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

When a Florida family law order is appealed, the issue being appealed is generally removed from the jurisdiction of the trial court. This means the trial court cannot make decisions related to the issue until the appellate court rules otherwise. This was an issue in the case Stivelman v. Stivelman, 3D22-2216 (Fla. 3d DCA August 30, 2023).

This case involved the modification of alimony. The trial court entered an order modifying alimony and a related order on the retroactivity of the modification. The order reserved jurisdiction on the amount of retroactive alimony to be awarded. The former wife filed a notice of appeal of these orders, and a day after that, the trial court entered an order quantifying the retroactive alimony amount.

The appellate court held “Notwithstanding what appears to be the trial court’s attempt, in the retroactivity order, to ‘reserve jurisdiction’ to enter the quantification order, in all likelihood, Former Wife’s filing of her July 5, 2021 notice of appeal (challenging the modification order and the retroactivity order) deprived the lower court of case jurisdiction to enter the quantification order. See Spencer v. DiGiacomo, 56 So. 3d 92, 93-94 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (holding that a trial court loses jurisdiction after a notice of appeal has been filed, with limited exceptions). Neither party requested the Stivelman I Court to relinquish jurisdiction to allow the trial court to enter the quantification order. As outlined below, (and referenced in footnote 1, above), however, this jurisdictional issue was likely rendered moot by our decision in Stivelman I.”

Speak to a Miami family law attorney to understand how the law may apply to the facts of your case.