Florida Statute 39.803 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title V
JUDICIAL BRANCH

Chapter 39
PROCEEDINGS RELATING TO CHILDREN

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39.803 Identity or location of parent unknown after filing of termination of parental rights petition; special procedures.—

(1) If the identity or location of a parent is unknown and a petition for termination of parental rights is filed, the court shall conduct under oath the following inquiry of the parent who is available, or, if no parent is available, of any relative, caregiver, or legal custodian of the child who is present at the hearing and likely to have the information:

(a) Whether the mother of the child was married at the probable time of conception of the child or at the time of birth of the child.

(b) Whether the mother was cohabiting with a male at the probable time of conception of the child.

(c) Whether the mother has received payments or promises of support with respect to the child or because of her pregnancy from a man who claims to be the father.

(d) Whether the mother has named any man as the father on the birth certificate of the child or in connection with applying for or receiving public assistance.

(e) Whether any man has acknowledged or claimed paternity of the child in a jurisdiction in which the mother resided at the time of or since conception of the child, or in which the child has resided or resides.

(f) Whether a man is named on the birth certificate of the child pursuant to s. 382.013(2).

(g) Whether a man has been determined by a court order to be the father of the child.

(h) Whether a man has been determined to be the father of the child by the Department of Revenue as provided in s. 409.256.

(2) The information required in subsection (1) may be supplied to the court or the department in the form of a sworn affidavit by a person having personal knowledge of the facts.

(3) If the inquiry under subsection (1) identifies any person as a parent or prospective parent, the court shall require notice of the hearing to be provided to that person.

(4) If the inquiry under subsection (1) fails to identify any person as a parent or prospective parent, the court shall so find and may proceed without further notice.

(5) If the inquiry under subsection (1) identifies a parent or prospective parent, and that person’s location is unknown, the court shall direct the petitioner to conduct a diligent search for that person before scheduling an adjudicatory hearing regarding the petition for termination of parental rights to the child unless the court finds that the best interest of the child requires proceeding without actual notice to the person whose location is unknown.

(6) The diligent search required by subsection (5) must include, at a minimum, inquiries of all known relatives of the parent or prospective parent, inquiries of all offices of program areas of the department likely to have information about the parent or prospective parent, inquiries of other state and federal agencies likely to have information about the parent or prospective parent, inquiries of appropriate utility and postal providers, a thorough search of at least one electronic database specifically designed for locating persons, a search of the Florida Putative Father Registry, and inquiries of appropriate law enforcement agencies. Pursuant to s. 453 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. s. 653(c)(4), the department, as the state agency administering Titles IV-B and IV-E of the act, shall be provided access to the federal and state parent locator service for diligent search activities.

(7) Any agency contacted by petitioner with a request for information pursuant to subsection (6) shall release the requested information to the petitioner without the necessity of a subpoena or court order.

(8) If the inquiry and diligent search identifies a prospective parent, that person must be given the opportunity to become a party to the proceedings by completing a sworn affidavit of parenthood and filing it with the court or the department. A prospective parent who files a sworn affidavit of parenthood while the child is a dependent child but no later than at the time of or before the adjudicatory hearing in the termination of parental rights proceeding for the child shall be considered a parent for all purposes under this section.

(9) If the diligent search under subsection (5) fails to identify and locate a prospective parent, the court shall so find and may proceed without further notice.

History.—s. 85, ch. 98-403; s. 33, ch. 2000-139; s. 22, ch. 2017-151.

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Amendments to 39.803

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 39.803

Total Results: 9 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Lj v. As, 25 So. 3d 1284 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010).

Cited 4 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 900, 2010 WL 364502

...of M.A. See § 39.802(1), Fla. Stat. (2009) (stating that all proceedings seeking to terminate parental rights may be initiated by "any other person who has knowledge of the facts alleged or is informed of them and believes that they are true"), and § 39.803(5) (providing that in a proceeding for termination of the parental rights of a parent whose whereabouts are unknown, the court may, if it finds that the best interest of the child requires proceedings without actual notice to that parent, p...

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K.R.L. v. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs., 83 So. 3d 936 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012).

Cited 3 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2012 WL 832827, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 4064

to prevent egregious conduct toward the child. § 39.803(2), Fla. Stat. (2010). Arguing that proposition

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L.J. v. A.S., 25 So. 3d 1284 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010).

Cited 2 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal

of them and believes that they are true”), and § 39.803(5) (providing that in a proceeding for termination

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T.L.D. v. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs., 883 So. 2d 910 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2004 Fla. App. LEXIS 14636

terminated the rights of this unknown father. See § 39.803(4), Fla. Stat. (2002). At the time the judgment

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Dept. of Child. & Families v. JJE, 953 So. 2d 659 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 4670

...and rule 8.505(a)(1) provide that before a court can terminate parental rights, notice must be personally served on any parent who is the subject of the termination. If a party to a proceeding for termination of parental rights is known but his or her whereabouts are not, section 39.803(5) Florida Statues (2006), requires a court to direct the petitioner to conduct a diligent search to locate the party, unless it would be in the best interest of the child to proceed without actual notice....

...The sworn statement must show that a diligent search has been conducted to discover the name and address of the person sought to be served, whether the person sought is over 18, and *662 that the person's address is unknown or known, and if known, is included in the affidavit. Section 49.041, Florida Statutes (2006). Section 39.803(6), Florida Statutes (2006), lists the minimum requirements for a diligent search: The diligent search required by subsection (5) must include, at a minimum, inquiries of all known relatives of the parent or prospective parent, inquiri...

...According to him, the attorney told him in an e-mail that she would try to get more *664 information from the mother's attorney, failing which, she said: "otherwise, I don't know. Do the best you can." Although he had been given a checklist to meet the minimum requirements for a diligent search, as set forth in section 39.803(6), Florida Statutes (2006), the analyst did not complete it....

...ery scanty information, because we don't have much on the [Appellee]." At no time did anyone from the department advise the trial judge that, notwithstanding the sworn statement to the contrary, the department had not complied with the provisions of section 39.803(6), Florida Statutes (2006). Section 39.803(6) provides a laundry list of what is minimally necessary to establish a diligent search....

...d a specious appeal from the adverse ruling. This time, the department's actions resulted in another delay of well over one and one-half years. Incredible as it seems, never has the department contended that it complied *665 with the requirements of section 39.803(6)....

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A.S., the Father v. Dep't of Child. & Families, J.A., & Guardian Ad Litem Prog., 162 So. 3d 335 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 4764

...in the dependency system.” § 39.0136(1), Fla. Stat. (2014). Our resolution of this case is not at odds with the legislature’s intent of timely establishing permanency as the trial court and DCF have set procedures to expedite petitions for termination of parental rights. Section 39.803, Florida Statutes (2014), prescribes the inquiry the trial court must make when the identity or location of a parent is unknown and a petition for termination of parental rights has been filed....

...that the TPR could be later undermined by the appearance of a prospective parent seeking to establish his or her parental rights. Neither section 39.503(1) nor section 63.062(1) is applicable to the instant case, and there is no evidence that DCF ever utilized section 39.803 to locate A.S....

...vincing evidence.”). From March of 2014 to the July 2014 TPR hearing, A.S. visited J.A. eight times. Combining these eight visits with the three visits that were canceled by the case manager, A.S. was on pace to see his son on a weekly basis. 5 Section 39.803(8), Florida Statutes (2014), provides: If the inquiry and diligent search identifies a prospective parent, that person must be given the opportunity to become a party to the proceedings by completing a sworn...

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D.n., the Mother v. Dept. of Child. & Families (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2019).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida

83 So. 3d 936, 938 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) (citing § 39.803(2), Fla. Stat. (2010)). Egregious conduct is defined

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Amendments to the Florida Rules of Juv. Procedure, 894 So. 2d 875 (Fla. 2005).

Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 30 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 59, 2005 Fla. LEXIS 92, 2005 WL 170713

whose identities are known, in conformance with section 39.803(1) and (4), Florida Statutes (2004). We further

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DM v. Dep't of Child. & Families, 31 So. 3d 945 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010).

Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 4700, 2010 WL 1404087

...April 8, 2010. Nickole E. Frederick, Orlando, for Appellant. Karla Perkins, of DCF, Miami, for Appellee. PER CURIAM. D.M. ["Mother"] appeals a final order terminating her parental rights to K.P. Mother asserts that the trial court failed to comply with section 39.803, Florida Statutes (2009), and the Department of Children and Families ["DCF"] failed to offer competent proof to support the trial court's findings....

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