FL Bar flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Florida homestead exemption

Article X, Section 4 protects a homestead from forced sale, limited to half an acre in a municipality or 160 acres outside one, subject to exceptions for taxes, mortgages, and mechanics' liens.

Florida PIP benefits

Personal injury protection requires at least $10,000 in coverage, paying 80% of medical expenses and 60% of lost wages, with treatment initiated within 14 days of the crash.

Florida comparative negligence

Under Fla. Stat. §768.81, damages are reduced by the plaintiff's percentage of fault; the modified 50% bar was replaced with pure comparative fault for negligence actions filed after March 24, 2022.

Florida statute of limitations

Four years for negligence and most contract claims; two years for libel, slander, and wrongful death; five years for written contracts and domestic judgments.

Florida statute of frauds

Fla. Stat. §725.01 requires a writing for land sales, suretyship promises, and contracts not performable within one year.

Florida notice to owner

A mechanic's lien claimant must serve a notice to owner within 45 days of first furnishing labor or materials, then record a claim of lien within 90 days of final furnishing.

Florida wrongful death act

Fla. Stat. §768.21 allows the personal representative to bring a wrongful death action and distributes damages to the estate and statutory survivors.

Florida offer of judgment

Under Fla. Stat. §768.79, a party may recover attorney's fees when a rejected offer of judgment is not met by 25% or more.

Florida summary judgment standard

After the 2021 amendment to Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.510, Florida courts apply the federal Celotex standard requiring no genuine dispute of material fact.

Florida sovereign immunity cap

Fla. Stat. §768.28 waives sovereign immunity but caps recovery at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident absent a legislative claim bill.

Florida DUI threshold

A driver commits DUI at a blood-alcohol level of 0.08% or higher, or while impaired regardless of level; refusal to submit to testing triggers administrative license suspension.

Florida homestead devise restriction

A surviving spouse may not be deprived of the homestead by will; the spouse is guaranteed a life estate in the homestead property.

Florida rule against perpetuities

Florida's 2000 statute replaced the common-law 21-year period, requiring trust interests to vest or terminate within 360 years.

Florida alimony reform

The 2023 statute abolished permanent alimony, allowing bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational alimony based on marriage length and need.

Florida will execution

A Florida will must be signed by the testator and two witnesses who sign in the presence of each other; a self-proving affidavit is permitted.

Florida security deposit return

A landlord must return a tenant's security deposit within 15 to 30 days after the tenant vacates, depending on whether a claim is asserted.

Mailbox rule

Under contract law, an acceptance is effective upon dispatch, while a rejection is effective upon receipt; option contracts are accepted only upon receipt.

UCC firm offer

A merchant's signed written offer to buy or sell goods is irrevocable without consideration for up to three months.

Perfect tender rule

Under the UCC, a buyer may reject goods that fail to conform exactly to the contract, subject to the seller's right to cure.

Statute of frauds (UCC)

A sale of goods for $500 or more requires a writing; a merchant's confirmation letter can satisfy the requirement against another merchant.

Negligence elements

A negligence claim requires duty, breach, actual cause, proximate cause, and damages; res ipsa loquitur permits an inference of breach.

Res ipsa loquitur

The doctrine permits an inference of negligence when the accident is of a kind that ordinarily does not occur absent negligence and was caused by an instrumentality in the defendant's control.

Hearsay definition

An out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted; it is inadmissible unless an exception or exclusion applies.

Excited utterance

A statement relating to a startling event made while the declarant was under the stress of excitement, admissible regardless of the declarant's availability.

Present sense impression

A statement describing or explaining an event made while or immediately after the declarant perceived it, admissible as a hearsay exception.

Business records exception

A record made in the regular course of business at or near the time of the event, shown by a custodian's testimony or certification.

Confrontation Clause

The Sixth Amendment bars testimonial hearsay unless the declarant is unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine.

Miranda trigger

Warnings are required when a suspect is in custody and subjected to interrogation; volunteered statements and routine booking questions do not require warnings.

Felony murder rule

A death caused during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony is murder; the merger doctrine bars the underlying felony from serving as the predicate.

Recording acts

Race, notice, and race-notice statutes determine priority between competing purchasers; a subsequent bona fide purchaser prevails under notice and race-notice acts.

Adverse possession elements

Possession must be actual, open and notorious, exclusive, continuous, and hostile for the statutory period to ripen into title.

Erie doctrine

A federal court sitting in diversity applies state substantive law and federal procedural law, using the forum state's choice-of-law rules.