Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody

A hearing before a general magistrate in a Florida child custody case is usually electronically recorded, and a party wanting a transcript of the hearing is required to have it transcribed by a court reporter. This transcript is needed for an appeal. This was an issue in the case Saenz v. Diaz, 3D24-1744 (Fla. 3d DCA June 25, 2025).

The parties obtained a final judgment of divorce in 2016 which provided for equal timesharing and shared parental responsibility, but did not set forth a specific time-sharing schedule. The parties continued to reside together after entry of the judgment, but approximately 6.5 years later, the father filed a petition to modify, alleging the parties no longer lived together, and seeking a specific time-sharing schedule. He also alleged the mother was not allowing him equal time-sharing and was otherwise not exercising shared parental responsibility.

The matter was referred to a general magistrate for hearing, and the court found it was in the best interest of the child to continue to order equal timesharing. A specific schedule was ordered. Despite the mother’s objection to the general magistrate’s recommended order, the trial court ratified the recommendations and the mother appealed.

The appellate court affirmed, holding “Following the evidentiary hearing, the general magistrate entered a recommended order finding a substantial change in circumstances had occurred and shared parental responsibility with equal timesharing remained in the child’s best interests. This hearing was electronically recorded and no transcript was prepared. The Mother did not provide the recording in the appellate record. Without a record of the hearing and finding no legal error apparent on the face of the recommended order, we cannot conclude the trial court abused its discretion in its modification of the timesharing schedule. Because such a determination is clothed with presumption of correctness, we are compelled to affirm.”

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