SOUTHERN-OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY

v.

DAYBREAK, INC

THIS CAUSE is before the Court sua sponte. Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, and therefore, have an obligation to inquire into their subject matter jurisdiction. See Kirkland v. Midland Mortg. Co., 243 F. 3d 1277, 1279–80 (11th Cir. 2001). This obligation exists regardless of whether the parties have challenged the existence of subject matter jurisdiction. See Univ. of S. Ala. v. Am. Tobacco Co., 168 F. 3d 405, 410 (11th Cir. 1999) (“It is well settled that a federal court is obligated to inquire into subject matter jurisdiction sua sponte whenever it may be lacking.”). “In a given case, a federal district court must have at least one of three types of subject matter jurisdiction: (1) jurisdiction under a specific statutory grant; (2) federal question jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331; or (3) diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a).” Baltin v. Alaron Trading Corp., 128 F. 3d 1466, 1469 (11th Cir. 1997). On May 27, 2020, Plaintiff Southern-Owners Insurance Company initiated this action by filing a complaint and purporting to set forth the facts establishing that the Court   has jurisdiction over this action. See Complaint for Declaratory Judgment (Doc. 1) ¶¶ 2-5, 13. Specifically, Plaintiff asserts that the Court has jurisdiction because there is complete diversity of citizenship between the parties and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.00, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Id. ¶ 13. In support of this assertion, Plaintiff declares that “upon information and belief,” Defendants Thomas Friedberg and Sarah Bunge are “residents” of California. Id. ¶¶ 4-5. However, these allegations do not adequately identify the citizenship of those individual parties, and thus, the Court is without sufficient information to satisfy its jurisdictional inquiry.¹ For a court to have diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), “all plaintiffs must be diverse from all defendants.” Univ. of S. Ala., 168 F. 3d at 412. To establish diversity over a natural person, a complaint must include allegations of the person’s citizenship, not where he or she resides. See Taylor v. Appleton, 30 F. 3d 1365, 1367 (11th Cir. 1994). A natural person’s citizenship is determined by his “domicile,” or

“the place of his true, fixed, and permanent home and principal establishment . . . to which he has the intention of returning whenever he is absent therefrom.” McCormick v. Aderholt, 293 F. 3d 1254, 1257–58 (11th Cir. 2002) (quotation and citation omitted). Because the

[t]he U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida is one of the busiest district courts in the country and its limited resources are precious. Time spent screening cases for jurisdictional defects, issuing orders directing repair of deficiencies, then rescreening the amended filings and responses to show cause orders is time that could and should be devoted to the substantive work of the Court.

Id. at *1 n.4. As such, before filing any future pleadings in federal court, counsel is strongly encouraged to review the applicable authority on federal subject matter jurisdiction. See id. at *1-2 (bulleting several “hints” on how to allege federal diversity jurisdiction properly).   Complaint merely discloses where Defendants Friedberg and Bunge reside, as opposed to their domicile or citizenship, the Court finds that Plaintiff has not alleged the facts necessary to establish the Court’s jurisdiction over this case. “Citizenship, not residence, is the key fact that must be alleged in the complaint to establish diversity for a natural person.” Taylor, 30 F. 3d at 1367; see also Miss. Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, 490 U.S. 30, 48, 109 S. Ct. 1597, 1608, 104 L. Ed.2d 29 (1989) (“‘Domicile is not necessarily synonymous with ‘residence[.]’”) (citation omitted).² In light of the foregoing, the Court will give Plaintiff an opportunity to establish diversity of citizenship between the parties and that this Court has jurisdiction over the action.3 Accordingly, it is ORDERED:

IA Maal Ha United States District Judge

Ic11 Copies to: Counsel of Record