OFER M. AMIR, APPELLANT,
v.
ELIZABETH GANNON, F/K/A ELIZABETH AMIR, APPELLEE
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Former husband appeals an order denying his motion to dismiss and transfer venue of a post-dissolution child support modification and contempt proceeding from Hernando County to Broward County. The court reversed, holding that once enforcement proceedings are undertaken in an appropriate venue, a subsequently filed modification petition in a different county is improper and should be dismissed.
The court reversed, holding that once an enforcement proceeding is undertaken in an appropriate venue, venue is improper in a different county for a subsequently filed petition to modify the decree that was the subject of the enforcement proceedings. Therefore, the Hernando County court should have dismissed the former wife's petition.
[1] Venue for modification of a final judgment of dissolution is improper in a county other than the one where a prior enforcement proceeding concerning that judgment is pend…
[2] A party seeking modification of a support order may apply to the circuit court of the circuit in which the parties resided at the date of the agreement or application, in…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“once an enforcement proceeding is undertaken in an appropriate venue, venue is improper in a different county over a subsequently filed petition to modify the decree which was the subject of the enforcement proceedings”
This establishes the controlling legal standard that limits venue selection once enforcement is already underway in a proper forum.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe parties' marriage was dissolved in Broward County in September 1997. In August 2003, the former wife filed a petition in Hernando County seeking u…
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THOMPSON, J.
Ofer M. Amir, the former husband, appeals an order denying his motion to dismiss and transfer the venue of-this post-dissolution proceeding to Broward County. We have jurisdiction. Fla. R.App. P. 9.130(a)(3)(A).
The parties’ marriage was dissolved in September 1997 in Broward County.
In August 2003, Elizabeth Gannon, the former wife, petitioned the court in Hernando County for an upward modification of child support and an order of contempt and enforcement of the final judgment. Before she filed the petition, a proceeding to enforce the final judgment had been brought in' Broward County. Further, an order entered by the court in Broward County was still pending on appeal in the Fourth District Court of Appeal when the former wife filed her petition in Hernando County. In Hernando County, the former husband argued that, because of the pending litigation, the former wife could not file her petition in Hernando County.
We agree and reverse. Section 61.14(1), Florida Statutes, provides that a person seeking modification of support “may apply to the circuit court of the circuit in which the parties, or either of them, resided at the date of the execution of the agreement or reside at the date of the application, or in which the agreement was executed or in which the order was rendered. ...” The statute further provides that “the court has jurisdiction to make orders as equity requires, with due regard to the changed circumstances or the financial ability of the parties or the child, decreasing, increasing, or confirming the amount of separate support, maintenance, or alimony provided for in the agreement or order.” Section 61.17(1) provides that an order or judgment for the payment of alimony or child support entered by any court of this state may be enforced by another chancery court.
Moreover, section 61.13(2)(c) provides that the circuit court in the county in which either parent and the child reside, or the circuit court in which the original award of custody was entered, have jurisdiction to modify an award of child custody-
Ordinarily, where venue is proper in more than one county, the plaintiff or petitioner has the right to select one of the appropriate counties. Washington v. Washington, 613 So. 2d 594, 595 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993). If a modification petition is filed in a county where venue is appropriate, it is improper to transfer the venue to another county merely because venue also would have been proper in the other county. Id.
However, once an enforcement proceeding is undertaken in an appropriate venue, venue is improper in a different county over a subsequently filed petition to modify the decree which was the subject of the enforcement proceedings. Ingrahm v. Ingrahm, 711 So. 2d 1346 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998).
Accordingly, in the instant case, because there were enforcement proceedings pending in Broward County, the court in Hernando County should have dismissed the former wife’s petition.
REVERSED.
PALMER and ORFINGER, JJ., concur.
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Guntner v. Shana Perry Jennings, 980 So. 2d 1185 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008)…gton v. Washington, 613 So. 2d 594, 595 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993). If a modification petition is filed in an appropriate venue, it is improper to transfer it to another venue solely because venue is appropriate there as well. Id.; see also Amir v. Gannon, 896 So. 2d 793, 794 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005). Two of the ways venue may be changed are pertinent here. If a petition is brought in an improper venue, it may be transferred pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.060(b).3 An objection to improper venue “may be ma…
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Porter v. Porter, 913 So. 2d 691 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005)…anuary 2005, the former wife filed her Complaint in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County, Florida (“Miami-Dade Circuit Court”). On March 8, 2005, the former husband filed his Motion to Dismiss, alleging that pursuant to Amir v. Gannon, 896 So. 2d 793 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005), the Miami-Dade Circuit Court was the improper venue to consider the former wife’s Complaint. On March 29, 2005, the former husband filed in the Duval Circuit Court a Motion for Contempt, Enforcement and Request for Attorney’s F…
Authorities Cited
- Washington v. Washington, 613 So. 2d 594 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)
- Ingrahm v. Ingrahm, 711 So. 2d 1346 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)