JESSIE GARLAND, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
DONNA JEAN LEWIS, APPELLEE
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Jessie Garland, Jr. appeals a child support arrearage assessment of over $15,000 based on an Ohio divorce decree. The Florida appellate court affirms, holding that the Ohio decree is entitled to full faith and credit and that Garland is estopped from challenging it.
The Ohio decree is entitled to full faith and credit. Garland cannot challenge the decree's validity because: (1) nothing on the face of the judgment suggests invalidity; (2) service by certified mail to his address was sufficient under Ohio law to confer jurisdiction even though signed by another; and (3) Garland is estopped from impeaching the decree after having relied on it in remarrying.
[1] A Florida court should generally not question the validity of a foreign decree unless its invalidity is apparent from the record.
[2] Service of process by certified mail to a party's address is sufficient to confer jurisdiction if signed for by another person, under Ohio rules of civil procedure.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Generally a Florida court should not attempt to determine the validity of a foreign decree unless "something appears on the face of the record which discloses its invalidity."”
Establishes the standard for Florida courts reviewing foreign divorce decrees under full faith and credit doctrine.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn 1975, Donna Lewis filed for divorce in Hamilton County, Ohio while married to Garland, with service by certified mail to a Cincinnati address signe…
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PER CURIAM.
Jessie Garland, Jr., appeals an order of the circuit court which assesses against him child support arrearages in excess of $15,000. We affirm.
In 1975 appellee Donna (Garland) Lewis, then married to the appellant, filed a di vorce complaint in the Court of Common Pleas, Hamilton County, Ohio, a copy of which was sent by certified mail to a Cincinnati address. Appellant’s father appears to have signed for the mailing. The divorce was granted January 27, 1976, with the Ohio court awarding appellee child support in the amount of fifteen dollars per week per child. In 1987, through the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, appellee filed her URESA petition in Pasco County. Appellant denied each and every allegation in the petition and asserted several affirmative defenses including the Ohio court’s absence of jurisdiction over his person at the time of the original divorce proceeding.
Generally a Florida court should not attempt to determine the validity of a foreign decree unless “something appears on the face of the record which discloses its invalidity.” Gaylord v. Gaylord, 45 So. 2d 507, 510 (Fla.1950). Nothing about the judgment in the present case, which incidentally contains specific findings on the threshold jurisdictional question, suggests it should not be entitled to full faith and credit. Under Ohio rules of civil procedure service of process by certified mail has been held sufficient to confer jurisdiction over a party, when sent to his address, even if signed for by another not specifically authorized by the party to do so. Fancher v. Fancher, 8 Ohio App.3d 79, 455 N.E. 2d 1344 (1982). Furthermore, the Ohio rules, like Florida's, allow a party relief from judgments based on such considerations as mistake, excusable neglect, or fraud. Appellant, who had knowledge of the Ohio decree at least as far back as his own remarriage, has failed to avail himself of this remedy. Finally, having remarried in reliance upon that decree, he is now estopped from impeaching it. Reichert v. Appel, 74 So. 2d 674 (Fla.1954).
Affirmed.
CAMPBELL, C.J., and SCHEB and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur.
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State v. Opel, 620 So. 2d 191 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993)…vice of the Pennsylvania complaint, and thus that the judgment was invalid and unenforceable. Hodge suggests that a due process attack might also be made on a paternity judgment entered in advance of URESA proceedings. However, in Garland v. Lewis, 547 So. 2d 1030 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989), this court stated, “Generally a Florida court should not attempt to determine the validity of a foreign decree unless something appears on the face of the record which discloses its invalidity.” The record in the present case ref…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Gaylord v. Gaylord, 45 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 1950)
- Bud Lambert Reichert v. Appel, 74 So. 2d 674 (Fla. 1954)