Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

What is the purpose of a motion for rehearing in a Florida divorce case? In many instances, it is necessary to file a motion for rehearing in order to preserve appellate rights. By asking for a rehearing, a party is alerting the court that there are mistakes in the final judgment. Without giving the court the chance to fix those mistakes, the appellate court may not have jurisdiction to address any discrepancies in your final judgment. This was the issue in the case Russell v. Russell, 1D19-364 (Fla. 1st DCA April 9, 2020).

The parties were married for over 12 years by the time a petition for divorce was entered. There were no minor children, and the trial court entered a final judgment equitably distributing assets and debts, awarding alimony to the former wife and ordering the former husband to pay the former wife’s attorneys’ fees in an amount to be determined. The former husband appealed, arguing the court did not make sufficient statutory findings of fact to support the distribution and alimony awards.

The former husband lost on appeal. The appellate court held: “The final judgment included the trial court's detailed findings on each of the factors listed in section 61.08(2), Florida Statutes (2015), regarding alimony. And although the court's findings under section 61.075(1), Florida Statutes (2015), to support its equitable distribution scheme are not listed discretely in alphabetical order, the only factors not found in the text of the judgment are inapplicable to the facts of this case. [. . .] Even if these issues had been properly preserved, Appellant failed to establish a lack of evidence to support the court's findings or any harmful error in the omission of child-related factors where no children were born of the marriage.”

Turning to the former husband’s complaint that the trial court did not properly weigh the credibility of competing experts in the case, the court held “no abuse of the trial court's discretion is shown in accepting one expert opinion over another.” Last, where the former husband challenged discrepancies in the valuation dates used by the court for equitable distribution, the appellate court held, “As we stated in Williams v. Williams, 152 So. 3d 702, 704 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014), ‘[W]here an error by the court appears for the first time on the face of a final order, a party must alert the court of the error via a motion for rehearing or some other appropriate motion in order to preserve it for appeal.’ [. . .] Since this issue was not preserved, we must affirm.”

The court also dismissed the appeal as it relates to attorneys’ fees since ruling was reserved on amount and therefore this was not a final order. This case illustrates why it is important to have a Florida divorce lawyer assisting you with your case. There are many technical rules of which unrepresented parties may not be aware that can hurt your case. Schedule a consultation with a Miami family law attorney to understand how the law may apply to your case.