ERNESTO J. SUAREZ
v.
ROBERTO GUZMAN
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When a defendant files an affidavit contesting personal jurisdiction and the plaintiff files a counter-affidavit with materially conflicting allegations that cannot be harmonized, the trial court must conduct a limited evidentiary hearing to resolve the disputed jurisdictional facts before denying the motion to dismiss.
[1] A trial court must conduct an evidentiary hearing on a motion to quash service or dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction when the facts presented in opposing affidavit…
[2] A plaintiff must establish sufficient jurisdictional facts to bring a nonresident defendant within the ambit of Florida's long-arm statute.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“If the plaintiff files a counter-affidavit alleging conflicting facts related to jurisdiction, and those affidavits cannot be harmonized, the trial court should hold a limited evidentiary hearing to resolve the disputed jurisdictional facts.”
Court's statement of applicable law regarding procedure when affidavits conflict on jurisdictional facts
Ernesto Suarez, a California resident, challenged personal jurisdiction in a partition action brought by Roberto Guzman regarding a jointly-held E*Tra…
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Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed March 22, 2023. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
________________
No. 3D22-1388 Lower Tribunal No. 21-26040
________________
Ernesto J. Suarez,
Appellant,
vs.
Roberto Guzman,
Appellee.
An Appeal from a non-final order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Carlos Guzman, Judge. Rodriguez Tramont & Nuñez, P.A., and Paulino A. Núñez, Jr. and Frank R. Rodriguez, for appellant. Martinez Morales, LLC, and Raul Morales and Angela Bousalis, for appellee. Before EMAS, LINDSEY and GORDO, JJ. EMAS, J.
Ernesto Suarez, a resident of California, appeals an order denying his
motion to dismiss, for lack of personal jurisdiction, a one-count complaint
filed by Roberto Guzman seeking to partition an E*Trade investment account
held by Suarez and Guzman as joint tenants with right of survivorship.
Together with his motion to dismiss, Suarez filed an affidavit in which
he contested the complaint’s factual allegations of personal jurisdiction and
minimum contacts with the State of Florida. In response, Guzman filed an
affidavit supporting the jurisdictional allegations of his complaint which
conflicted with Suarez’s affidavit in material respects. Despite the existence
of these conflicting affidavits, the trial court did not conduct an evidentiary
hearing, instead denying the motion to dismiss without making any findings
relative to the issue of personal jurisdiction.1 This was error. See, e.g.,
Bacinello v. Admiral Marine Surveyors LLC, 338 So. 3d 326, 329-30 (Fla. 3d
DCA 2022) (citing Tobacco Merchs. Ass’n of U.S. v. Broin, 657 So. 2d 939,
941-942 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995) (reaffirming that a defendant wishing to contest
personal jurisdiction must file a legally sufficient affidavit in support of his
position, shifting the burden to the plaintiff to prove the basis upon which
jurisdiction may be obtained. If the plaintiff files a counter-affidavit alleging
conflicting facts related to jurisdiction, and those affidavits cannot be
harmonized, the trial court should hold a limited evidentiary hearing to
resolve the disputed jurisdictional facts)).
Accordingly, we reverse the order on appeal and remand to the trial
court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
evidentiary hearing to resolve conflicting affidavits whose material allegations could not be harmonized. On remand, should the trial court determine it may exercise in rem jurisdiction over the property in question without the need for personal jurisdiction over Suarez, it may of course enter an order so finding and proceed accordingly. We express no opinion on the merits of any such determination.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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- Harris & Co. Advertising, Inc. v. Republic OF Cuba, 127 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961)
- Estuardo Ramon Estrada Escudero v. Hasbun, 689 So. 2d 1144 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)
- Pino Bacinello v. Admiral Marine Surveyors LLC, 338 So. 3d 326 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022)