NICHOLAS ELLIOTT, APPELLANT,
v.
MARIE ELLIOTT WEYMAN, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1976-09-28
No. AA-116
MILLS, J., concurs., BOYER, C. J., concurs specially.
337 So. 2d 832 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1976) Positive Treatment
Cited by 14 cases

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Synopsis

In this family law appeal, the Florida District Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court's dismissal of a father's petition to modify custody and child support, holding that the court where the mother resided lacked jurisdiction over custody matters and that equity did not permit modification of child support when the father was in violation of the original custody order.


Holding

The court affirmed dismissal of the custody modification count, finding exclusive jurisdiction remained in Broward County. The court also upheld dismissal of the social investigation request as within the trial court's discretion. Regarding child support, the court held that although Volusia County had statutory jurisdiction to modify support, equity did not require the court to exercise that jurisdiction when the father was in violation of the custody order.


Headnotes

[1] A court that initially dissolves a marriage and grants custody retains exclusive jurisdiction to modify custody orders.

[2] A court may, in its discretion, deny a request for a social investigation concerning child custody.

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Key Quotes

“Sole jurisdiction to change custody of the children remained in the Circuit Court of Broward County.”

Establishes the core holding that exclusive jurisdiction over custody remains with the original court.

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Facts & Procedural History

A 1973 final judgment dissolved the parties' marriage, granting the father custody of one child and the mother custody of two children. In summer 1974…

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Opinion of the Court
McCORD, Judge.

McCORD, Judge.

A final judgment dissolving the marriage of the parties was entered by the Circuit Court of Broward County in 1973. It granted custody of one minor child of the marriage to appellant (the husband) and custody of thé remaining two minor children to the wife (appellee). In the summer of 1974, the two minor children in appellee’s custody visited appellant in Mississippi. Appellant did not return them but sought a change of custody in a Mississippi court. That court dismissed the action for lack of jurisdiction and directed appellant to file in the appropriate Florida court and granted appellant temporary custody pending the outcome of the Florida litigation. Appellant thereupon filed a petition to modify custody and child support in the Circuit Court of Volusia County where appellee resides. He filed a three count amended petition. Count 1 sought modification of child support; Count 2 sought a social investigation of appellee’s home; and Count 3 sought a change in custody. The court below dismissed the amended petition with prejudice finding that jurisdiction was vested in the Circuit Court of Broward County. Appellant appeals the order of dismissal.

The dismissal of Count 3 was correct. Sole jurisdiction to change custody of the children remained in the Circuit Court of Broward County. Jones v. State ex rel. Greathouse, 241 So. 2d 432 (Fla. 1 DCA 1970); Ward v. Wells, 298 So. 2d 493 (Fla. 1 DCA 1974); Wells, In and For Walton County v. Ward, 314 So. 2d 138 (Fla.1975). The court below did not err in dismissing Count 2. Section 61.20, Florida Statutes (1975), provide's in part:

“In any action where the custody of a minor child is in issue, the court may request the [Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services] to make an investigation and social study concerning all pertinent details relating to the child and each parent . . . ”

Whether or not the court determines to request an investigation and social study is within the court’s discretion. Certainly there was no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s denial of appellant’s request. The court had no jurisdiction to consider custody.

As to dismissal of Count 1, since appellee is a resident of Volusia County, the circuit court of that county under § 61.14, Fla.Stat. (1975), “has jurisdiction to make orders as equity requires with due regard to the changed circumstances and the financial ability of the [parties, or the child or children,] decreasing or increasing, or confirming the amount of . support . provided for in the ... order,” (emphasis supplied) of the Broward County Circuit Court. Under the circumstances of this case, appellant being in violation of the custody order of the Circuit Court of Broward County, equity does not require that the Circuit Court of Volusia County consider modification of his child support payments. Since the Circuit Court of Broward County is the only court having jurisdiction of the custody question which appellant has raised, this entire controversy should be determined by that court. It is illogical that one circuit court determine modification of child support while another, at the same time, determines child custody. The determination of the child custody question by the Broward County Circuit Court could render moot any action the Volusia County Circuit Court takes as to support. Such would create a multiplicity of actions resulting in unnecessary judicial labor and expense for the litigants.

AFFIRMED.

MILLS, J., concurs.

BOYER, C. J., concurs specially.

Concurrence
BOYER, Chief Judge

BOYER, Chief Judge

(concurring specially).

As to count one I concur with the majority under the peculiar facts of this case and for the reasons set forth in the majority opinion.

As to count two I concur that the learned trial judge was eminently correct in that whether or not he determined to request an investigation and social study was within his sound discretion.

As to count three I am of the view that the majority opinion is in conflict with Danson v. Danson, 76 Fla. 449, 80 So. 62 (1918) (see special concurring opinion in Wells in and for Walton County v. Ward, Sup.Ct.Fla. 1975, 314 So. 2d 138). However, inasmuch as the majority in the case last above cited found no conflict and affirmed this court’s opinion in Ward v. Wells, Fla.App. 1st 1974, 298 So. 2d 493, in the interest of stare decisis I concur in affirmance as I did in Ward v. Wells, supra. In so doing, I again observe the oft-repeated confusion between jurisdiction and venue. (Please see sixth paragraph of Wells in and for Walton County v. Ward, supra, wherein the court, in the same paragraph appears to have used the terms jurisdiction and venue interchangeably.)


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Citator

Cited By

  • Hegler v. Hegler, 383 So. 2d 1134 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980)
    …rmining jurisdiction of Lisa or Robert, as regards this or any future petition.6 REVERSED and REMANDED. DAUKSCH, C. J., and COBB, J., concur. . Smith v. Smith (Fla. 2d DCA 1980) (Case No. 78-1906. Opinion filed March 26, 1980); Elliott v. Weyman, 337 So. 2d 832 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976); Ward v. Wells, 298 So. 2d 493 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974). “Decrees pertaining to the welfare of the children are, in a sense, interlocutory and because of this they may be modified, from time to time, as the welfare of the children req…
  • Nelson v. Nelson, 433 So. 2d 1015 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
    …4 So. 2d 138 (Fla.1975); Bohn v. Rhoades, 121 So. 2d 777 (Fla.1960); Marshall v. Marshall, 404 So. 2d 1182 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981); Bailey v. Malone, 389 So. 2d 348 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980); Adams v. Adams, 374 So. 2d 29 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979); Elliott v. Weyman, 337 So. 2d 832 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). This is so notwithstanding section 61.1308 which must, in my view, be read in pari materia [*1021] with section 61.13(4), Florida Statutes (Supp.1982). The trial court’s order did nothing more than find jurisdiction and require…
  • Bailey v. Malone, 389 So. 2d 348 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
    …was entered in another county. Sikes v. Sikes, 286 So. 2d 210 (Fla. 1st DCA 1973). The apparent conflict between § 61.-14 and the jurisdictional rules governing child custody has already been resolved, however, by this Court. In Elliott v. Weyman, 337 So. 2d 832 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976) we held that where a petition seeks modification of both child support and custody, a circuit court which had not entered the original judgment could not retain jurisdiction over either count. The reasoning in Elliott was set for…

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