Unified Family Court is a fully integrated, comprehensive approach to handling all cases involving children and families, while at the same time resolving family disputes in a fair, timely, efficient, and cost effective manner. Family Court can mean different things to different people. The Florida Supreme Court has recognized Unified Family Court as the best way to handle cases that involve children and families. The idea behind Unified Family Court is that a family should be able to have all of their disputes resolved in the most effective and efficient way possible. The welfare of children and families, non-adversarial dispute resolution, and providing related social services is at the heart of the function of a family court.
The emotional trauma of divorce and
separation on parents and their children is well documented.
In most cases, children need both parents.
In many instances, the traditional adversarial process is
detrimental to children because it drives parents farther apart at
the time their children need them to work together to restructure
their system of parenting.
Moreover, a fragmented legal system is damaging to families.
Therefore, the process for resolving disputes in family
matters should focus on the needs of children who are involved in
the litigation, refer families to resources that will make their
relationships
stronger,
coordinate their cases to provide consistent results, and strive to
leave families in better condition than when they entered the
system.
The
Florida Supreme Court has adopted the
following guiding principles as a foundation for defining and
implementing a model family court:
1.
Children should live in safe and permanent homes.
2.
The needs and best interests of children should be the primary
consideration of any family court.
3.
All persons, whether children or adults, should be treated with
objectivity, sensitivity, dignity and respect.
4.
Cases involving inter-related family law issues should be
consolidated or coordinated to maximize use of court resources to
avoid conflicting decisions and to minimize inconvenience to the
families.
5.
Therapeutic justice should be a key part of the family court
process. Therapeutic justice is a process that attempts to address
the family’s interrelated legal and non-legal problems to produce a
result that improves the family's functioning. The process should
empower families through skills development, assist them to resolve
their own disputes, provide access to appropriate services, and
offer a variety of dispute resolution forums where the family can
resolve problems without additional emotional trauma.
6.
Whenever possible, parties and their attorneys should be empowered
to select processes for addressing issues in their cases that are
compatible with the family's needs, financial circumstances, and
legal requirements.
7.
The court is responsible for managing its cases with due
consideration of the needs of the family, the litigants, and the
issues presented by the case.
8.
There should be a means of differentiating among cases so that
judicial resources are conserved and cases are diverted to
non-judicial and quasi-judicial personnel for resolution, when
appropriate and consistent with the ends of justice.
9.
Trial courts must coordinate and maximize court resources and
establish linkages with community resources.
10.
The court's role in family restructuring is to identify services and
craft solutions that are appropriate for long-term stability and
that minimize the need for subsequent court action.
11.
Court services should be available to litigants at a reasonable cost
and accessible without economic discrimination.
12.
Courts should have well trained and highly motivated judicial and
non-judicial personnel.
Judge Turner and his entire staff are committed to these principles.