Wilson v. Zambito, 4D00-3400.
| Decision Date | 22 November 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 4D00-3400.,4D00-3400. |
| Citation | 773 So.2d 581 |
| Parties | Jennifer WILSON, Petitioner, v. Robert ZAMBITO, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Kristin A. West of Jones & Wolfe, Fort Lauderdale, for petitioner.
No appearance by respondent.
Jennifer Wilson (the mother) seeks review of a nonfinal order of the Broward County circuit court denying her motion to dismiss petition to establish paternity for lack of jurisdiction. We have certiorari jurisdiction, see Snider v. Snider, 686 So.2d 802, 803 n. 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997),
and grant the petition.
The child in question was born in Rochester, New York, in 1998, and lived there with her mother all her life until the mother relocated to Florida in February 2000. In May 2000, Robert Zambito filed a petition in the Broward County circuit court to establish paternity and seeking visitation rights. The mother, appearing specially to determine the issue of jurisdiction, filed a motion to dismiss, inter alia for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, claiming that Zambito failed to comply with the Florida Statutes and the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA); that the court was without jurisdiction because Florida was not, nor had it ever been, the child's home state, pursuant to section 61.1308(1)(a)1 & 2, Florida Statutes; that she intended to return to New York and had never made Florida her domicile; that any order regarding custody would be reversible because of the father's failure to file a UCCJA affidavit with his petition; and that it was in the child's best interest that paternity proceedings have their jurisdiction in Rochester, New York, where the child had lived her whole life, with the exception of the past three months. Zambito's amended petition acknowledged that the mother and child indeed had moved to Florida only in February. The mother moved to dismiss the amended petition as well. She and the child returned to the state of New York in June 2000.
After holding an evidentiary hearing, in which the mother attempted to show that she did not have the intention of changing her domicile to Florida and Zambito attempted to show her actions indicated that she did, the trial court concluded that Florida was the child's home state at the time the proceeding was filed and denied the mother's motion to dismiss.
The UCCJA applies to paternity actions when custody is an issue. See Keveloh v. Carter, 699 So.2d 285 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997)
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Sanchez v. Fernandez, 4D04-2544.
...applies only to the issue of custody." Patterson v. Tomlinson, 875 So.2d 646, 647 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004);3 see also Wilson v. Zambito, 773 So.2d 581, 582 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) ("The UCCJA applies to paternity actions when custody is an issue."). In Keveloh v. Carter, 699 So.2d 285, 287 (Fla. 5th......
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Schaffer v. Ling
...granting the mother's motion to dismiss. Relying on Munnerlyn v. Wingster, 825 So.2d 481 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002), and Wilson v. Zambito, 773 So.2d 581 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), the court reasoned that even though the child was conceived in Florida, the court did not have subject matter jurisdiction ......
- Rebello v. State
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Benson v. Evans, 4D05-982.
...take this case. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act "applies to paternity actions when custody is an issue." Wilson v. Zambito, 773 So.2d 581, 582 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). The child has resided in Texas for over three years with petitioner, a "person acting as a parent" within the meanin......