Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
Filing your petition for appeal in the correct court is one of the first steps to protecting your appellate rights. Since there are strict deadlines to follow in appellate matters, the failure to timely file in the correct court can be fatal to an appeal. This was an issue in the case McGann v. Walker, 1D2023-1294 (Fla. 1st DCA December 11, 2024).
This appellate opinion is sparse on background information, but it appears the mother appealed an order granting a petition for modification of a parenting plan that was filed by the father. Since the mother did not provide a transcript of the proceedings, her appeal was denied. The mother also appealed an order denying her motion to vacate. The appellate court held “Nor do we have jurisdiction to consider [the mother’s] second claim—that the trial court improperly denied her motion to vacate. This claim challenges an order issued by the Ninth Circuit, a court outside our territorial jurisdiction. See Miami-Dade Water & Sewer Auth. v. Cormio, 388 So. 2d 1238, 1244—45 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979) (‘[T]he jurisdiction of each district court of appeal to hear appeals from other Article V courts is limited territorially to trial courts headquartered in counties and circuits within the appellate district established by law. Section 4(b)(1).’). We therefore dismiss that portion of McGann’s appeal.”
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