Evidence Center · Children
The court hears about the child — almost never from the child.
Florida family procedure starts from a protective premise: children are kept out of the litigation between their parents. Rule 12.407 makes that a gate — no deposition, no subpoena, no courtroom attendance without a prior order on good cause. What the court relies on instead are the structured channels: the social-investigation study, the court-appointed evaluation, the guardian ad litem's report, and — where testimony truly is necessary — the protected procedures of chapter 92. Each is quoted below, verbatim.
What this page is — and is not.
This page explains the rules that PROTECT children in family proceedings and the channels courts use instead of child testimony. It is not a plan for getting a child to testify, and the platform will never build one — whether a child's testimony is necessary is the court's question, raised by counsel, decided on the child's best interest. If your case involves violence or fear, Safety Mode comes before anything on this page.
The gate — Rule 12.407
“prohibited from being deposed or brought to a deposition, from being subpoenaed to appear at any family law proceeding, or from attending any family law proceedings without prior order of the court based on good cause shown.”The rule reaches remote hearings too — it directs the parties, counsel, and the court to ensure children are "not present or nearby during any remote proceedings or able to overhear" them. A hearing on the kitchen laptop is still a hearing: the child in the next room is the situation this sentence exists for. The rule carves out juvenile-rules proceedings and uncontested adoptions by its own terms.
How child information actually reaches the court
The social-investigation study — § 61.20 + Rule 12.364
the technical rules of evidence do not exclude the study from consideration.The statute says it plainly: the court may consider the ordered study, and the technical rules of evidence do not exclude it. The rule adds the qualification floor — the investigator must be expert-qualified under § 90.702 — and the study must state the facts its recommendations stand on. Cross-examining the investigator, challenging the underlying facts: that is counsel's work, and the reports remain confidential case material, never something to share around.
The child evaluation — Rule 12.363
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.Court-appointed, issue-specified (the order "shall specify the issues"), and additional evaluations come only on good cause AND a best-interests finding — the rule's own brake on evaluation-shopping. Orders may require child interviews to be recorded and kept in the expert's file.
The guardian ad litem — § 61.401 · § 61.403
act as next friend of the child, investigator or evaluator, not as attorney or advocate.Next friend, investigator, evaluator — not a lawyer for either parent and not the child's advocate-attorney. The GAL may investigate, seek court orders to inspect records, request expert examinations, and make written or oral recommendations to the court. On well-founded, verified abuse allegations the appointment is mandatory under the statute's own terms. The Navigator's GAL-report foundation walks how these reports meet the five gates.
When testimony truly is necessary — the protections of §§ 92.53–92.55
Where a court has decided a child's testimony is necessary, chapter 92 provides protective procedures — videotaped testimony, closed-circuit and audio-video technology, and a general protective-order power. All three run on motions, in-camera hearings, and findings; all three are counsel-driven.
“substantial likelihood that a victim or witness who is under the age of 18 or who has an intellectual disability as defined in s.”“taken outside of the courtroom and shown by means of closed-circuit television or through audio-video communication technology.”“any order necessary to protect the victim or witness in any judicial proceeding or other official proceeding from severe emotional or mental harm due to the presence of the defendant if the victim or witness is required to testify in open court.”Note the reach: § 92.53 applies "whether civil or criminal in nature," and § 92.55's protective orders extend to depositions and to the use of §§ 92.53–92.54 procedures. These sections speak in terms of victims and witnesses including persons with intellectual disabilities — protection statutes, not litigation tools.
The statement that came home from school
"My child told me…" is where many family evidence questions begin — and it is a hearsay question first. The child-statement lanes (including § 90.803(23)'s own strict terms) are walked in the hearsay path and the Navigator. Whether any lane carries a particular statement is exactly the kind of question this page routes to counsel — and if the statement involves abuse, the first calls are the ones on the safety page, not evidence planning.
Statutory and rule excerpts are verbatim from the hash-verified corpus; text renders in English as enacted. Decisions about children ride the best-interest standard and the court's judgment. Legal information, not legal advice.