Verbatim authority
RULE 12.004
JUDICIAL ACCESS AND REVIEW OF RELATED
FAMILY FILES
(a) In General. A judge hearing a family case may access
and review the files of any related case either pending or closed, to
aid in carrying out his or her adjudicative responsibilities.
Authorized court staff and personnel may also access and review
the file of any related case.
(b) Family Case Defined. For purposes of this rule, a
related family case is another pending or closed case separate from
the pending case, as defined in Rule of Judicial Administration
2.545(d).
(c) Nondisclosure of Confidential Information. Judges or
authorized court personnel shall not disclose confidential
information and documents contained in related case files except in
accordance with applicable state and federal confidentiality laws.
(d) Notice by Court Staff. Authorized court staff may advise
the court about the existence of related legal proceedings, the legal
issues involved, and administrative information about such cases.
Source: The Florida Bar — Family Law Rules of Procedure compilation (PDF) · retrieved July 7, 2026
Extraction cross-checked 2026-07-07 against an owner-supplied packet copy — byte-identical to the live official Bar compilation (same-origin copy); all 95 rule hashes reproduced exactly. Status remains pending until a named human reviewer signs off (scripts/verify-rules.mjs).