EBRAHIM RAFAEIL, APPELLANT,
v.
KATHERINE L. RAFAEIL, APPELLEE
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Father appealed a paternity and custody judgment entered in Florida, contending the trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over him as a New York resident. The appellate court reversed, finding the mother's petition failed to allege sufficient facts to establish long-arm jurisdiction under Florida's long-arm statute.
No. The trial court lacked personal jurisdiction because the petition did not allege sufficient facts to establish long-arm jurisdiction under Florida Statutes section 48.193(1)(h) (sexual intercourse within the state resulting in conception) or section 48.193(1)(e) (child support where parties maintained matrimonial domicile or father resided in-state).
[1] A Florida court's long-arm jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant in a paternity action requires the complaint to allege facts demonstrating the defendant engaged in…
[2] Florida's long-arm statute does not confer jurisdiction for child support actions based on a former matrimonial domicile if the parties were not married when the action w…
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“In determining whether long-arm jurisdiction exists, a court must first consider whether the complaint alleges a basis for jurisdiction under Florida's long-arm statute, section 48.193, Florida Statutes (2000).”
Establishes the threshold requirement that the complaint must allege facts supporting jurisdiction under the long-arm statute.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMother filed a paternity petition in Polk County, Florida against father, a New York resident. The petition alleged the parties engaged in sexual inte…
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KELLY, Judge.
Ebrahim Rafaeil (father) appeals from a final judgment of paternity and custody. Because the trial court erroneously concluded it had jurisdiction over Mr. Rafaeil, we reverse.
Katherine Rafaeil (mother) filed a petition seeking a determination of paternity, custody, visitation, and child support in Polk County, Florida. The petition alleged that the father was a resident of the state of New York and that in 1990, the mother and the father had associated with each other, became intimate, and engaged in sexual intercourse resulting in the conception of a child born in 1991. The relationship continued resulting in the birth of a second child in 1994. The mother alleged that the first child was born in Polk County, but did not allege where the second child was born. The petition did not allege where the acts of sexual intercourse occurred. The father argues that the petition does not allege sufficient facts to es tablish personal jurisdiction over him. We agree.
In determining whether long-arm jurisdiction exists, a court must first consider whether the complaint alleges a basis for jurisdiction under Florida’s long-arm statute, section 48.193, Florida Statutes (2000). Venetian Salami Co. v. Parthenais, 554 So. 2d 499 (Fla.1989). Section 48.193 specifies the acts that will subject an individual to the jurisdiction of Florida courts. Section 48.193(l)(h), provides:
(1) Any person, whether or not a citizen or resident of this state, who personally or through an agent does any of the acts enumerated in this subsection thereby submits himself or herself and, if he or she is a natural person, his or her personal representative to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state for any cause of action arising from the doing of any of the following acts:
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(h) With respect to a proceeding for paternity, engaging in the act of sexual intercourse within this state with respect to which a child may have been conceived.
The mother’s petition failed to allege that she and the father engaged in sexual intercourse within the state of Florida which resulted in the conception of these children. Accordingly, the petition does not allege sufficient facts to establish long-arm jurisdiction under section 48.193(l)(h). See Wrenn v. McDonnell, 671 So. 2d 884 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996).
Section 48.193(l)(e), Florida Statutes (2000), provides long-arm jurisdiction in an action for child support if the parties maintained a matrimonial domicile in this state at the time the action was commenced or if the-father resided in this state when the action was commenced. It is undisputed that the parties were not married when this action was filed and that the father was a resident of the state of New York. Accordingly, the petition does not allege sufficient facts to establish long-arm jurisdiction under section 48.193(l)(e). See Garrett v. Garrett, 652 So. 2d 378 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994).
Because there are no other grounds upon which the trial court could exercise long-arm jurisdiction over the father, the final judgment of paternity and custody is reversed, and this case is remanded with instructions to dismiss the petition.
Reversed and remanded with instructions.
WHATLEY and STRINGER, JJ., Concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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In the Interest of S.M. v. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs., 874 So. 2d 720 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…Florida when the action was commenced nor did he reside in Florida prior to the commencement of the action. More recently, this court examined the bases for jurisdiction under the current long-arm statute in a paternity action in Rafaeil v. Rafaeil, 832 So. 2d 202 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002), and reversed the denial of a motion to dismiss the petition for lack of jurisdiction. There, the petition did not allege that the parties had maintained a matrimonial domicile in Florida, nor that the alleged father resided in Fl…
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Dep't OF Revenue v. B.E.F., Sr., 99 So. 3d 993 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012)…rcourse resulting in the conception of the child in Florida. Although the complaint does not perfectly track the language of the statute, these facts sufficiently establish a basis for long-arm jurisdiction over the appellee. See Rafaeil v. Rafaeil, 832 So. 2d 202 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) (holding that to establish long-arm jurisdiction over a nonresident putative father, a complaint to establish paternity must allege that the mother and the father engaged in sexual intercourse within the state of Florida which res…
Authorities Cited
- Venetian Salami Co. v. J.S. Parthenais, 554 So. 2d 499 (Fla. 1989)
- Garrett v. Garrett, 652 So. 2d 378 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
- Wrenn v. McDONNELL, 671 So. 2d 884 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)