SARA ANN WYNN, APPELLANT,
v.
AETNA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY AND MARILYN ANN WYNN, APPELLEES
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Sara Wynn appealed the trial court's denial of her motion to dismiss and quash service in an interpleader action filed by Aetna Life Insurance Company. The court held that Aetna failed to adequately allege facts establishing a basis for long-arm jurisdiction under Florida statute, rendering service invalid and voiding personal jurisdiction over Sara.
No. The court reversed and remanded with instructions to dismiss, holding that Aetna's failure to adequately plead facts establishing a basis for long-arm jurisdiction under § 48.193 voided any service of process under § 48.194 and deprived the court of in personam jurisdiction over Sara.
[1] A court's exercise of long-arm jurisdiction under a state's long-arm statute requires a valid cause of action to be alleged in the complaint.
[2] Failure to adequately plead a basis for long-arm jurisdiction under a state's long-arm statute voids any service of process made pursuant to the statute, resulting in a l…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The failure to adequately allege a basis for long arm jurisdiction under § 48.193, Fla.Stat., voids any service of process made pursuant to § 48.-194, Fla.Stat., with the result there would be no in personam jurisdiction over Sara.”
Establishes the core holding that failure to allege proper long-arm jurisdiction basis voids service and jurisdictional power
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGarland D. Wynn died in Florida in July 1979, leaving a $36,000 life insurance policy issued by Aetna with Sara (his current spouse) as beneficiary. H…
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THOMPSON, Judge.
On this appeal from a non-final order, the appellant argues that the trial court erred by denying her motion to dismiss and quash service because the court lacked jurisdiction over the appellant. We agree and reverse.
On July 28, 1979, Garland D. Wynn died in Florida. Earlier, the appellee Aetna Life Insurance Company (“Aetna”) had issued a $36,000.00 insurance policy, thereby insuring the life of Mr. Wynn. The beneficiary of that policy was the appellant (“Sara”), who was married to Mr. Wynn at the time of his death. Sara demanded full payment of the insurance policy. Simultaneously, however, Mr. Wynn’s ex-spouse, the appel-lee Marilyn Ann Wynn (“Marilyn”), acting as parent and next friend of two minors, claimed that those minors (who were Mr. Wynn’s children) were entitled to the proceeds of the insurance policy, pursuant to a Tennessee divorce decree. Additionally, Marilyn claimed that she was entitled to the proceeds of the policy. Based on the foregoing, Aetna filed an interpleader action in Florida against Sara and Marilyn, alleging in part that all the parties herein were Florida residents.
Aetna had the Sheriff of Fayette County, Tennessee serve a summons (along with the interpleader complaint) upon Sara at her home in Tennessee. Sara, through her Florida attorney, filed a motion to dismiss and quash service, contending in part that the Florida court had no jurisdiction over her person. She attached an affidavit to her motion, attesting that she, as well as Marilyn and the two minors, were all residents of Tennessee. Sara also attested that she had no ties with or property in the State of Florida, and that while she moved to Florida in September 1978 to accompany her late husband, she returned to Tennessee following his death in July 1979.
Sara validly contends that she was erroneously served in Tennessee pursuant to § 48.194, Fla.Stat. (1979).* The use of this statute requires that Aetna must have alleged a valid cause of action for the exercise of long arm jurisdiction pursuant to § 48.193, Fla.Stat. (1979). See § 48.193(2) and (3), Fla.Stat.; Gaskill v. May Bros., Inc., 372 So. 2d 98, 99 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979); P.S.R. Assoc. v. Artcraft-Health, 364 So. 2d 855, 857 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978). The failure to adequately allege a basis for long arm jurisdiction under § 48.193, Fla.Stat., voids any service of process made pursuant to § 48.-194, Fla.Stat., with the result there would be no in personam jurisdiction over Sara. See Gaskill, 372 So. 2d at 99.
In order to plead a valid cause of action for the exercise of long arm jurisdiction, Aetna must first allege sufficient facts to fall within the actual language of § 48.193, Fla.Stat. See Electro Eng. Products Co. v. Lewis, 352 So. 2d 862, 864 (Fla.1977). After carefully reviewing Aetna’s Complaint for Interpleader and Declaratory Relief, we have determined that Aetna has totally failed to plead any facts establishing the basis for long arm jurisdiction over Sara. Given this fact alone, Sara’s motion should have been granted, even without any supporting affidavits. See Guritz v. American Motivate, Inc., 386 So. 2d 60, 62 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). Of course, Sara’s affidavits strengthen the basis for her motion, and Aetna completely failed to adequately respond to that motion.
Based on the preceding, the trial court’s Order is reversed, and this cause is remanded with instructions to dismiss this action against the appellant.
SHAW and WENTWORTH, JJ., concur. *
Insofar as service of process was used as a means of effecting jurisdiction over Sara, the trial court’s denial of Sara’s motion to quash service may be reviewed on this appeal from a non-final order. Fla.R.App.P. 9.130(a)(3)(C)(i) allows for appellate review of a non-final order which determines “jurisdiction of the person,” and as noted in American Health Ass’n., Inc. v. Helprin, 357 So. 2d 204, 205 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978), “jurisdiction over the person, for example, refers to service of process.. . . ”
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (11 total)
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Int'l Harvester Co. v. Mann, 460 So. 2d 580 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)…rts have consistently held that a plaintiff seeking to assert long-arm jurisdiction over a non-resident must allege in his complaint sufficient facts to fall within the language of Section 48.-193, Florida Statutes. Wynn v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., 400 So. 2d 144 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); Electro Engineering Products Co., Inc. v. Lewis, 352 So. 2d 862 (Fla. 1977). We believe that plaintiff/appellee did so in this case. Although MI was formed as a corporation under the laws of Delaware, its physical assets and its…
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Mouzon v. Mouzon, 458 So. 2d 381 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984)…the result that there was no in personam jurisdiction over the respondent husband. Electro Engineering Products Co., Inc. v. Lewis, 352 So. 2d 862 (Fla.1977); Newton v. Bryan, 433 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983); Wynn v. Aetna Life Insurance Company, 400 So. 2d 144 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). Neither does the complaint or any affidavit attached to it show any of the jurisdictional requirements of section 61.132 or 61.1308, Florida Statutes (1981) so as to vest the court with custody jurisdiction, nor does the compla…
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Pellerito Foods, Inc. v. Am. Conveyors Corp., 542 So. 2d 426 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…. 3d DCA 1980). American alleged that payment was due in Dade County, Florida, and that Pellerito had breached the contract by failing to pay. Its complaint therefore met the pleading requirements of section 48.193. See Wynn v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 400 So. 2d 144 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981) (party seeking to exercise long-arm jurisdiction must allege sufficient jurisdictional facts to show that conduct alleged falls within actual language of long-arm statute). Moreover, the allegations of the complaint and the aver…
Previewing 3 of 11 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Electro Eng'g Prods. Co., Inc. v. Lewis, 352 So. 2d 862 (Fla. 1977)
- P. S. R. Assocs. v. Artcraft-Heath, 364 So. 2d 855 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978)
- Am. Health Ass'n, Inc. v. Helprin, 357 So. 2d 204 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)
- Gaskill v. MAY Bros., Inc., 372 So. 2d 98 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979)
- Guritz v. Am. Motivate, Inc., 386 So. 2d 60 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980)