Klee - Divisional Instructions

Order of Referral to General Magistrate & Objections

  • Please see Administrative Order 5.104-3/21.
  • Post judgment matters referred under Rule 12.490, Fla. Fam. L.R.P. (Non-Child Support Issues) require an Order of Referral to General Magistrate.
  • A proposed Order of Referral to General Magistrate must be submitted to the General Magistrate utilizing the approved template in the Online Services (“OLS”) application.
  • To submit a proposed Order of Referral, please log in to your Online Services account and click on “Submit Order from Template”. Click link below to access a tutorial video on how to submit a proposed order in OLS:

    View Video on YouTube

  • No Order of Referral to General Magistrate should be issued as to a child support matter; however, pursuant to Ferencz v. Ferencz, 897 So. 2d 558 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2005), if the subject matter referred is in the nature of child support and attorney's fees are sought, an Order of Referral to General Magistrate needs to be entered. In such an instance, the Order of Referral to General Magistrate should state: "The attorney's fees component of this Motion (or Petition) is the sole subject of this Order of Referral to General Magistrate."
  • All orders of referral to the General Magistrate must reflect "Room 2706" under the case number and division.
  • The Court will not accept orders of referrals that refer multiple motions/petitions to the General Magistrate. Each substantive motion/petition must be referred to the General Magistrate by a separate order of referral.
  • The Order of Referral to General Magistrate  MUST:
    • Specific title of the pleading or motion;
    • Name of the party filing the pleading or motion;
    • Date the pleading or motion was filed;
    • Assigned Magistrate’s hearing room number listed under the case number and division.
  • Objections to an Order of Referral to General Magistrate should be furnished to the General Magistrate and should identify the Order of Referral to General Magistrate by date, as well as attach a copy of the Motion, Petition or other matter which is the subject of the Order of Referral to General Magistrate.
  • Once a motion or petition is referred to the General Magistrate with "all related matters thereto", all discovery issues, procedural motions/matters, motions to dismiss, motions in limine, etc., as well as any motion for continuance is to be heard by the General Magistrate and does not require additional orders of referral. It is the function of the General Magistrate to alleviate and assist in the Circuit Judge’s caseload, part and parcel of which is the global disposition of all ancillary motions/issues pertaining to the underlying action or motion previously referred.
  • For non-child support matters an Order of Referral to the General Magistrate is required before requesting a hearing date from the Magistrate. 

Child Support Matters

  • The General Magistrate has inherent jurisdiction over NON-DOR child support establishment, enforcement and modification proceedings pursuant to Florida Family Law Rules Of Procedure, Rule 12.491 and local Administrative Order (this includes items in the nature of health insurance for the parties' children, health care expense payment/reimbursement and child care as well as life insurance to secure same).
  • EXCEPTION: No Order of Referral to General Magistrate should be issued as to a child support matter; however, pursuant to Ferencz v. Ferencz, 897 So. 2d 558 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2005), if the subject matter referred is in the nature of child support and attorney's fees are sought, an Order of Referral to General Magistrate needs to be entered. In such an instance, the Order of Referral to General Magistrate should state: "The attorney's fees component of this Motion (or Petition) is the sole subject of this Order of Referral to General Magistrate."

Uniform Motion Calendar (“UMC”)

  • ALL UMC HEARING WITH PARTIES REPRESENTED BY ATTORNEYS MUST BE SCHEDULED THROUGH ONLINE SERVICES “OLS”.
  • ALL UMC HEARINGS WILL CONTINUE TO BE HELD REMOTELY VIA ZOOM ONLY
  • (Meeting ID: 849 6754 9384) No passcode. 
  • AS OF WEDNESDAY JUNE 23, 2021, Uniform Motion Calendar will be held weekly WEDNESDAY mornings from 8:45am to 9:30am.
     
  • The Magistrate will not hear any Contempt matters on UMC. 
  • The Magistrate will not hear any motions to appoint Guardian ad Litem and/or parenting coordinator unless the parties agree on which party will pay all associated fees. 
     
  • Only the available dates for UMC will be displayed online in OLS.
  • Parties shall ensure compliance with Administrative Order 5.201-3/19 PRIOR to scheduling a hearing on UMC.
  • Scheduling is solely between the parties and/or self-represented litigant. UMC hearings are not scheduled with the judicial assistant or online.
  • Attach a copy of the Notice of Hearing and Motion(s) being heard at the time the hearing is scheduled online. You do not need to forward or provide a copy of the Notice of Hearing and/or Motion(s) to the Court, as they are required to be uploaded at the time you schedule the hearing online.
  • UMC hearings must be scheduled no less than five (5) business days prior to the hearing date (unless short notice agreed by parties and General Magistrate).
  • All UMC hearings must include the full name of the Motion being heard and the filing date of the Motion.  
  • Parties will be heard on a first come, first serve basis (please check in with the courtroom deputy).
  • Ten (10) minutes total allotted (5 minutes per side).
  • No evidentiary hearings will be heard on UMC.
  • The Magistrate reserves the right to cancel any UMC hearings that the Magistrate determines is not appropriate for UMC.
  • Self-represented litigants may provide courtesy copies of their UMC motion(s) and notice of hearing to the Court via regular mail.

Notice/Motion to Set Cause For Non-Jury Trial/Requests for Special Set Hearings

  • Special Set Hearings, Non-Jury Trials, and evidentiary Motion hearings are set with the Court through the Magistrate Assistant only.Special set trials/motion hearings that are coordinated with the Magistrate may not be cancelled nor reset without prior approval of the Court. 
  • Notice/Motions to Set Cause for Trial must be filed and docketed with clerk before hearing dates can be given or a hearing can be set. Notices must include the specific motion or petition/counter petition to be tried with the date filed with the Clerk and the estimation of time necessary for trial.
  • For any hearing request, please send your Notice/Motion to Set Cause for Trial or written request with the Order of Referral to General Magistrate to divisional email: CAD-NCHroom2706@pbcgov.org with the amount of time requested for your motion/petition and a copy of the motion/petition. Magistrate Klee will review and decide whether the amount of time you are requesting is appropriate for your motion.
  • The Magistrate Assistant will contact you once Magistrate Klee has reviewed the motion/petition and hearing request. Available date(s) and time(s) will be provided to the parties. The moving attorney shall then coordinate a mutually agreeable date and time with opposing counsel or self-represented party. If counsel/parties are unable to agree after first attempting to coordinate as to a hearing date, then the scheduling difficulty may be brought to the Court's attention on UMC for appropriate disposition.
  • After coordination of the hearing date/time, the Court will either prepare and send out copies to all interested Parties an Order with the date and time of the hearing/non-jury trial, or ask the moving party to prepare the notice. 
  • CAUTION: Do not notice your case for hearing/trial unless both sides agree the case is ready.
  • Non-Jury Trials and Special Set Hearings are set by Court order and cannot be canceled, continued, or reset unless the issues of this motion(s) have been settled and an order entered, the motion(s) is/are withdrawn or dismissed, or further order of the Court.
  • Magistrate Klee will review all motions, memorandum of law, and case authority in advance of all special set hearings and non-jury trials. Accordingly, all counsel/parties should provide courtesy copies at least five (5) calendar days in advance of the hearing of their motion(s)/petition(s), memoranda of law and supporting case law to the Court via the divisional email: CAD-NCHroom2706@pbcgov.org and designate the date and time of the hearing which they reference. Counsel/parties should highlight or otherwise mark the key language in the most pertinent and important cases and key exhibits for the court and opposing counsel/party.

Evidence 

  • This Division accepts documents for hearing through the CAD inbox, CAD-NCHroom2706@pbcgov.org, if it is 10 pages or less. otherwise, all other evidence should be brought to Court and submitted in open court. Please do not submit evidence to the Magistrate prior to the hearing. 
  • Exhibits do not need to be pre-stamped (the Court will stamp them if admitted).
  • Each exhibit’s first page must have space sufficient to hold the court’s evidence stamp.
  • Exhibits without blank space on the first page should be prepended with a blank page, which will be stamped by the Court.

Commitment Hearing

  • The Affidavit of Non Compliance and Motion for Commitment must be filed and docketed with the Clerk of Court.
  • Submit a letter or memo with the filed Affidavit of Non Compliance and Motion for Commitment to the divisional email: CAD-NCHroom2706@pbcgov.org requesting a hearing and setting forth the amount of time you wish to have reserved for the hearing.
  • After our office receives your written request for a hearing along with the Affidavit of Non Compliance and Motion for Commitment, the Magistrate Assistant will contact you once Magistrate Klee has reviewed the Affidavit of Non Compliance and Motion for Commitment and hearing request. Available date(s) and time(s) will be provided to the parties. The moving attorney shall then coordinate a mutually agreeable date and time with opposing counsel or self-represented party.
  • After coordination of the hearing date/time, the Court will prepare and send out copies to all interested Parties a Notice of Hearing with the date and time of the hearing. 

Agreed Orders and Settlement Agreements

  • The Court encourages parties to reach agreements on any and all matters that may be appropriate for resolution by agreement of the parties and counsel and to submit agreed orders in lieu of a hearing. If your Motion/Petition has been referred to the Magistrate, you’re your Agreement must be sent to the Magistrate for review with a proposed Order Adopting/Ratifying the Agreement. However, such agreements are not without limitations, meaning that there are some matters that despite agreement of the parties and counsel such matters nonetheless require a hearing before the Court and are not amenable simply to the entry of an agreed order on the papers.
  • Any agreed orders/judgments seeking the approval and/or adoption of any agreements that provide for sole parental responsibility, supervised or no timesharing, dispense with child support, “waive” child support, deviate from the child support guidelines, or surrender or termination of parental rights, will not be heard on the papers but shall be set for an evidentiary hearing for the presentation of evidence sufficient to enable the Court to make the findings necessary to support the proposed agreed order/judgment.
  • If an Agreement is reached, please send  to the divisional email: CAD-NCHroom2706@pbcgov.org the following
    • Agreement in PDF
    • Proposed Order Adopting/Ratifying Agreement in WORD.
    • All Exhibits in PDF that are to be attached to the Order Adopting/Ratifying the Agreement.

CAD E-mail Address

  • Under no circumstances should the divisional email: CAD-NCHroom2706@pbcgov.org be used for purposes of copying the Court on any email communications between counsel/parties regarding any matter, including without limitation, scheduling of hearings, depositions, etc., settlement discussions of any kind, or any other communication not expressly permitted by the Magistrate’s Assistant.