Mann v. Mann
Decision Date | 12 October 2001 |
Docket Number | No. 5D00-2895.,5D00-2895. |
Parties | Robert L. MANN, Appellant, v. Becky Jo MANN, Appellee. |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Robert L. Mann, Saint Cloud, Pro se.
J. Peyton Lea, III, Orlando, for Appellee.
AFFIRMED.
Appellant, Robert Mann, appearing pro se, has appealed a final order in which the trial court ruled it was without jurisdiction to enforce its prior orders concerning custody, visitation and support of the parties' child who lives in Georgia.
Robert L. Mann [hereinafter "husband"], the Appellant, and Becky Jo Mann [hereinafter "wife"], the Appellee, were married on October 27, 1990 in St. Cloud, Florida. The wife, while pregnant, left the husband and concealed her whereabouts. The husband filed a petition for dissolution of marriage on December 2, 1994 in the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida, alleging that, although there were no children at the time of the filing, a child was expected in January 1995. The wife did not answer the petition and a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage was entered on February 6, 1995. In that judgment the court reserved "jurisdiction over the yet unborn child conceived during the pendency of this marriage."
The child was born in Georgia on March 8, 1995. On May 1, 1995, the husband filed a motion for temporary support and custody in the Ninth Judicial Circuit. On July 10, 1995, the wife appeared through counsel and filed a Motion to Retain Custody and for Child Support. On August 14, 1995, the Honorable Jay P. Cohen entered an order denying the husband's motion for temporary custody and granting the wife's motion to retain custody. The order also ordered mediation on visitation and child support issues. On September 28, 1995, a final order was entered as a result of the mediation. The husband was ordered to pay support in the amount of $180 per month. A visitation schedule established the husband would have the child for nine days a month. The parties were to meet to exchange the child at Valdosta, Georgia.
On February 26, 1996, the husband filed a motion to enforce the visitation order. The motion alleged that the wife "obstructed and prevented" visitation. It also requested that the court retain jurisdiction over the case. This motion followed the wife's February 20, 1996 "Complaint for Modification" filed in the Superior Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia. The wife's complaint sought a reduction in the amount of travel required for the child.
On April 8, 1996, Judge Donald Grincewicz entered an order on the husband's motion to enforce:
The court then ordered:
On April 25, 1996, Judge Grincewicz entered an order allowing for make-up visitation because of the wife's failure to comply with the April 8 order.
The wife, through new counsel, filed three motions to vacate the previous two orders entered by Judge Grincewicz and a Supplemental Complaint to Modify Final Judgment seeking modification of child support and visitation. The complaint alleged that due to the stress of the visitation schedule the child suffered from atopic dermatitis. In response, the husband filed an answer and counterpetition which sought an order requiring the child to reside in the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
On October 7, 1996, the trial court entered an order which denied the wife's petitions to vacate the previous order, denied the petition for modification of child support and visitation, refused to reverse the finding of contempt, and denied the husband's request for an order requiring the child to reside in Florida. It does not appear that any of the lower court's orders in this case were appealed.
On April 17, 1997, the parties jointly filed in the Ninth Circuit an "Agreement of Visitation" setting forth a calendar of visitation through April 1998. Then, some time in 1998, wife filed a new proceeding in Georgia asking the Georgia courts to assume jurisdiction. Husband responded by filing a motion in the Ninth Judicial Circuit seeking to "enforce final order to hold jurisdiction in Osceola." Judge McDonald in the Ninth Judicial Circuit denied the husband's motion, observing that "he needs to appear and respond in Georgia."1
On July 12, 2000, the husband filed a Motion To Enforce Jurisdiction and Motion To Enforce Prior Contempt Order. The wife's response was to move to dismiss with prejudice, setting forth as grounds that because Superior Court of Cobb County had entered an order domesticating the case, "all actions for enforcement need to be brought in the Georgia courts as this is where jurisdiction lies". Judge McDonald denied the husband's motion to enforce jurisdiction, ruling that the Ninth Circuit had no jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the child.
I cannot agree that Florida never had jurisdiction to determine any matter pertaining to this child. This ruling makes no sense to me. Both Florida and Georgia have adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. See sections 61.1302-61.1348, Fla. Stat.; Title 19, Chapter 9, Article 3, Ga. Stat. The section titled "jurisdiction" provides:
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Munnerlyn v. Wingster, 5D01-2925.
...personal jurisdiction. The father further relies on two Florida cases, but such reliance is misplaced. First, he cites to Mann v. Mann, 798 So.2d 24 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001), wherein this court per curiam affirmed an order denying a motion to enforce jurisdiction over child custody matters. In h......