Florida Senate - 2025 SB 976 By Senator Bernard 24-01299-25 2025976__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to court-appointed social 3 investigators; amending s. 61.20, F.S.; requiring a 4 court-appointed social investigator to submit a 5 written report to the judge; providing requirements 6 for reports; amending s. 61.122, F.S.; requiring that 7 a specified investigation be undertaken before a 8 specified claim may be made against a court-appointed 9 psychologist preparing a parenting plan; requiring 10 that a certificate be filed with the claim; providing 11 for sanctions if such certificate was not made in good 12 faith; providing for an automatic stay of limitations 13 period for such investigation; providing for access to 14 records for the investigation; providing for immunity 15 from liability for compliance with certain disclosure 16 in conjunction with the investigation; creating s. 17 61.123, F.S.; requiring the Department of Children and 18 Families to develop and publish criteria for use by 19 court-appointed social investigators; providing an 20 effective date. 21 22 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 23 24 Section 1.Subsection (4) is added to section 61.20, 25 Florida Statutes, to read: 26 61.20Social investigation and recommendations regarding a 27 parenting plan. 28 (4)A court-appointed social investigator must submit a 29 written report to the judge, which must be accessible to all 30 parties to a legal action and must outline the social 31 investigators recommendations, the reasoning for the 32 recommendations, the factors considered in the recommendations, 33 and an analysis of each factor considered in making the 34 recommendations in a custody dispute, a dissolution of marriage, 35 a case of domestic violence, or a paternity matter involving the 36 relationship of a child and a parent, including time-sharing of 37 children. 38 Section 2.Present subsection (4) of section 61.122, 39 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (5) and amended, 40 a new subsection (4) is added to that section, and subsection 41 (3) of that section is amended, to read: 42 61.122Parenting plan recommendation; presumption of 43 psychologists good faith; prerequisite to parents filing suit; 44 award of fees, costs, reimbursement. 45 (3)A parent who desires to file a legal action against a 46 court-appointed psychologist who has acted in good faith in 47 developing a parenting plan recommendation must petition the 48 judge who presided over the dissolution of marriage, case of 49 domestic violence, or paternity matter involving the 50 relationship of a child and a parent, including time-sharing of 51 children, to appoint another psychologist. Upon the parents 52 showing of good cause, the court shall appoint another 53 psychologist. The court shall determine who is responsible for 54 all court costs and attorney attorneys fees associated with 55 making such an appointment. 56 (4)(a)An action may not be filed, whether it is a civil 57 action, a criminal action, or an administrative proceeding, 58 against a court-appointed psychologist in a dissolution of 59 marriage, case of domestic violence, or paternity matter 60 involving the relationship of a child and a parent, unless the 61 attorney or other person filing the action has made a reasonable 62 investigation as permitted by the circumstances to determine 63 that there are grounds for a good faith belief that there has 64 been negligence or a lack of good faith by the court-appointed 65 psychologist. The complaint or initial pleading must contain a 66 certificate stating that such reasonable investigation gave rise 67 to a good faith belief that grounds exist for an action against 68 the court-appointed psychologist. For purposes of this section, 69 good faith may be shown to exist if the claimant or his or her 70 counsel has received a written opinion of an expert, as 71 described in s. 766.102, that there appears to be evidence of 72 negligence or a lack of good faith. Such an opinion is not 73 subject to discovery by an opposing party. If the court 74 determines that such certificate was not made in good faith and 75 that no justiciable issue was presented against a court 76 appointed psychologist who fully cooperated in providing 77 informal discovery, the court must award attorney fees and 78 taxable costs against the claimants counsel and must submit the 79 matter to The Florida Bar for disciplinary review of the 80 attorney, if any. 81 (b)An automatic 90-day extension of the statute of 82 limitations shall be granted to allow the reasonable 83 investigation required by paragraph (a). This extension shall be 84 in addition to other tolling periods. A court order is not 85 required for the extension to be effective. This paragraph does 86 not revive a cause of action on which the statute of limitations 87 has run. 88 (c)For purposes of conducting the investigation required 89 by this subsection, and notwithstanding any other provision of 90 law to the contrary, copies of all medical reports and records, 91 including bills, films, and other records, relating to the 92 development of the parenting plan must be made available, upon 93 request, to the plaintiff. A court-appointed psychologist 94 complying in good faith with this paragraph may not be held 95 liable for civil damages attributable to the disclosure of such 96 records or be subject to any disciplinary action based on such 97 disclosure. 98 (5)(4)If a legal action, whether it be a civil action, a 99 criminal action, or an administrative proceeding, is filed 100 against a court-appointed psychologist in a dissolution of 101 marriage, case of domestic violence, or paternity matter 102 involving the relationship of a child and a parent, including 103 time-sharing of children, the claimant is responsible for all 104 reasonable costs and reasonable attorney attorneys fees 105 associated with the action for both parties if the psychologist 106 is held not liable. If the psychologist is held liable in civil 107 court, the psychologist must pay all reasonable costs and 108 reasonable attorney attorneys fees for the claimant. 109 Section 3.Section 61.123, Florida Statutes, is created to 110 read: 111 61.123Criteria to be used by social investigators.The 112 Department of Children and Families shall develop and publish a 113 set of specific enumerated criteria that court-appointed social 114 investigators may consider and weigh in evaluating the 115 appropriateness of the environment for a child in a custody 116 dispute, dissolution of marriage, case of domestic violence, or 117 paternity matter involving the relationship of a child and a 118 parent, including time-sharing of children. 119 Section 4.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.