LOUIS GEORGE CARRES, APPELLANT,
v.
MARGARET GOOD-EARNEST, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that it has jurisdiction to review the attorney's fees entitlement issue, even though the amount was not initially determined, because the judgment ripened during the appeal.
[1] A petition for modification and a court order adequately state substantial changed circumstances, which are involuntary and permanent, warranting child support beyond age…
[2] A parent has a continuing duty to care for an adult child suffering from physical or mental disabilities.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFormer husband appealed an order determining former wife's entitlement to attorney's fees. Initially, the appellate court dismissed this portion of th…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Modification Of Final Judgment Of Dissolution cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Pro se appellant, Louis Jorge Car-res, the former husband, timely appeals the order of the circuit court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, modifying the final judgment of dissolution, awarding child support, attorney’s fees and custody of the parties’ child to appellee, Margaret Good-Earnest. We have carefully examined the issues raised on appeal and find no error. In particular, we note that both the petition for modification and the trial court’s order1 adequately state substantial changed circumstances which are involuntary and permanent warranting child support beyond age eighteen. See § 748.07(2), Fla. Stat. (2000); Kern v. Kern, 360 So. 2d 482 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)(stating that although the legal duty of a parent to support a child generally ceases at the age of majority, there is a continuing duty on a parent to care for an adult child suffering from physical or mental disabilities); see also Miller v. Smart, 636 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)(explain-ing that a child’s support payments may be extended beyond age eighteen where the child is dependent due to mental or physical incapacity that began prior to age eighteen).
The husband also attempts to challenge that portion of the trial court’s order which determined former wife’s entitlement to attorney’s fees. This court has declined to exercise jurisdiction over orders such as this one, which determine entitlement to attorney’s fees, but not amount. See Rit-chie v. Ritchie, 687 So. 2d 1358 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997); Carlson v. Carlson, 696 So. 2d 1332 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Accordingly, we dismiss that portion of the appeal directed to entitlement.
AFFIRMED in part, DISMISSED in part.
WARNER, STEVENSON and KLEIN, JJ., concur. . Appellant has not provided a transcript of the hearing below. Thus, our review is limited to any error of law that is apparent on the face of the judgment. See Sullivan v. Sullivan, 668 So. 2d 329 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); Bartolottav. Bartolotta, 687 So. 2d 1385, 1386 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 697 So. 2d 509 (Fla. 1997).
PER CURIAM.
We grant the motion for rehearing. In this appeal, former husband challenged, inter alia, that portion of the trial court’s order determining former wife’s entitlement to attorney’s fees. In the initial opinion filed on November 20, 2002, this court dismissed that portion of the appeal and declined to exercise jurisdiction over the issue of entitlement to attorney’s fees since the trial court had not determined the amount. See Carlson v. Carlson, 696 So. 2d 1332 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997); Ritchie v. Ritchie, 687 So. 2d 1358 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Former husband filed a motion for rehearing on December 5, 2002, and for the first time, apprised this court that the trial court had issued an order on May 17, 2002, determining the amount of attorney’s fees.
Despite former husband’s neglect in advising this court of the trial court’s order,1 we find that the judgment did ripen as to the entitlement issue during the course of the appeal; therefore, we have jurisdiction to determine that issue. See Widom v. Widom, 679 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). Upon review, the judgment on appeal is affirmed in all respects. See Applegate v. Barnett Bank of Tallahassee, 377 So. 2d 1150 (Fla.1979).
AFFIRMED.
WARNER, STEVENSON and KLEIN, JJ., concur. . When former wife filed her answer brief on April 8, 2002, she argued that the issue of entitlement was not ripe for review because no order setting amount had been issued. Former husband filed a reply brief on May 3, 2002, but did not even acknowledge the ripeness issue. Following the entry of the trial court's order on May 17, 2002, former husband did not seek to supplement the record on appeal and file a copy of that order with this court. It was only after this court had already filed its initial opinion that former husband, in his December 5, 2002 motion for rehearing, advised this court that the trial court had entered the order setting the amount of fees.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Twelfth Ave. Invs., Inc. v. Smith, 979 So. 2d 1216 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)…f no consequence. In a separate issue, Twelfth argues that the lower court abused its discretion in finding Smith was the prevailing party for attorney’s fees. Twelfth has conceded that this issue is not ripe for review. See Carres v. Good-Earnest, 838 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002) (an order determining the entitlement to attorney’s fees without setting the amount is not ripe for review until the amount of fees is determined). Affirmed. TAYLOR, J., and LEVIN, STEVEN J., Associate Judge, concur.…
Authorities Cited (12 total)
- Pitcher v. Schneider (Fla. 5th DCA 2018)
- Albert v. Applegate et ux., 377 So. 2d 1150 (Fla. 1979)
- Bartolotta v. Bartolotta, 687 So. 2d 1385 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)
- Haddox v. Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co. & Renette Rousseau, 360 So. 2d 482 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)
- Kern v. Kern, 360 So. 2d 482 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)
- Angelia Sullivan v. Sullivan, 668 So. 2d 329 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
- Widom v. Widom, 679 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
- Ritchie v. Ritchie, 687 So. 2d 1358 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)
- Singletary v. Mickey Virden, 696 So. 2d 1332 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)
- Carlson v. Andree Carlson, 696 So. 2d 1332 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)