 29 | + | Section 1. Section 772.111, Florida Statutes, is created 16 |
|---|
| 30 | + | to read: 17 |
|---|
| 31 | + | 772.111 Civil remedy for parental abduction. — 18 |
|---|
| 32 | + | (1) This act may be cited as the "Parental Abduction Act." 19 |
|---|
| 33 | + | (2) A parent or legal guardian who is aggrieved by a 20 |
|---|
| 34 | + | violation of s. 787.03 involving a minor who is unlawfully kept 21 |
|---|
| 35 | + | from him or her by the other parent or legal guardian for more 22 |
|---|
| 36 | + | than 30 days has a cause of action for actual damages or 23 |
|---|
| 37 | + | $10,000, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney fees and 24 |
|---|
| 38 | + | costs. In such action: 25 |
|---|
| 51 | | - | custody as provided under state law. 26 |
|---|
| 52 | | - | (b) "Parent" means a person who is entitled by court order 27 |
|---|
| 53 | | - | to time-sharing with his or her child. 28 |
|---|
| 54 | | - | (c) "Unlawful abduction" means a parent taking, detaining, 29 |
|---|
| 55 | | - | concealing, or imprisoning his or her child without lawful 30 |
|---|
| 56 | | - | authority or consent of the other parent to deprive the other 31 |
|---|
| 57 | | - | parent of time-sharing with the child. 32 |
|---|
| 58 | | - | (3) A parent who proves by a preponderance of the evidence 33 |
|---|
| 59 | | - | that there has been an unlawful abduction of his or her child by 34 |
|---|
| 60 | | - | the other parent for more than 30 consecutive days after the 35 |
|---|
| 61 | | - | last day of lawful time -sharing has a civil cause of action for 36 |
|---|
| 62 | | - | treble the amount of actual damages sustained and, in any such 37 |
|---|
| 63 | | - | action, is entitled to minimum damages in the amount of $1,000 38 |
|---|
| 64 | | - | and reasonable attorney fees and costs in the trial and 39 |
|---|
| 65 | | - | appellate courts. 40 |
|---|
| 66 | | - | (4) For purposes of subsection (3), the 30 -day consecutive 41 |
|---|
| 67 | | - | timeframe begins running at the time of the unlawful abduction 42 |
|---|
| 68 | | - | and continues until the child is returned to the other parent, 43 |
|---|
| 69 | | - | regardless of any subsequent lawfully scheduled time -sharing by 44 |
|---|
| 70 | | - | the parent responsible for the unlawful abduction. 45 |
|---|
| 71 | | - | (5) It is an affirmative defense to an action brought 46 |
|---|
| 72 | | - | under this section if the defendant proves by a preponderance of 47 |
|---|
| 73 | | - | the evidence that he or she has or has had reasonable cause to 48 |
|---|
| 74 | | - | believe that his or her child is or has been in imminent danger 49 |
|---|
| 75 | | - | of becoming a victim o f an act of domestic violence as defined 50 |
|---|
| 76 | | - | |
|---|
| 77 | | - | CS/CS/HB 1385 2025 |
|---|
| 78 | | - | |
|---|
| 79 | | - | |
|---|
| 80 | | - | |
|---|
| 81 | | - | CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. |
|---|
| 82 | | - | hb1385-02-c2 |
|---|
| 83 | | - | Page 3 of 3 |
|---|
| 84 | | - | F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S |
|---|
| 85 | | - | |
|---|
| 86 | | - | |
|---|
| 87 | | - | |
|---|
| 88 | | - | in s. 741.28; an act of sexual violence as defined in s. 51 |
|---|
| 89 | | - | 784.046(1)(c); or an act of abuse, abandonment, or neglect as 52 |
|---|
| 90 | | - | those terms are defined in s. 39.01, by the other parent. 53 |
|---|
| 91 | | - | (6) The defendant is entitled to rea sonable attorney fees 54 |
|---|
| 92 | | - | and costs if the court finds that the plaintiff or plaintiff's 55 |
|---|
| 93 | | - | attorney knew or should have known that a claim when initially 56 |
|---|
| 94 | | - | presented to the court or at any time before trial: 57 |
|---|
| 95 | | - | (a) Was not supported by the material facts necessary to 58 |
|---|
| 96 | | - | establish the claim; or 59 |
|---|
| 97 | | - | (b) Would not be supported by the application of then -60 |
|---|
| 98 | | - | existing law to those material facts. 61 |
|---|
| 99 | | - | (7) A civil action filed under this section must be 62 |
|---|
| 100 | | - | assigned to the family law division previously, or 63 |
|---|
| 101 | | - | simultaneously, exercising jurisdiction over the underlying 64 |
|---|
| 102 | | - | family law case. 65 |
|---|
| 103 | | - | (8) Notwithstanding s. 772.17, an action arising under 66 |
|---|
| 104 | | - | this section may be commenced at any time within 2 years after 67 |
|---|
| 105 | | - | the cause of action accrues. However, the 2 -year period of 68 |
|---|
| 106 | | - | limitation is tolled during any time in which the child is 69 |
|---|
| 107 | | - | unlawfully abducted. 70 |
|---|
| 108 | | - | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 71 |
|---|
| 51 | + | (a) The violation must be established by the greater 26 |
|---|
| 52 | + | weight of the evidence. 27 |
|---|
| 53 | + | (b) The court may award punitive damages pursuant to 28 |
|---|
| 54 | + | chapter 768. 29 |
|---|
| 55 | + | (c) The defendant is entitled to reasonable attorney fees 30 |
|---|
| 56 | + | and costs upon a finding that the party who brought the action 31 |
|---|
| 57 | + | raised a claim that was without substantial f act or legal 32 |
|---|
| 58 | + | support. 33 |
|---|
| 59 | + | (d) The defendant may raise any of the following as 34 |
|---|
| 60 | + | affirmative defenses: 35 |
|---|
| 61 | + | 1. Any defense allowed under s. 787.03(4). 36 |
|---|
| 62 | + | 2. That the defendant's action was pursuant to a valid 37 |
|---|
| 63 | + | court order. 38 |
|---|
| 64 | + | (3) Any action filed under this section m ust be assigned, 39 |
|---|
| 65 | + | if possible, to the family law division that previously or 40 |
|---|
| 66 | + | simultaneously exercised jurisdiction over the underlying family 41 |
|---|
| 67 | + | law case. 42 |
|---|
| 68 | + | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 43 |
|---|