Florida Statute 61.517 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title VI
CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

Chapter 61
DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE; SUPPORT; TIME-SHARING

View Entire Chapter

F.S. 61.517

61.517 Temporary emergency jurisdiction.—

(1) A court of this state has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this state and:

(a) The child has been abandoned;

(b) It is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child, or a sibling or parent of the child, is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse; or

(c) It is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child has been subjected to or is threatened with being subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures, as defined in s. 456.001.

(2) If there is no previous child custody determination that is entitled to be enforced under this part, and a child custody proceeding has not been commenced in a court of a state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514-61.516, a child custody determination made under this section remains in effect until an order is obtained from a court of a state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514-61.516. If a child custody proceeding has not been or is not commenced in a court of a state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514-61.516, a child custody determination made under this section becomes a final determination if it so provides and this state becomes the home state of the child.

(3) If there is a previous child custody determination that is entitled to be enforced under this part, or a child custody proceeding has been commenced in a court of a state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514-61.516, any order issued by a court of this state under this section must specify in the order a period that the court considers adequate to allow the person seeking an order to obtain an order from the state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514-61.516. The order issued in this state remains in effect until an order is obtained from the other state within the period specified or the period expires.

(4) A court of this state which has been asked to make a child custody determination under this section, upon being informed that a child custody proceeding has been commenced in, or a child custody determination has been made by, a court of a state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514-61.516, shall immediately communicate with the other court. A court of this state which is exercising jurisdiction under ss. 61.514-61.516, upon being informed that a child custody proceeding has been commenced in, or a child custody determination has been made by, a court of another state under a statute similar to this section shall immediately communicate with the court of that state to resolve the emergency, protect the safety of the parties and the child, and determine a period for the duration of the temporary order.

History.—s. 5, ch. 2002-65; s. 7, ch. 2003-1; s. 1, ch. 2023-90.

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Amendments to 61.517

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 61.517

Total Results: 24

Arjona v. Torres

941 So. 2d 451, 2006 WL 3019578

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 25, 2006 | Docket: 1523620

Cited 15 times | Published

circuit court's "intervention pursuant to Fla. Stat. 61.517." In this motion, he asserted that the children

Steckler v. Steckler

921 So. 2d 740, 2006 WL 359673

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 17, 2006 | Docket: 1659670

Cited 14 times | Published

temporary emergency jurisdiction to protect a child. § 61.517, Fla. Stat. (2005); N.D. Cent.Code § 14-14.1-15

In Re DNHW

955 So. 2d 1236, 2007 WL 1373775

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 11, 2007 | Docket: 1659182

Cited 10 times | Published

section 61.514, Florida had jurisdiction under section 61.517, which provides for the exercise of temporary

KI v. Department of Children and Families

70 So. 3d 749, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 15738, 2011 WL 4578271

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 5, 2011 | Docket: 2353187

Cited 4 times | Published

temporary emergency jurisdiction provision. See § 61.517, Fla. Stat. (2010); Va.Code Ann. § 20-146.15 (2010)

Staats v. McKinnon

924 So. 2d 82, 2006 WL 452824

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 27, 2006 | Docket: 1419558

Cited 3 times | Published

Fla. Stat.; Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-6-236. [2] Section 61.517 is not pertinent to this appeal because it

Haugabook v. Jeffcoat-Hultberg

219 So. 3d 65, 2016 WL 8303559, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 19023

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 22, 2016 | Docket: 60266568

Cited 2 times | Published

Petition in Georgia based on Florida statutes § 61.517(1) and Georgia Code § 19-9-64.” Those two statutory

Baker v. Tunney

201 So. 3d 1235, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 15697

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 21, 2016 | Docket: 4483409

Cited 1 times | Published

permanent jurisdiction in this case. See § 61.517, Fla. Stat. (2015); N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 76-c

Edgar v. Firuta

100 So. 3d 255, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 19146, 2012 WL 5416432

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 7, 2012 | Docket: 60225747

Cited 1 times | Published

motion in 2011. North Carolina’s counterpart to section 61.517, Florida Statutes (2011), “Temporary emergency

Kh v. Dept. of Children & Family Services

846 So. 2d 544, 2003 Fla. App. LEXIS 4069, 2003 WL 1524157

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Mar 26, 2003 | Docket: 1454607

Cited 1 times | Published

to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse." § 61.517(1), Fla. Stat. No proceedings concerning these

Mattingly, Mattingly v. Hatfield

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 28, 2024 | Docket: 68290533

Published

exception applying. The first exception noted, section 61.517, Florida Statutes—concerning temporary emergency

K.D. v. IN RE: IN THE INTEREST OF P.P., R.P., and L.P.

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Mar 23, 2022 | Docket: 63180096

Published

or abuse.” § 61.517(1), Fla. Stat. Regarding the latter exception, section 61.517(2), Florida

CASSIDY S. MILLER v. ALEX V. MITCHELL

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 6, 2021 | Docket: 60627046

Published

exception for temporary emergency jurisdiction. See § 61.517, Fla. Stat. 4 The New Jersey statute contains

KELLY LUNSFORD v. KARA ENGLE and JAKE PHILLIPS

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jan 20, 2021 | Docket: 31030596

Published

Florida’s temporary emergency jurisdiction statute, section 61.517, Florida Statutes (2015). See K.I. v. Dep’t

KELLY LUNSFORD v. KARA ENGLE and JAKE PHILLIPS

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jan 22, 2020 | Docket: 16738439

Published

Florida’s temporary emergency jurisdiction statute, section 61.517, Florida Statutes (2015). See K.I. v. Dep’t

WAED JAMIL AWAD v. BASHIR M. NOUFAL

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 13, 2019 | Docket: 16193034

Published

convenient forum for doing so. Section 61.517(4) provides, in pertinent part:

N.B. v. Dep't of Children of Families

274 So. 3d 1163

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jun 5, 2019 | Docket: 64718910

Published

or threatened with[,] mistreatment or abuse." § 61.517(1), Fla. Stat. (2018) ; see Cal. Fam. Code § 3424(a)

N.B. v. Dep't of Children of Families

274 So. 3d 1163

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jun 5, 2019 | Docket: 64718911

Published

or threatened with[,] mistreatment or abuse." § 61.517(1), Fla. Stat. (2018) ; see Cal. Fam. Code § 3424(a)

HOMER MCABEE, III v. ALICIA MARIE MCABEE

259 So. 3d 134

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 12, 2018 | Docket: 8395139

Published

that we remand for further proceedings. 1 Section 61.517, Fla. Stat. (2017).

Youssef v. Zaitouni ex rel. R.Y.

241 So. 3d 901

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 14, 2018 | Docket: 64677062

Published

to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse." § 61.517(1). This section is inapposite; this is not a

RABIH YACOMB YOUSSEF v. ISSRRA OSMAN ZAITOUNI

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 14, 2018 | Docket: 6304680

Published

threatened with mistreatment or abuse." § 61.517(1). This section is inapposite; this is not a

Earney v. Quiloan

206 So. 3d 147, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 18211

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 9, 2016 | Docket: 4553783

Published

children from abandonment or mistreatment. See § 61.517(1), Fla. Stat. However, the statute also

N.W.T. v. L.H.D.

955 So. 2d 1236, 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 7164

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 11, 2007 | Docket: 64850578

Published

section 61.514, Florida had jurisdiction under section 61.517, which provides for the exercise of temporary

Sargi v. Hernandez

939 So. 2d 179, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 16529, 2006 WL 2839443

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 5, 2006 | Docket: 64847164

Published

appropriate forum to adjudicate custody matters. See § 61.517(1), Fla. Stat. (2005) (conferring temporary emergency

Hirvonen v. Filsinger

866 So. 2d 1273, 2004 Fla. App. LEXIS 3477, 2004 WL 432460

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Mar 10, 2004 | Docket: 64828532

Published

the Florida proceedings regarding custody, section 61.517 of the UCCJEA gives a Florida court “temporary