Dobson v. Samson
| Decision Date | 03 December 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-1991,91-1991 |
| Parties | 18 Fla. L. Weekly D2546 Richard Allen DOBSON, Appellant, v. Julia Hayden SAMSON, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County; Dorothy J. Russell, Judge.
John M. Brennan and Brian J. Moran, of Subin, Shams, Rosenbluth & Moran, P.A., Orlando, for appellant.
N. Lee Sasser, Jr., of Sasser & Weber, P.A., Orlando, for appellee.
ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA
We consider the present case after the Florida Supreme Court quashed our decision in Dobson v. Samson, 598 So.2d 139 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992), and remanded for reconsideration in light of Mize v. Mize, 621 So.2d 417 (Fla.1993). Dobson v. Samson, 623 So.2d 473 (Fla.1993). Because the trial court did not have the benefit of Mize when it made its findings of fact and conclusions of law, we vacate the trial court's order and remand this cause for further proceedings consistent with Mize.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
In its opinion in this case, the supreme court remanded to this court for reconsideration in light of their decision in Mize v. Mize, 621 So.2d 417 (Fla.1993). 1 When the supreme court deems it appropriate to return the matter to trial court for further proceedings, it usually says so in its opinion or order. The supreme court noted that this court's stated basis for affirming the trial court was this court's own earlier precedent "disfavoring removal" of children from Central Florida. This precedent was overturned in Mize and we should evaluate the correctness of the lower court's decision in light of the criteria approved in Mize.
Here the trial court made extensive findings of fact, including:
(A) Each of the parents has remarried and the child's primary home is with the father, which consists of the father, his new wife and twelve-year old stepsister.
(B) Dobson received an offer of employment [as a nuclear engineer] in Cedar Rapids, Iowa which he believed would provide more future stability to his career as well as an immediate increase in annual salary of $8,000.
(C) Dobson's motives for seeking to relocate are genuine and bona fide.
(D) Dobson's motive for seeking to relocate is not to defeat or frustrate the contact between Samson and the parties' child.
(E) Were the court to allow the relocation, Dobson is likely to comply with any reasonable substitute visitation order and, further, that his motions for seeking to relocate are genuine and bona fide, and his motive is not to defeat or frustrate the contact between mother and child.
The record clearly shows that the lower court was fully apprised of the competing approaches between this district and the other districts and was informed about the Hill test now adopted in Mize. The lower court took the trouble to make findings under both the Fifth District view and the views of the other districts. As she was bound to do, she followed the Fifth District rule.
The only finding made by the lower court that was adverse to the father was that frequency of contact between the...
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