Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce
The story of a Florida family law case is just one aspect of it. It is also important that whether a party has a lawyer or not, he or she follows the procedural rules in place to ensure that the court is able to hear his or her story. This was an issue in the case Preudhomme v. Bailey, et. al., 4D20-2370 (Fla. 4th DCA February 23, 2022).
The former wife sued her former husband and other parties alleging fraud in the former husband’s conveyance of certain real property which the former wife claimed she owned. In 2015, the former wife’s lawsuit was dismissed against the former husband after the court found she did not have title to the property and therefore did not have standing to bring the lawsuit. The former wife continued to pursue her claims against the other parties to whom the property was sold. Eventually, the trial court entered an order dismissing the lawsuit against those parties with prejudice and re-affirming its dismissal against the former husband entered in 2015. The former wife appealed both the dismissal of her lawsuit against the former husband and the lawsuit against the other parties.
The appellate court held there was no jurisdiction to entertain the appeal regarding the former husband: “Under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.110(k), a final judgment that disposes of a case as to any party is considered a partial final judgment. If a partial final judgment completely disposes of a case as to any party, it is appealable only within thirty days. Dalola v. Barber, 757 So. 2d 1215, 1216 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000); see also Fla. R. App. P. 9.110(k). Here, although the final judgment reiterated the prior dismissal of Former Husband, Former Wife had only thirty days from the entry of the original order to appeal—a window she missed by six years.”
The court also upheld the dismissal of the complaint against the other parties: “Here, Former Wife attempted to amend her complaint against Matthews multiple times. However, each time, she failed to sufficiently plead her complaint because her attachments did not support her claims. See Haslett v. Broward Health Imperial Point Med. Ctr., 197 So. 3d 124, 127 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016) (‘Where the exhibits negate the cause of action asserted, they must control.’); see also Quality Roof Servs., 21 So. 3d at 885. Furthermore, she did not state her claims in the simple, short, and plain language required by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.110(b). Even though Former Wife represented herself in the proceedings below, she was still required by court rules to state her claim succinctly and with sufficient proof.”
Knowing the rules of procedure is important to the success of your case. Schedule a consultation with a Miami family law attorney to understand how the law may apply to your case.