Fla. Fam. L. R. P. 12.363

RULE 12.363

EVALUATION OF MINOR CHILD

(a) Appointment of Expert.

(1) The court, on motion of any party or the court’s own

motion, may appoint an expert for an examination, evaluation,

-- 106 of 215 --

Family Law Rules of Procedure October 1, 2025 107

testing, or interview of any minor child. The parties may agree on

the particular expert to be appointed, subject to approval by the

court. If the parties have agreed, they shall submit an order

including the name, address, telephone number, area of expertise,

and professional qualifications of the expert. If there has been a

determination of the need for the appointment of an expert and the

parties cannot agree on the selection of the expert, the court shall

appoint an expert.

(2) After the examination, evaluation, or investigation,

any party may file a motion for an additional expert examination,

evaluation, interview, testing, or investigation by another expert.

The court upon hearing may permit the additional examination,

evaluation, testing, or interview only on a showing of good cause

and only upon a finding that further examinations, testing,

interviews, or evaluations would be in the best interests of the

minor child.

(3) Any order entered under this rule shall specify the

issues to be addressed by the expert.

(4) Any order entered under this rule may require that

all interviews of the child be recorded and the tapes be maintained

as part of the expert’s file.

(5) The order appointing the expert shall include an

initial allocation of responsibility for payment.

(6) A copy of the order of appointment shall be provided

immediately to the expert by the court unless otherwise directed by

the court. The order shall direct the parties to contact the expert

appointed by the court to establish an appointment schedule to

facilitate timely completion of the evaluation.

(b) Providing of Reports.

(1) Unless otherwise ordered, the expert shall prepare

and provide a written report to each party and the guardian ad

litem, if appointed, a reasonable time before any evidentiary hearing

on the matter at issue. The expert also shall send written notice to

-- 107 of 215 --

Family Law Rules of Procedure October 1, 2025 108

the court that the report has been completed and that a copy of the

written report has been provided to each party and the guardian ad

litem, if appointed. In any event, the written report shall be

prepared and provided no later than 30 days before trial or 75 days

from the order of appointment, unless the time is extended by order

of the court. The expert shall not send a copy of the report to the

court unless the parties and their attorneys have agreed in writing

that the report will be considered by the court and filed in the court

files as provided in subdivision (e).

(2) On motion of any party, the court may order the

expert to produce the expert’s complete file to another expert at the

initial cost of the requesting party, for review by such expert, who

may testify.

(c) Testimony of Other Experts. Any other expert who has

treated, tested, interviewed, examined, or evaluated a child may

testify only if the court determines that good cause exists to permit

the testimony. The fact that no notice of such treatment, testing,

interview, examination, or evaluation of a child was given to both

parents shall be considered by the court as a basis for preventing

such testimony.

(d) Communications with Court by Expert. No expert may

communicate with the court without prior notice to the parties, who

shall be afforded the opportunity to be present and heard during

any such communication between the expert and the court. A

request for communication with the court may be informally

conveyed by letter or telephone. Further communication with the

court, which may be conducted informally, shall be done only with

notice to the parties.

(e) Use of Evidence. An expert appointed by the court shall

be subject to the same examination as a privately retained expert

and the court shall not entertain any presumption in favor of the

appointed expert’s findings. Any finding or report by an expert

appointed by the court may be entered into evidence on the court’s

own motion or the motion of any party in a manner consistent with

the rules of evidence, subject to cross-examination by the parties.

Any report filed with the court shall be in compliance with Florida

-- 108 of 215 --

Family Law Rules of Procedure October 1, 2025 109

Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425. The

report shall not be filed in the court file unless or until it is properly

admitted into evidence and considered by the court. The court

shall consider whether the report should be sealed as provided by

Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420.

(f) Limitation of Scope. This rule shall not apply to

parenting coordinators or social investigators.

1997 Adoption. This rule should be interpreted to discourage

subjecting children to multiple interviews, testing, and evaluations,

without good cause shown. The court should consider the best

interests of the child in permitting evaluations, testing, or

interviews of the child. The parties should cooperate in choosing a

mental health professional or individual to perform this function to

lessen the need for multiple evaluations.

This rule is not intended to prevent additional mental health

professionals who have not treated, interviewed, or evaluated the

child from testifying concerning review of the data produced

pursuant to this rule.

This rule is not intended to prevent a mental health

professional who has engaged in long-term treatment of the child

from testifying about the minor child.