Florida Senate - 2015 CS for SB 922
By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Latvala
590-02843-15 2015922c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the appointment of an ad litem;
3 creating s. 49.31, F.S.; defining the term “ad litem”;
4 authorizing a court to appoint an ad litem for certain
5 parties upon whom service of process by publication is
6 made; prohibiting a court from appointing an ad litem
7 to represent an interest for which a personal
8 representative, guardian of property, or trustee is
9 serving; requiring an ad litem, upon discovery that
10 the party he or she represents is already represented
11 by a personal representative, guardian of property, or
12 trustee, or is deceased, to take certain actions;
13 prohibiting a court from requiring an ad litem to post
14 a bond or designate a resident agent; requiring a
15 court to discharge an ad litem when the final judgment
16 is entered or as otherwise ordered by the court;
17 providing that an ad litem is entitled to an award of
18 a reasonable fee for services and costs; providing for
19 assessment; prohibiting the use of state funds to pay
20 fees for services rendered by the ad litem except in
21 certain circumstances; prohibiting declaring certain
22 proceedings ineffective solely due to a lack of
23 statutory authority to appoint an ad litem; providing
24 construction; providing an effective date.
25
26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28 Section 1. Section 49.31, Florida Statutes, is created to
29 read:
30 49.31 Appointment of ad litem.—
31 (1) As used in this section, the term “ad litem” means an
32 attorney, administrator, or guardian ad litem.
33 (2) The court may appoint an ad litem for any party,
34 whether known or unknown, upon whom service of process by
35 publication under this chapter has been properly made and who
36 has failed to file or serve any paper in the action within the
37 time required by law. A court may not appoint an ad litem to
38 represent an interest for which a personal representative,
39 guardian of property, or trustee is serving.
40 (a) If the court has appointed an ad litem and the ad litem
41 discovers that a personal representative, guardian of property,
42 or trustee is serving who represents the interest for which the
43 ad litem was appointed, the ad litem must promptly report that
44 finding to the court and must file a petition for discharge as
45 to any interest for which the personal representative, guardian
46 of property, or trustee is serving.
47 (b) If the court has appointed an ad litem to represent an
48 interest and the ad litem discovers that the person whose
49 interest he or she represents is deceased and there is no
50 personal representative, guardian of property, or trustee to
51 represent the decedent’s interest, the ad litem must make a
52 reasonable attempt to locate any spouse, heir, devisee, or
53 beneficiary of the decedent, must report to the court the name
54 and address of all such persons whom the ad litem locates, and
55 must petition for discharge as to any interest of the person
56 located.
57 (3) The court may not require an ad litem to post a bond or
58 designate a resident agent in order to serve as an ad litem.
59 (4) The court shall discharge the ad litem when the final
60 judgment is entered or as otherwise ordered by the court.
61 (5) The ad litem is entitled to an award of a reasonable
62 fee for services rendered and costs, which shall be assessed
63 against the party requesting the appointment of the ad litem, or
64 as otherwise ordered by the court. State funds may not be used
65 to pay fees for services rendered by the ad litem unless the ad
66 litem was requested by the state.
67 (6) In all cases adjudicated in which the court appointed
68 an ad litem, a proceeding may not be declared ineffective solely
69 due to lack of statutory authority to appoint an ad litem.
70 (7) This section does not abrogate a court’s common law
71 authority to appoint an ad litem.
72 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.