Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

If there is a divorce case pending outside of Florida, and then one spouse files a divorce case in Florida, does Florida have jurisdiction to decide the divorce? In some cases, the answer is yes. This was an issue in the case Schmoker v. Schmoker, 2D20-3276 (Fla. 2d DCA November 3, 2021).

In 2009, the husband filed a petition for divorce in Maryland. That court entered an order awarding the wife temporary support. Eventually, the husband voluntarily dismissed his petition, but by that time he had accrued over $40,000 in support arrears and attorney’s fee awards. The husband eventually moved to Florida and 8 years after he filed the Maryland case, he filed a new divorce case in Florida. The Florida court became aware of the Maryland case and noted the wife was attempting to enforce her Maryland arrears judgment in the Florida action. Consequently, the Florida court found it had no jurisdiction to decide the petition for divorce and dismissed it. An appeal followed.

The appellate court reversed the trial court’s dismissal, holding it was error to dismiss in light of the fact that both parties submitted themselves to the jurisdiction of the Florida court. The appellate court also held “To the extent that the circuit court was concerned about ongoing litigation over temporary support and attorneys fee arrearages, those issues have no bearing on the court's jurisdiction to dissolve the parties' marriage. [internal citation omitted]. The possibility that there may be ongoing, ancillary proceedings regarding the enforcement of prior money judgments would not affect the disposition of [the husband’s] new dissolution petition when the Maryland case has been voluntarily dismissed and the new Florida petition is the only petition pending. In other words, the core dissolution action is at issue only in Florida; the dispute over arrearages is a nonconflicting, ancillary issue that would not affect the dissolution. There was therefore no reason to dismiss the Florida action in deference to the Maryland proceeding.”

Additionally, the appellate court held “Moreover, even if there were an active dissolution petition in another state, a second state is not necessarily required to dismiss a second petition in deference to the first state's priority position. This is particularly so where, as here, the second state appears to be the more appropriate venue and both parties desire to litigate the case in the second state.” Schedule your consultation with a Miami divorce lawyer to understand your rights in your case.