Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida Opinion filed February 6, 2019. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing. ________________ No. 3D17-1742 Lower Tribunal No. 17-7005 ________________ Juan Tiu Mendez, Appellant, vs. Nila Mendez Lopez and Miguel Tiu Mendez, Appellees. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Bernard S. Shapiro, Judge. University of Miami School of Law Children & Youth Law Clinic and Robert Latham and Cari Lieberman, Certified Legal Intern, for appellant. No Appearances, for appellees. Before EMAS, C.J., and FERNANDEZ and SCALES, JJ. FERNANDEZ, J. Juan Tiu Mendez appeals the dismissal of his petition for temporary custody of his minor sister, pursuant to chapter 751, Florida Statutes (2017). The trial court both denied and dismissed the petition with prejudice on grounds unrelated to the petition’s legal sufficiency. Specifically, the trial court cited the following reasons for dismissal in the order on appeal: 1. That almost identical allegations of abuse by the minor child’s parents in the home country (Guatemala) have been seen previously in other similar Petitions. 2. That in each, the terribly abusive offenders have somehow been convinced to sign consents basically admitting to these terrible acts, giving up their parental rights and surrendering custody to a family member residing in the United States. 3. That there are certain immigration benefits to these Petitions being granted in circumvention of existing immigration laws. Because we hold that the chapter 751 petition was legally sufficient, we reverse and remand to the trial court. The standard of review of a final order dismissing a petition with prejudice is de novo. Calderon v. Vazquez, 251 So. 3d 303, 304 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018); J.W.T. v. S.T., 974 So. 2d 436, 437 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007). Section 751.01, Florida Statutes, provides that the purpose of chapter 751 is, among other things, to provide for the welfare of the minor child who is living with extended family members. Specifically, the chapter recognizes that the care being extended to the child is by an extended family member, and therefore, the child is not a dependent child. Section 751.02 provides that any extended family member who has the signed, notarized consent of the child’s legal parents or who is caring 2 full time for the child in the role of substitute parent, and with whom the child is living, may bring a proceeding in the circuit court to determine the temporary or concurrent custody of the minor child. Finally, section 751.03 establishes the required contents of a petition for temporary or concurrent custody. Our review of the petition establishes that the petition is legally sufficient and complies with the requirements of section 751.03. Appellant has attached the consent of each parent to the petition. The parents did not waive their parental rights or consent to the determination of dependency for the minor child and reserve the right to re-establish their custody of the minor child on proper petition to the court. In fact, although alleged in the petition, neither ...
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