Mathieu v. Mathieu
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
| Writing for the Court | PER CURIAM. |
| Citation | Mathieu v. Mathieu, 877 So.2d 740 (Fla. App. 2004) |
| Decision Date | 07 May 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 5D03-2954.,5D03-2954. |
| Parties | Morris R. MATHIEU, Appellant, v. Kris MATHIEU n/k/a Kris Badzinski, Appellee. |
Hal Roen, of Hal Roen, P.A., Winter Park, for Appellant.
Neva M. Kelaher, Winter Park, for Appellee.
This is the appeal of an amended final judgment of dissolution of marriage. The former husband, Morris Mathieu ["Mathieu"], has raised five claims of reversible error in the final judgment. A significant theme running throughout is that inadequate findings of fact were made by the trial court. We disagree because the required findings are either express or apparent within the judgment, and our review is not hampered.
After the trial court issued its judgment below, Mathieu's trial counsel, an experienced marital lawyer, filed a detailed motion for rehearing, raising multiple issues of law and asserting that several of the court's findings were not supported by the evidence at trial. Notably, however, the only issue about which the inadequacy of the court's findings was raised was attorney's fees.
It commonly happens in appeals from final judgments in dissolution of marriage cases that the appellant will urge reversible error based on inadequate findings of fact, yet the claim of inadequate findings is often not brought to the attention of the trial court by way of a motion for rehearing. Rather than bring the fact-finding defect to the trial court at the time the decision is made so that the same judge who decided the case can correct the omission while the case is fresh in his mind, often the defect is not ascertained on appeal until many months have elapsed. At best, the trial court has to recall facts that have receded in memory. At worst, the case may...
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...733 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) ). In a footnote, we cited Broadfoot v. Broadfoot , 791 So.2d 584 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) ; and Mathieu v. Mathieu , 877 So.2d 740 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004) as having reached the opposite conclusion. Id. at 950 n.3 ; see also Mondello v. Torres , 47 So.3d 389, 400 n.3 (Fla. 4th......
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...1. The parties were married March 17, 1989 and Elizabeth filed her petition for dissolution on October 15, 2001. 2. Mathieu v. Mathieu, 877 So.2d 740 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004); Killius v. Killius, 701 So.2d 1245 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997). See also Broadfoot v. Broadfoot, 791 So.2d 584 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001......
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...is treated as unpreserved error by the appellate court unless previously brought to the court’s attention. [ Mathieu v. Mathieu , 877 So. 2d 740 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004, but see Badgley v. Sanchez , 165 So. 3d 742 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015).] IN PR A CTICE The better practice is to immediately bring th......
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...is entered without required findings, then a motion for rehearing should be filed, requesting findings. (17) In Mathieu v. Mathieu, 877 So. 2d 740, 741 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), the Fifth District Court of Appeal embraced the preservation requirement articulated in Broadfoot, finding "sensible" ......
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...973 So. 2d 1169, 1170 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007). (56) Broadfoot v. Broadfoot, 791 So. 2d 584 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001). (57) Mathieu v. Mathieu, 877 So. 2d 740, 741 (Fla. 5th DCA (58) See notes 54 and 56. AUTHOR THOMASINA F. MOORE is of counsel at Gray Robinson and has a diverse legal background in labo......