Divorce and alimony: When to file a motion for rehearing in family law case

FLORIDA APPEALS JOURNAL™ JOURNAL ENTRY 2.2019 THE BIG CASE: When are you required to file a motion for a rehearing with the trial court when challenging errors on the final judgement? It’s tricky. Generally in Florida, an issue must be raised during the trial for it to be preserved for possible appeal. However, recent rulings in some district courts suggest a trend in the family law arena that is different. In Chapter 61, trial judges are required to make certain findings in the order when it comes to certain categories like dissolution of marriage and alimony and child support. When findings mandated by statute aren’t in the final order, some litigants have tried to appeal but in a lot of districts appellants are told they cannot appeal because they didn’t raise the question during the trial. Now that’s different, at least in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, and also the Second. THE BIG ISSUE: Is there a trend toward recognizing that dissolution of marriage and alimony cases are different from other civil cases? Recent cases 4DCA and 2DCA would suggest so. The citations are included below. 4DCA found that in Fox v. Fox, a trial court’s failure to comply with the statutory requirement of factual findings is reversible error regardless of whether a motion of rehearing is filed. The rationale the district used was that the rules do not require the filing of a motion, many cases are pro se, or without the assistance of an attorney, and a family court judge should be aware of the statutory requirements in rendering a decision on alimony, equitable distribution, and child support. So they address the competing values — judicial economy vs. a ruling that is in the best interest of the children and their families. When it comes to these kinds of cases, they’re really going to impose a more stringent burden on the trial judge to follow the statutory requirements. COURTROOM SAVVY: What’s the best practice to protect the opportunity for a rehearing in family law? First, look at the district that you’re in to see what the trend is in similar family law cases. Second, go ahead and raise the question during the trial phase just to be sure. Of course, if you can get the question resolved without an appeal, that’s a good thing. For educational purposes only. Not intended to be used as legal advice. PLEASE SEND ALL INQUIRIES TO [email protected] –––––––––––––––––––– Florida Appeals Journal™ is a new periodic consideration of trends and issues in Florida appellate law, hosted by appeals attorney Jennifer S. Carroll. If you find this video useful, please LIKE it and SHARE it with colleagues you think will find it valuable. Please SUBSCRIBE to the channel (and click the bell) to receive notice when we publish new videos. If you have comments, please leave them in the section provided below. If you have specific questions, please call us at the number below. If you have other topics you'd like us to cover, please email us at [email protected] Florida Appeals Journal presentations are for educational purposes only and not intended as legal advice.  ––––––––––––––––– The Law Offices of Jennifer S. Carroll, P.A. is dedicated to advocating and protecting clients’ rights in state and federal appeals, post-trial proceedings, as well as pretrial and trial proceedings that involve resolution of significant legal issues. The firm’s mandate is to provide such representation at the highest quality for all clients. By the time a case reaches our firm, it is complicated. It either started that way, or it became difficult as a result of errors which occurred in the trial court proceedings. Our goal is to simplify these difficult cases and resolve them in the best interests of all clients. https://www.jscappeal.com/ ––––––––––––––––– Music by Kevin MacLeod Werq Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... ––––––––––––––––– Law Offices of Jennifer S. Carroll, PA 1001 US-1 [email protected] (561) 478-2102 (888) 302-1320 TOLL FREE