STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES AND DEBORAH JEANETTE DANIELS, APPELLANTS,
v.
GREG SCOTT DAY, APPELLEE
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The court held that a prior paternity adjudication is res judicata and cannot be set aside absent fraud upon the court, and the allegations presented were insufficient to establish such fraud.
[1] A prior paternity adjudication is res judicata absent fraud upon the court.
[2] Allegations of a party's alcohol abuse, diminished intellectual capacity, or past alcoholism treatment are insufficient, on their own, to establish fraud upon the court i…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA father sought to vacate a paternity judgment, alleging fraud based on his history of alcoholism and a purported biological defect preventing concept…
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FRANK, Judge.
This appeal arises from the trial court’s order denying Deborah Jeanette Daniels’ petition to set aside an order compelling an HLA (human leukocyte antigen) blood test in this paternity action. Because the prior paternity adjudication is res judicata, we reverse.
Pursuant to a stipulation signed by Gregg Scott Day, the Pinellas County Circuit Court entered a judgment on June 24, 1984, determining that Day was the natural father of Christopher Michael Day. Eight years later, after Daniels had filed a motion for contempt for non-payment of child support, Day filed a motion to vacate the final judgment, alleging that a fraud had been committed upon the court. As a foundation for this assertion, Day stated that he had a history of extreme alcohol abuse, that his intellectual capacity had been diminished, and that he had undergone treatment for alcoholism in 1991. Day also alleged that he had a biological defect that would have prevented him from producing viable sperm at the time Christopher was conceived. Upon this set of allegations the child support hearing officer concluded that there “may” have been a fraud upon the court and ordered the parties to undergo HLA blood testing.
“Absent fraud upon the court, the paternity adjudication is res judicata.” Miller v. Cowart, 546 So. 2d 768, 769 (Fla. 2d DCA1989). Day’s motion alleges absolutely no facts, however, indicating that Daniels perpetrated a fraud. In fact, Day’s allegations are substantially similar to the contentions put forth in Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services v. Chambers, 472 So. 2d 1358 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), also held insufficient to order HLA blood testing. Even the hearing officer’s order is ambivalent about the existence of wrongdoing, stating there may have been a fraud. This weak conclusion, together with the allegations upon which it is premised, is insufficient to reopen the previously adjudicated question of paternity.
Accordingly, the order under review is reversed.
SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., and PARKER, J., concur.
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Dep't OF Revenue & Cindy Sickles v. Byrd, 710 So. 2d 1036 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…ted at this point absent some allegation of extrinsic fraud committed on the trial court during those proceedings. See Department of Revenue v. Harris, 684 So. 2d 231, 232-33 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); Department of Health and Rehabilitative Servs. v. Day, 615 So. 2d 176, 177 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); Morgan v. Morgan, 466 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). At most, respondent’s testimony at the hearing on his motion to compel the tests could establish only a claim of intrinsic fraud, which could only have been brought within…
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Dep't OF Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. Ellis Huewitt, Jr., 620 So. 2d 1143 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)…PER CURIAM. The petition for writ of certiorari is granted and the order requiring the mother and child to submit to blood tests is quashed. See Dept. of Health and Rehabilitative Services v. Day, 615 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); Morgan v. Morgan, 466 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985); Decker v. Hunter, 460 So. 2d 1014 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984). GUNTHER, STONE and WARNER, JJ., concur.…
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Worrell v. Worrell, 23 So. 3d 199 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)…ting by failing to make an allegation of fraud, duress, material mistake of fact, or newly discovered evidence in the child support proceedings pending before the support enforcement hearing officer); State, Dep’t of Health and Rehab. Servs. v. Day, 615 So. 2d 176, 177 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993) (criticizing a child support hearing officer’s conclusion that there “may” have been a fraud upon the court). Given the plain reading of Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.491, and the lack of case law abrogating the gr…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
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- Michelle Miller & the Fla. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. Cowart, 546 So. 2d 768 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)
- Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. Chambers, 472 So. 2d 1358 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)