ALPHONSO S. DEVAUGHN, APPELLANT,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE AND CLARA BROWN, APPELLEES
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The court held that a trial court lacks jurisdiction to set aside a paternity judgment more than one year after its rendition, absent fraud on the court.
Appellant admitted paternity in 1982 and was ordered to pay child support. A later blood test suggested he was not the father of one child, leading a …
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KLEIN, Judge.
Appellant asks us to vacate an order requiring him to pay child support, arguing that a prior court order absolving him of that responsibility should be reinstated. We affirm.
In 1982, the appellant admitted in court that he was the biological father of two children born in 1979 and 1980. The court entered an order based on his admission requiring him to pay child support at the rate of $82.40 per month. Sometime thereafter the childrens’ grandmother became their primary residential custodian, and in 1991, the Department of Revenue filed a complaint against the appellant to establish child support. Appellant filed an answer alleging that one of the children was not his biological child. In that proceeding appellant requested a blood test, which the court permitted at appellant’s expense, and the test showed that he was not the biological father of one of the children.
In 1994, Judge Fleet entered an order, based on the test, finding that appellant was not the natural father of one of the children, vacating the income deduction order which had been in effect, and reserving jurisdiction to enter further orders. Judge Fleet subsequently recused, and the successor judge referred the matter to a general master. The master filed a report finding, among other things, that Judge Fleet did not have jurisdiction to interfere with the 1982 final judgment of paternity. The court adopted the report of the master, which vacated Judge Fleet’s order. It is that order which appellant claims should be reversed.
We affirm. Absent fraud on the court, the trial court did not have jurisdiction to set aside the 1982 judgment of paternity more than one year after its rendition. Fla. R.Civ.P. 1.540(b). Lewis v. Mack, 411 So. 2d 933 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982), and cases cited therein. The 1994 order was therefore void. Palm Beach County v. Boca Dev. Assocs. Ltd., 485 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 492 So. 2d 1330 (Fla.1986).
GUNTHER, C.J., and WARNER, J., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Dep't OF Revenue v. Ervin Blocker, 806 So. 2d 607 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)…n for contempt for failure to pay court-ordered child support.’ ” Dep’t of Revenue v. Allen, 717 So. 2d 130 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (quoting Dep’t of Revenue v. Goulbourne, 648 So. 2d 866, 857 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)); see also DeVaughn v. Dep’t of Revenue, 691 So. 2d 11, 12 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) (holding that “[ajbsent fraud on the court, the trial court did not have jurisdiction to set aside the 1982 judgment of paternity more than one year after its rendition”). In this case, paternity was established by court ord…
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Dep't OF Revenue v. Boswell, 915 So. 2d 717 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)…); Streater v. Stamper, 466 So. 2d 397 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) (perjury committed in connection with paternity judgment was intrinsic fraud). See also Department of Revenue v. Harris, 684 So. 2d 231 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); DeVaughn v. Department of Revenue, 691 So. 2d 11 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Possibly recognizing this jurisdictional difficulty, the findings of the trial court suggest that it vacated the final judgment on the basis of Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b)(5): On motion and upon such terms as are…
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State v. Kunhardt, 711 So. 2d 247 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)…arlier. Absent a showing of fraud upon the court, not present on the record before us, a trial court is without jurisdiction to permit a challenge to a judgment of paternity more than one year after its rendition. See DeVaughn v. Department of Rev., 691 So. 2d 11, 12 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 700 So. 2d 684 (Fla.1997); see also Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.540(b). Indeed, the issue of paternity is res judicata in this contempt proceeding for the nonpayment of the court ordered child support. See Department of Rev.…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
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- Pamela M. Lewis & the Fla. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. Sammuel Mack, 411 So. 2d 933 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982)
- Palm Beach Cnty. v. Boca Dev. Assocs., Ltd., 485 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)