Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

What is a motion for stay in a Florida family law case? This is a motion that asks the court to pause the case. Sometimes this is necessary to address an issue that is preventing a party from fully participating in the case such as health issues. If a party disagrees with a judge’s decision to stay a case, they may be able to have this issue reviewed by the appellate court as was the case in Williams v. Williams, 5D23-478 (Fla. 5th DCA May 1, 2023).

The wife in this divorce case requested temporary alimony and filed a motion to enjoin the husband from dissipating marital assets. She contended the trial court denied this motion and appealed it as a non-final order. In reviewing the wife’s case as a non-final appeal, the appellate court held “While orders denying an injunction or determining the right in family law matters to immediate monetary relief are reviewable under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130, the instant order merely granted Husband’s motion to stay the proceedings. Such an order is not one of the listed nonfinal orders reviewable under this rule.”

The appellate court therefore treated the wife’s appeal as a petition for writ of certiorari, citing the following factors in determining if she was entitled to relief: “(1) a departure from the essential requirements of the law, (2) resulting in material injury for the remainder of the case (3) that cannot be corrected on postjudgment appeal.” The court noted “The trial court was apprised that petitions had been filed in separate cases to determine whether Husband was mentally incapacitated and, if so, to appoint a plenary guardian for Husband. The court indicated that it anticipated that orders would be issued within the month resolving those petitions and thus elected to briefly stay the dissolution of marriage proceedings until these separate orders were entered.” The court concluded “As previously indicated, a trial court has broad discretion to grant a motion for stay. [internal citation omitted]. Under these specific circumstances, we conclude that there is a lack of irreparable harm caused by this brief stay. We therefore dismiss the petition.”

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