THOMAS B. JOHNSTON, ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
WILLIAM MEREDITH, ET AL., APPELLEES
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The court reversed a trial court's denial of a motion to quash service of process, holding that unincorporated associations in Florida must be sued by serving all of their individual members, not just a representative or leader. Service on Thomas Johnston as District Grandmaster was insufficient to obtain jurisdiction over Kappa Sigma and Epsilon Beta Chapter as unincorporated associations.
Service of process on a single member, even if he is a leader like a District Grandmaster, is insufficient to obtain jurisdiction over an unincorporated association in Florida. Unincorporated associations must be sued in the names of the individuals composing them, requiring service on all members.
[1] A voluntary, unincorporated association in Florida must sue or be sued in the names of the individuals composing it, rather than its firm name.
[2] Service of process on a representative of a voluntary, unincorporated association is insufficient to establish jurisdiction over the association itself.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“such an association must sue or be sued in the names of the individuals composing it rather than its firm name”
Establishes the fundamental rule in Florida that unincorporated associations cannot be sued by their association name alone
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWilliam Meredith, as personal representative of Chad Meredith's estate, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against members of Kappa Sigma Fraternity and i…
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PER CURIAM.
Thomas B. Johnston, as the District Grandmaster and member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, Kappa Sigma Fraternity, and Epsilon Beta Chapter of Kappa Sigma Fraternity appeal from a trial court Order denying their Motion to Quash Service of Process. We reverse.
William Meredith, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Chad Meredith, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Appellants and three of the late Chad Meredith’s fraternity brothers. Service of process was effected on the three fraternity brothers individually and as members of Epsilon Beta and Kappa Sigma, and on Thomas Johnston as the District Grand Master and a member of Kappa Sigma. Appellants Johnston, Kappa Sigma, and Beta Epsilon filed a Motion to Quash Service of Process, contending that service of process on Johnston was insufficient to obtain jurisdiction over Kappa Sigma and Epsilon Beta because Kappa Sigma and Epsilon Beta were voluntary, unincorporated associations which could only be sued by serving all of their members. The trial court denied the motion. This appeal follows.
It is undisputed that Kappa Sigma and Epsilon Beta are voluntary, unincorporated associations. Thus, the trial court erred in denying the Motion to Quash Service of Process because such an association must sue or be sued in the names of the individuals composing it rather than its firm name. See Asociacion De Perjudicados Por Inversiones Efectuadas En U.S.A. v. Citibank, F.S.B., 770 So. 2d 1267, 1269 n. 3 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000). Accordingly, we reverse and remand with directions to the trial court to grant the motion.
Unlike some other jurisdictions1 that permit an unincorporated association to sue or be sued in its own name, Florida does not have such an enabling statute. The question regarding whether these associations should be amenable to suit in Florida is within the province of the legislature, not the judiciary.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
. For example, in Virginia, "[a]ll unincorporated associations or orders may sue and be sued under the name by which they are commonly known and called, or under which they do business, and judgments and executions against any such association or order shall bind its real and personal property in like manner as if it were incorporated.” Va.Code § 8.01-15.
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Larkin v. Buranosky, 973 So. 2d 1286 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)…truction, a reading of the statute supports the trial court’s finding that RFT lacked the capacity to be sued. Florida does not have an enabling statute that allows unincorporated associations to be sued in their own names. See Johnston v. Meredith, 840 So. 2d 315 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003). In the absence of such a statute, we affirm the trial court’s holding that unincorporated associations such as RFT and AFFS must be sued in the names of individual members rather than in their own name. Affirmed. STONE and MAY,…
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