Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

Miami is a city with international ties, so it is no surprise that many divorce cases here involve other countries. Parties who obtain a divorce decree in another country may argue that a Miami divorce court has no subject matter jurisdiction to decide divorce issues. This was a question in the case Armand v. Amisy, 3D20-605 (Fla. 3d DCA February 10, 2021).

The parties were married in Haiti where they resided until they moved to Massachusetts. Thereafter they moved to Miami, Florida. The husband filed for divorce in Florida in 2017, and the wife counter-petitioned seeking divorce and other relief. The husband then dismissed his petition and sought to dismiss the wife’s counter-petition on the basis that neither party met the residency requirement to obtain a Florida divorce. Before the hearing on the motion to dismiss, the husband filed a Haitian divorce decree arguing that since a court in Haiti already granted a divorce between the parties, the Florida court had no subject matter jurisdiction to dissolve the parties’ marriage. The motion to dismiss was ultimately denied, but the court did not address the husband’s argument about the Haitian divorce decree. The husband later filed a second motion to dismiss, this time including the argument about the Haitian divorce decree.

The husband’s lawyer withdrew and the husband began representing himself. Because the husband filed numerous pleadings, an order to show cause why he should be banned from filing pro se was issued. The husband failed to adequately respond, so an order was entered restricting the husband from e-filing access. The court subsequently entered a final judgment of divorce without considering the husband’s second motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The husband appealed.

The appellate court found it was error for the court to enter the final judgment, holding “On the record before us, it remains undetermined whether the Haitian divorce decree was a valid judgment entitled to comity by the Florida court. Armand had filed the foreign decree, asserted a facially sufficient challenge to subject matter jurisdiction and repeatedly requested a hearing on the matter. We find the court erred in failing to hold a hearing on the motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”

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