ELIZABETH M. DEMONT, APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
MICHAEL E. DEMONT, APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT
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An order of dissolution of marriage is not a final, appealable order if it expressly reserves jurisdiction for the division of marital personal property, as further judicial labor is required.
[1] An order of dissolution of marriage that expressly reserves jurisdiction for the division of marital personal property is not a final, appealable order because further ju…
[2] A reservation of jurisdiction over a collateral issue, such as the division of personal property, does not render an otherwise final order of dissolution immediately appe…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant sought review of an "Amended Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage" that reserved jurisdiction to divide marital personal property. The …
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Appellant seeks review of an “Amended Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage,” which appears to be final except for an express reservation of jurisdiction to consider the division of the parties’ marital personal property. This reservation clearly indicates that additional judicial labor is required in the cause and, therefore, the order on appeal is not ap-pealable as a final order. See Caufield v. Cantele, 837 So.2d 371, 375 (Fla.2002) (reaffirming traditional test for finality requiring that “no further action by the court will be necessary”); Thomas v. Thomas, 902 So.2d 881 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005) (dismissing appeal where “final” order of dissolution reserved jurisdiction to consider reduction in value of asset distributed in equitable distribution); Newman v. Newman, 858 So.2d 1273 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003) (dismissing appeal where “final” order of dissolution contained conditional *700reservation of jurisdiction to determined issues regarding bank and investment accounts); Hoffman v. O’Connor, 802 So.2d 1197 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (dismissing appeal for lack of jurisdiction where trial court retained jurisdiction to determine equitable distribution claim).
In response to our order to show cause why the appeal should not be dismissed as premature, Appellant argued that the reservation of jurisdiction over the division of personal property is collateral to, and in no way alters, the final nature of the order on appeal with respect to the dissolution, award of alimony and child support, and equitable distribution of other property. In support of this argument, Appellant relied entirely on Gaines v. Sayne, 764 So.2d 578 (Fla.2000).
In Gaines, the court resolved a conflict between the district courts regarding the effect that the death of a party has on a proceeding for dissolution of marriage. Id. at 579. The court held that the adjudication of dissolution in the order on review was effective to dissolve the marriage because it completed the judicial labor on the issue of dissolution before the death of a party. Id. at 586. This holding was based on the conclusion that judicial labor on the dissolution issue was complete despite a pending rehearing motion on the “collateral” issue of equitable distribution. Id.
Gaines did not affect the traditional test of finality for purpose of appeal. The court noted that “procedural rules established to determine finality for the purpose of seeking rehearing or appeal do not necessarily affect the efficacy of a validly entered decree.” Id. at 585. Logically, the inverse is also true; the efficacy of a validly entered decree of dissolution does not necessarily affect the application of procedural rules established to determine finality for purposes of appeal. Therefore, although substantively the order on appeal may have the effect of terminating the marriage and finally adjudicating certain issues, procedurally it does not bring an end to the judicial labor required in the cause such that the order is appealable as a final order.
In response to our order to show cause why the cross-appeal should not also be dismissed as premature, Appellee acknowledged that that order on appeal is not final for purposes of appellate review, but he requested that in lieu of dismissal, we abate the appeal and relinquish jurisdiction to the trial court for entry of a final order pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.110(£). We routinely relinquish jurisdiction under this rule when it appears that the jurisdictional defect in the order on appeal is technical in nature and merely requires an amended order clarifying that all of the issues between the parties had been finally resolved. In this case, however, an indeterminate amount of judicial labor, possibly requiring another hearing, remains to be done before a final order can be entered, and the asserted grounds for relinquishing jurisdiction — i.e., duplication of effort and additional filing fees — do not present an exceptional circumstance that would justify the relief Ap-pellee requested. See Benton v. Moore, 655 So.2d 1272, 1273 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995) (“[PJroper exercise of our discretion in this and most cases in this posture is dismissal of the appeal at the time the court is called upon to resolve the jurisdictional issue.... In the absence of some exceptional circumstance, the appeal would be dismissed without prejudice, of course, to the right of the appealing party to file a timely notice of appeal after a final order has been rendered by the trial court.”).
For the foregoing reasons, the appeal and cross-appeal are dismissed without prejudice to either party’s right to file a *701timely notice of appeal after a final order has been rendered by the trial court.
DISMISSED.
KAHN, LEWIS and WETHERELL, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By (20 total)
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Demont v. Demont, 67 So. 3d 1096 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011)…ial court issued the amended final judgment in July 2009, an appeal and cross-appeal culminated in our dismissal of the proceedings as premature because the circuit court had reserved jurisdiction over certain material matters. See Demont v. Demont, 24 So. 3d 699 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009). Now that the trial court has issued a supplemental judgment ruling on the outstanding issues, all the issues raised by the parties are properly before us. The parties’ employment and financial history and their marital standard…
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Pool v. Bunger, 43 So. 3d 837 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)…order. The order is not a final order because the trial court’s judicial labor is not complete, as reflected by the express reservation of jurisdiction to determine the amount of Appellant’s child support arrearages. See generally Demont v. Demont, 24 So. 3d 699 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (explaining that an order reserving jurisdiction on a matter that requires additional judicial labor is not a final order for purposes of appeal); and cf. Stalnaker v. Stalnaker, 892 So. 2d 561, 562 n. 1 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005) (revi…
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Rushing v. Rushing, 132 So. 3d 923 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)…ecognize that we typically will not exercise our discretion under rule 9.110(Z) unless the defect in the order is technical in nature or merely requires clarification that all issues raised by the parties were finally resolved. See Demont v. Demont, 24 So. 3d 699 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (refusing to relinquish jurisdiction under rule 9.110(Z) because "an indeterminate amount of judicial labor ... remains to be done before a final order can be entered”). Here, the record in this case and the related case number 1…
Previewing 3 of 20 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Benton v. Moore, 655 So. 2d 1272 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)
- Caufield v. Gino Cantele, 837 So. 2d 371 (Fla. 2002)
- Hoffman v. Christi Louise O'Connor, 802 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)
- Gaines v. Sayne, 764 So. 2d 578 (Fla. 2000)
- Thomas v. Thomas, 902 So. 2d 881 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)
- Newman v. Newman, 858 So. 2d 1273 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003)
- Williams v. State, 858 So. 2d 1273 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)