LAYNE H. SRAGOWICZ, APPELLANT,
v.
MOISES SRAGOWICZ, APPELLEE
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Wife Layne Sragowicz appealed a trial court's dismissal of her marriage dissolution petition based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction, claiming she lacked the required six-month Florida residency. The appellate court affirmed, finding the evidence did not establish by clear and convincing evidence that the wife intended to make Florida her permanent residence.
The wife failed to establish the requisite six-month residency with intent to make Florida her permanent residence. The evidence showed she came for a temporary, albeit extended, visit and did not form the intention to remain in Florida permanently until August 1990 when she became involved in a physical altercation with her husband.
[1] A party seeking marriage dissolution in Florida must establish residency in the state for at least six months prior to filing the petition.
[2] Establishing residency for marriage dissolution requires demonstrating an intention to make Florida a permanent home, not merely a temporary visit.
Previewing 2 of 6 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the trial court was privileged to believe that the wife had no intention to make Florida her residence when she came to Miami with her young son in November 1989 to visit her mother and later to attend a relative's wedding in January 1990, nor did she ever entertain such intention during her stay in Miami' until August 6, 1990, when she filed the instant marriage dissolution petition”
Establishes the court's finding that the wife's initial purpose was temporary and her intent to remain did not form until she filed for dissolution
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe wife came to Miami in November 1989 ostensibly to visit her mother and attend a relative's wedding, leaving her husband (a Brazilian citizen) and …
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PER CURIAM.
The wife Layne H. Sragowicz appeals a final order of the trial court dismissing her petition for marriage dissolution based on subject matter jurisdiction grounds. After conducting a full evidentiary hearing below, the trial court concluded that the wife had failed to establish that she was a resident of the state of Florida for six months prior to the filing of the petition for marriage dissolution. We affirm.
Although the evidence adduced below is in conflict, the trial court was privileged to believe that the wife had no intention to make Florida her residence when she came to Miami with her young son in November 1989 to visit her mother and later to attend a relative’s wedding in January 1990, nor did she ever entertain such intention during her stay in Miami' until August 6, 1990, when she filed the instant marriage dissolution petition. During this time she was a resident of Brazil where she had resided with her husband Moises Sragowicz, a Brazilian citizen, since their marriage in February 1985. She extended her stay in Miami past January 1990 while the husband was involved in a political campaign for senator in Brazil. The wife left all of her furniture, most of her clothes, all of her wedding presents, and most of her son’s clothes and toys in Brazil. A condominium was purchased by the parties in Miami for the wife’s extended stay for vacation purposes only, and the son was temporarily enrolled in school in Miami; she also purchased an automobile and obtained a Florida driver’s license for transportation purposes during her extended stay. The wife brought only one suitcase for her stay in Miami and only one suitcase for her son; the wife never registered to vote nor filed for homestead exemption in Miami.
Moreover, there was no testimony of any incident in the marriage prior to the Miami visit which would have induced the wife to leave her husband, with whom she was residing in Brazil, and live permanently in Miami; plainly, she came to Miami in November 1989 for a temporary, albeit extended, visit with her relatives and entertained no intention of staying here until August 1990 when she became involved in a physical altercation with the husband over her alleged infidelity.
We conclude that this showing failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the wife had resided in Florida for six months with the intention to make Florida her permanent residence prior to filing the instant petition for marriage, dissolution. See Curley v. Curley, 144 Fla. 728, 198 So. 584 (1940); Beaucamp v. Beaucamp, 508 So. 2d 419 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Gillman v. Gillman, 413 So. 2d 412, 413 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982); § 61.021, Fla.Stat. (1989).
Affirmed.
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Minda v. Minda, 190 So. 3d 1126 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016)…) (holding that the wife, who possessed a Florida driver’s license, did riot satisfy the residency requirement when she had riot expressed a desire to stay in Florida until shortly before she -filed her dissolution petition); Sragowicz v. Sragowicz, 591 So. 2d 1084, 1084 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991) (holding that the former wife was not a resident of Florida for purposes of section 61.021 even though she possessed a Florida driver’s license). Should the former wife prove her claims regarding the residency of the parties…
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Hamilton v. Claudio A. Natoli Michieli, 954 So. 2d 739 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007)…ths in the state before the filing of the petition.” § 61.021, Fla. Stat. (2005). Case law throughout our state has interpreted this statute to require examination of residency at the time of the filing of the petition. E.g., Sragowicz v. Sragowicz, 591 So. 2d 1084 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)(affirming dismissal where wife [*740] failed to proffer any evidence that she intended to remain in Florida during the six months prior to the petition); Rowland v. Rowland, 868 So. 2d 608, 610 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)(affirming the den…
Authorities Cited
- Gillman v. Anne Gillman, 413 So. 2d 412 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982)
- Curley v. Curley, 144 Fla. 728 (Fla. 1940)
- Georg Arthur Josef Maria Beaucamp v. Beaucamp, 508 So. 2d 419 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987)