JANICE BECKLES, APPELLANT,
v.
FRANKIE JEROME GROVER, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1986-11-05
No. 86-944
SCHOONOVER and FRANK, JJ„ concur.
496 So. 2d 993 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1986) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

A putative father filed a paternity action in Polk County against the mother, who resides in Hillsborough County with the child. The court held that venue provisions in Florida's paternity statute (chapter 742) apply only to actions brought by mothers, and that a father's declaratory judgment action for paternity must comply with general venue rules, which place proper venue in Hillsborough County where the mother and child reside.


Holding

Proper venue lies in Hillsborough County. The venue provisions of chapter 742 apply only to paternity actions brought by mothers, not to declaratory judgment actions brought by putative fathers. Putative fathers seeking legal determination of paternity must comply with general venue rules under section 47.011, which establish venue in the county where either party resides, and in this case clearly lies in Hillsborough County where the mother and child reside.


Headnotes

[1] Paternity actions brought by the mother are governed by section 742.021, Florida Statutes, which allows venue in the county of residence of either the mother or the putat…

[2] A putative father seeking a legal determination of paternity must bring a suit for declaratory judgment under chapter 86, Florida Statutes.

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Key Quotes

“chapter 742 is limited to paternity actions brought by the mother”

Establishes that the statutory venue provisions for paternity actions do not apply to actions brought by putative fathers

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Facts & Procedural History

A putative father filed suit in Polk County seeking a determination of paternity for a child born to the appellant (mother) in Hillsborough County. Th…

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Opinion of the Court
GRIMES, Acting Chief Judge.

GRIMES, Acting Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from an order denying a motion to dismiss and to transfer for improper venue.

Appellee (putative father) filed suit in Polk County seeking to be determined the natural father of a child born to appellant (mother) in Hillsborough County. After a summons was served upon the mother, she wrote a letter to the court requesting an extension to respond by reason of her absence from the state to attend a death in her husband’s family. The next document which appears in the file is a notice of final hearing. Thereafter, the mother, through an attorney, filed a motion to continue the final hearing on the ground that the case was not at issue. The court entered an order continuing the final hearing and directing the mother to file responsive pleadings within seven days. The mother then filed a motion to dismiss and to transfer the case to Hillsborough County on the ground that Polk County was an improper venue. The court denied the motion, thereby setting the stage for this appeal.

The mother and the child both live in Hillsborough County. While the putative father’s residence is never stated in the pleadings, it is implicit that he lives in Polk County. The argument he makes here and which from the wording of the order of denial was apparently accepted by the court below is that venue in this action is controlled by section 742.021, Florida Statutes (1985).

That statute provides that proceedings under chapter 742 may be filed in the county in which either the mother or the putative father resides. The problem with this argument, however, is that chapter 742 is limited to paternity actions brought by the mother. In Kendrick v. Everheart, 390 So. 2d 53 (Fla.1980), our supreme court upheld chapter 742 against a constitutional attack as properly providing a basis for mothers to prosecute paternity actions against putative fathers in order to obtain child support. At the same time, the court ruled that a father may seek a legal determination of paternity by bringing a suit for declaratory judgment under chapter 86. The court made no suggestion that the venue provisions of chapter 742 would be applicable to declaratory judgments prosecuted by the putative father. As a consequence, we hold that the venue of this declaratory judgment action must be determined according to the general venue statute. When section 47.011, Florida Statutes (1985), is applied to this case, venue clearly lies in Hillsborough County.

While neither the court nor the parties specifically address it, we have also considered the question of whether the mother’s failure to attack venue at the same time she filed a motion to continue the final hearing could constitute a waiver. See Gross v. Franklin, 387 So. 2d 1046 (Fla.3d DCA 1980).

In this instance, we have concluded that a waiver did not occur. The motion for continuance was addressed to the setting of a final hearing which was not authorized by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure because the case was not at issue. Since the mother’s attorney was “under the gun” to extricate his client from the prospect of an unauthorized final hearing, we cannot say that his failure to include a motion for change of venue along with his motion for continuance constituted a waiver. It should be noted that the possibility of waiver prescribed by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.140(h) does not come into play until the filing of motions under subdivisions (b), (e) or (f) of that rule, or in the absence of such motions, the filing of a responsive pleading.

We reverse the subject order and remand with directions that the case be transferred to Hillsborough County.

SCHOONOVER and FRANK, JJ„ concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Nunez-Miller v. Miller, 209 So. 3d 619 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017)
    …f Former Husband’s petition to register the German judgment in Florida and his amended supplemental petition to modify. In response to those petitions, Former Wife filed her motion challenging Former Husband’s venue selection. See Beckles v. Grover, 496 So. 2d 993, 994 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986) (holding that mother’s failure to challenge venue at same time she filed emergency motion to continue an unauthorized hearing did not constitute waiver). On remand, the trial court is directed to dismiss Former Husband’s Ver…

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