Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure

When parties have a family law order that is entered in a court outside of Florida and they want to enforce the order, it is usually necessary for them to domesticate the order in Florida before seeking enforcement by a Florida family law court. Domesticating the order asks Florida courts to recognize the order as a valid order and to enforce it against a party who may now reside in Florida. An interesting issue arose in the case Gil de Lamadrid, 5D19-342 (Fla. 5th DCA May 17, 2019) when a third party attempted to intervene on the former husband’s request to domesticate a final judgment of divorce from Puerto Rico.

In a final judgment of divorce issued by a court in Puerto Rico, the former husband was awarded certain real property in Orlando, Florida. He sought to domesticate the judgment in Florida, requesting that the court recognize the foreign judgment and direct the clerk to remove the former wife’s name from the title of the property. The former wife did not contest the registration of the order, but a third party sought to intervene on the basis that it held a lien against the property. Before ruling on the motion to intervene, the trial court granted the petition for domestication. The third party then moved to vacate the order, arguing its final judgment regarding the property had attached to the former wife’s portion of the property. The trial court granted the motion to vacate and allowed the third party to intervene to the extent necessary to protect the third party’s claims regarding its judgment liens.

The former husband appealed, arguing it was error for to allow the intervention, and that irreparable harm would occur if his appeal was not granted. The appellate court agreed with the former husband, holding “Intervention is permitted for a party claiming an interest in ‘pending litigation.’ The right to intervene is limited after a final judgment has been entered. Generally, it is too late to seek intervention after a final judgment has been entered. Tech. Chems. & Prods., Inc. v. Porchester Holdings, Inc., 748 So. 2d 1090, 1091 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). Here, Bowles did not seek to intervene in the Puerto Rico dissolution proceedings prior to the entry of the judgment. Therefore, Bowles cannot intervene for the first time in a petition to domesticate the foreign judgment. The order granting the motion to intervene causes Petitioner irreparable harm and is a departure from the essential requirements of law. Thus, we quash it.”

Technical issues arise periodically in Florida family law cases. Usually, without a lawyer, a party is unable to recognize such errors. This is why a consultation with a Florida family law attorney may be necessary to help you understand the best way to move forward in your case.