LESLEY CHANIN, APPELLANT,
v.
JOEL FEIGENHEIMER, INDIVIDUALLY, SHARI GHERMAN, INDIVIDUALLY, JACH, INC., A FLORIDA DOMESTIC CORPORATION, AND CHINA GRILL MANAGEMENT, INC., A FLORIDA DOMESTIC CORPORATION, I. SALVER CPA, A CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT, AND JOHN POLSENBERG, INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLEES
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A divorced mother filed a petition for modification of child support along with fraud, negligent assistance, and deceptive trade practice claims against her ex-husband's company and its managers for allegedly helping him hide income. The trial court dismissed the non-family law claims, but the appellate court reversed, holding that while administrative concerns might favor civil division handling, dismissal was improper when the circuit court had jurisdiction and transfer was the appropriate remedy.
The circuit court had jurisdiction to hear all claims regardless of division. Although the civil division might be the more appropriate forum for administrative efficiency reasons, dismissal was an improper remedy. Instead, the trial court should have transferred the case to the civil division of the circuit court.
[1] A circuit court judge has jurisdiction over all matters within the circuit, regardless of the division in which a case is filed.
[2] When a case is filed in the incorrect division of a circuit court, the proper remedy is to transfer the case to the correct division, not dismissal.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“All circuit court judges have the same jurisdiction within their respective circuits.”
Establishes the foundational principle that jurisdiction exists regardless of division within a circuit.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant Chanin, divorced from Feigenheimer, filed a petition for modification of child support in the Family Division of circuit court. She also all…
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Appellant, who was divorced from appel-lee Feigenheimer, filed a petition for modification of child support as well as various counts of fraud, deceptive and unfair trade practices, and negligence against Feigen-heimer’s company, its managers, as well as the company’s C.P.A., for their alleged assistance in helping Feigenheimer hide his income so as to lower his child support. The trial court, who presided in the Family Division of the circuit, dismissed all of the fraud, statutory violation, and negligence counts without prejudice to appellant filing them in the civil division. Appellant challenges that dismissal, claiming that the court had jurisdiction to hear all claims. We agree that the circuit court had jurisdiction, and dismissal was an improper remedy.
The parties concede that, “[a]ll circuit court judges have the same jurisdiction within their respective circuits.” In Interest of Peterson, 364 So.2d 98, 99 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978). Nevertheless, the appel-lees claim that dismissal is proper because the fraud and negligence claims should have been brought in the civil division. See, e.g., Partridge v. Partridge, 790 So.2d 1280 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). Because the circuit court had jurisdiction, however, the court should not have dismissed the case. “If an action is filed in the incorrect division, the proper remedy is to transfer the case to the correct division, subject to the payment of any filing fee and subject to the requirements of any local administrative rule.” Fort v. Fort, 951 So.2d 1020, 1022 n. 2 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007).
While the appellees note that the appellant did not request transfer, she opposed dismissal, and dismissal was not the proper remedy. We distinguish Garcia-Roque v. Roque-Velasco, 855 So.2d 668 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003), relied upon by the appellees. In Gareia-Roque, the appellate court refused to order transfer from the family division to the civil division when the appellant had not requested transfer in the circuit court. There, the family court judge had dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction the petition seeking to enforce a post-dissolution judgment oral agreement, because in the final judgment of dissolution, the court had reserved jurisdiction only to enforce its judgment and not any subsequent agreement. The trial court’s order dismissing the petition for lack of subject matter jurisdiction was a proper remedy. In this case, the parties do not argue that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, only that the civil division should hear the case because of administrative efficiency.
The appellees also request that we affirm based upon the tipsy coachman principle and find that none of the causes of action state viable claims against the defendants. We decline to do so, as the trial court permitted the wife to re-file and amend her claims.
Reversed for reinstatement of the petition and to transfer the case to the civil division of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court.
CIKLIN and LEVINE, JJ., concur.
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Malave v. Marybell Malave, 178 So. 3d 51 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)…t rather than dismissing it with prejudice. See Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.060(a); Fla. Fam. L.R.P. 12.060; West v. West, 126 So. 3d 437, 438-39 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) (citing Gross v. Franklin, 387 So. 2d 1046, 1048 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)); Chanin v. Feigenheimer, 111 So. 3d 292, 293 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) (quoting Fort v. Fort, 951 So. 2d 1020, 1022 n. 2 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)); Weaver v. Hotchkiss, 972 So. 2d 1060, 1062 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008). Courts have long recognized the importance,of assigning cases to the correct divisions of…1 / 2
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Daria Pastouhkova Gogoleva v. Soffer, 187 So. 3d 268 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)…e division upon application by Gogoleva to return the children’s proceeds to NAE or • to use the children’s guardianship funds to pay legal expenses for the continuation of her lawsuit, should such an application be made. See Chanin v. Feigenheimer, 111 So. 3d 292, 293 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) (reversing an order of dismissal and concluding that claims brought in family division that should have been brought in civil division should be transferred to the correct division). IV. Conclusion Gogoleva’s allegations h…
Authorities Cited
- In the Interest of Wendy Dee Peterson, 364 So. 2d 98 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)
- Nelms v. State, 790 So. 2d 1280 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
- Fort v. Fort, 951 So. 2d 1020 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)
- Garcia-Roque v. Roque-Velasco, 855 So. 2d 668 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)