GEORGE E. RUSCOE, APPELLANT,
v.
LINDA M. RUSCOE, APPELLEE
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The court held that the general venue statute, requiring actions to be brought where the defendant resides, applies to an action to establish a foreign divorce decree as a Florida judgment, not a specific statute governing modification of alimony.
[1] Venue for an action to establish a foreign divorce decree as a Florida judgment is governed by the general venue statute, Fla.Stat. …
[2] A specific venue statute, such as Fla.Stat. …
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe wife filed an action in Palm Beach County to establish a Mexican divorce decree as a Florida judgment, seeking enforcement of child support paymen…
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This case presents the issue: where should venue be laid in an action to establish a foreign divorce decree as a Florida judgment.
The parties were divorced in Mexico. The final divorce decree incorporated a separation and property settlement agreement previously executed in New York. Both parties now reside in Florida. Plaintiff/wife filed a “Complaint to Establish Foreign Decree as a Florida Judgment,” seeking the establishment and enforcement of the Mexican decree, particularly as it pertained to defendant’s duty to make child support payments. The complaint was filed in Palm Beach County where plaintiff resides. Defendant/husband filed a motion to dismiss for improper venue, asserting his privilege of being sued in Volusia County, Florida, in which he resides. This appeal is from the order denying that motion.
Appellant’s position is well founded. Fla.Stat. § 47.011 (1973), the general venue statute, provides:
“Actions shall be brought only in the county where the defendant resides, where the cause of action accrued, or where the property in litigation is located. This section shall not apply to actions against nonresidents.”
The only venue alternative in the statute which is applicable to the instant case is “in the county where the defendant resides” and this is precisely where defendant contends venue should be laid.
Appellee, citing to Stewart v. Carr, 218 So. 2d 525 (2nd DCA Fla.1969) contends that this general venue statute only controls actions brought under the common law or under statutes not containing a specific provision respecting venue, but that, in this case, the specific venue provision contained in Fla.Stat. § 61.14 (1973) applies. Fla.Stat. § 61.14 provides:
“61.14 Modification of alimony judgments; agreements, etc.—
(1) When the parties have entered into, or hereafter enter into, an agreement for payments for, or instead of,. support, maintenance, or alimony, whether in connection with a proceeding for dissolution or separate maintenance or with any voluntary property settlement, or when a party is required by court order to make any payments, and the circumstances or the financial ability of either party has changed since the execution of such agreement or the rendition of the order, either party may apply to the circuit court of the circuit in which the parties, or eithe'r 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, for a judgment decreasing or increasing the amount of support, maintenance, or alimony, and the court has jurisdiction to make orders as equity requires, with due regard to the changed circumstances and the financial ability of the parties, decreasing, or. increasing, or confirming the amount of separate support, maintenance, or alimony provided for in the agreement or order.” (emphasis supplied)
Clearly, this statute, providing that venue may be laid in either parties’ county of residence, only relates to actions for the modification of alimony judgments, agreements, etc. Appellee is not seeking relief under § 61.14, and it is therefore simply not applicable.
Stewart v. Carr, supra, involved a petition to establish a foreign decree and to modify that decree.1 That court stated, at 528:
“We therefore hold that F.S. § 61.14, F.S.A., the modification statute under which the instant proceeding was filed in Broward County, and which contains affirmative provisions with reference to venue, controls, and that the action was permissively instituted in that county, the residence of [petitioner/appellant], he having the choice within the confines of the statute.” (emphasis supplied)
Thus, the situation in that case is clearly distinguishable from the one at bar in that there the action was expressly brought under § 61.14.
The order appealed is reversed and this cause remanded with directions to enter an order transferring this cause to the Circuit Court of Volusia County pursuant to Rule 1.060(b) RCP. Reversed and remanded.
WALDEN, C. J., and MAGER, J., concur. . The propriety of seeking both types of relief at the same time appears to have been questioned in Smith v. Smith, 197 So. 2d 16 (3rd DCA Fla.1967), wherein it was held that the chancellor in an action to establish a foreign decree did not err in refusing to entertain a motion to modify that decree during the pendency of the case, “because at the time it [the motion] was presented the foreign decree had not been established in this State.” (197 So. 2d at 17). But see, Lopez v. Avery, 66 So. 2d 689 (Fla.1953) in which the Supreme Court held that an amended complaint which sought establishment of a foreign decree and thereafter modification of its terms stated a cause of action under the predecessor statute to § 61.14.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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McINTIRE v. McINTIRE, 352 So. 2d 142 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977)…filed a motion to transfer the action to Leon County pursuant to Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.060 and 1.140(d). At a hearing on the motion, the trial court found that absent a waiver by the husband, the proper venue [*143] was in Leon County per Ruscoe v. Ruscoe, 327 So. 2d 93 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976) and directed memoranda be filed on the waiver issue. Subsequently, the husband filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of his counterclaim pursuant to Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.420 and the wife filed a motion to strike the notice. The trial c…
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Radziwon v. Gutillo, 447 So. 2d 452 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)…laint purports to allege a cause of action based upon the judgment and separation agreement. Regardless of what appellant would like to call her stated cause of action, it appears to us that venue should be laid in Pinellas County. Ruscoe v. Ruscoe, 327 So. 2d 93 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976); accord McIntire v. McIntire, 352 So. 2d 142 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977). Accordingly, the order appealed from is affirmed. ANSTEAD, C.J., and HURLEY, J., concur.…
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Nunez-Miller v. Miller, 209 So. 3d 619 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017)…ffidavit in support thereof. After a non-evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied Former Wife’s motion. Section 47.011, Florida Statutes (2015) applies to actions to establish a foreign divorce decree as a Florida judgment. See Ruscoe v. Ruscoe, 327 So. 2d 93, 94 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976). That statute provides that “[ajctions shall be brought only in the county where the defendant resides, where the cause of action accrued, or where the property in litigation is located.” § 47.011, Fla. Stat. (2015). Accordin…
Authorities Cited
- Lopez v. Avery, 66 So. 2d 689 (Fla. 1953)
- Stewart v. Harriette E. Carr, 218 So. 2d 525 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969)
- Smith v. Farrell M. Smith, 197 So. 2d 16 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967)