DORA S. DAOUD, APPELLANT,
v.
KHADER DAOUD, APPELLEE
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A former wife appealed a contempt order stemming from her noncompliance with a divorce judgment. The appellate court reversed the trial court's modification of property rights previously awarded in the dissolution judgment, finding the trial court lacked jurisdiction to alter those vested property rights without proper pleadings and a specific reservation of jurisdiction.
A trial court lacks jurisdiction to modify or alter property rights awarded in a dissolution judgment absent appropriate pleadings by the party seeking modification and a specific reservation of jurisdiction. A general reservation of jurisdiction for enforcement of a dissolution judgment does not authorize redistribution of vested property between the parties.
[1] A trial court lacks jurisdiction to alter or modify property rights awarded in a dissolution judgment absent appropriate pleadings requesting such modification.
[2] A general reservation of jurisdiction for enforcement of a dissolution judgment does not empower a trial court to redistribute vested property between parties.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Absent appropriate pleadings by the former husband, a trial court lacks jurisdiction to alter or modify the property rights awarded to the former wife in the dissolution judgment.”
Establishes the core jurisdictional principle that trial courts cannot modify vested property rights without proper pleadings
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDora S. Daoud and Khader Daoud were divorced pursuant to a final dissolution judgment that awarded certain property to the former wife. The former hus…
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Dora S. Daoud, the former wife, raises four issues in this appeal of a contempt order resulting from her failure to comply with the final judgment dissolving her marriage to Khader Daoud, the former husband. We find merit in her challenge of the trial court’s modification of property rights previously adjudicated in the dissolution judgment, and reverse and remand on that issue. We affirm without comment the balance of the appealed order.
Absent appropriate pleadings by the former husband, a trial court lacks jurisdiction to alter or modify the property rights awarded to the former wife in the dissolution judgment. Work v. Provine, 632 So.2d 11,19, 1121 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994) (“Generally speaking, in the absence of a specific reservation of jurisdiction to make a later adjudication of property rights, a lower court does not have jurisdiction to modify property rights after an adjudication of those rights has been made in a judgment of dissolution.”). Further, the general reservation of jurisdiction for the enforcement of its dissolution judgment does not empower a trial court to address or redistribute vested property between the parties. Id.; Fort v. Fort, 951 So.2d 1020, 1022 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007). Based on our review of the record, the former husband failed to properly plead for modification of the real property distribution contained in the dissolution judgment, and the trial court failed to specifically reserve jurisdiction to alter the prior distribution of property.
Accordingly, we AFFIRM in part, REVERSE in part, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
VAN NORTWICK, RAY, and OSTERHAUS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Hala M. Farid v. Rabbath, 273 So. 3d 221 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019)…t . . . .” However, a “blanket reservation of jurisdiction for any modification of the final judgment is erroneous as a matter of law and legally unnecessary.” Knecht v. Palmer, 252 So. 3d 842, 847 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018); see also Daoud v. Daoud, 153 So. 3d 312, 312 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (“the general reservation of jurisdiction for the enforcement of its dissolution judgment does not empower a trial court to address or redistribute vested property between the parties.”); Encarnacion v. Encarnacion, 877…
Authorities Cited
- Work v. Provine, 632 So. 2d 1119 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
- Fort v. Fort, 951 So. 2d 1020 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)