MARY R. COCHRAN, APPELLANT,
v.
TATUM R. COCHRAN, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1972-06-09
No. 71-808
PIERCE, C. J., and LILES, J., concur.
263 So. 2d 292 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1972) Positive Treatment
Cited by 10 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

In this child support and visitation dispute, the Florida appellate court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the mother's attempt to enforce support payments through Pennsylvania's reciprocal enforcement process after she violated the original Florida divorce decree's visitation provisions. The court held that the Florida court retained continuing jurisdiction over the matter and that the mother's attempt to circumvent the Florida order through an out-of-state proceeding constituted an improper attempt by a litigant with unclean hands.


Holding

The court affirmed the dismissal, holding that the Florida court retained continuing jurisdiction over the matter because it expressly reserved jurisdiction in the original decree, and that the mother's attempt to use the Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act to circumvent the Florida court's order constituted an improper proceeding by a litigant with unclean hands. The court held that Florida law governs the determination of the duty of support and that the mother's remedy was to comply with the visitation provisions of the original decree.


Headnotes

[1] A party seeking to enforce a support order under the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act cannot supersede a previous order of support issued in a divorce action…

[2] A Florida court retains continuing jurisdiction over parties to a divorce decree, even if one party moves to another state.

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Key Quotes

“Mrs. Cochran is subject to the continuing jurisdiction of the Florida court, which was not the case with Mrs. Hill in Hill v. Hill, Fla.App.4th 1967, 204 So. 2d 346, on which the appellant relies. Here the Circuit Court expressly reserved jurisdiction to insure that its judgment would be complied with.”

Establishes the basis for Florida court's continuing jurisdiction over the mother and distinguishes the case from Hill v. Hill

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Facts & Procedural History

Mr. and Mrs. Cochran were divorced in Hardee County, Florida in 1968. The divorce decree provided that the father could visit the children in their st…

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Opinion of the Court
MANN, Judge.

MANN, Judge.

Mr. and Mrs. Cochran were divorced in Hardee County in 1968. The final judgment specified that the father could visit the children in their state of residence at any time and that he should have the right to have the children visit him for six weeks each summer. Support was fixed at $40 per week “so long as visitation rights . are complied with.”

The mother of the children failed to comply with the decree. The father properly laid the matter before the court and asked to be relieved of his support obligation until the mother complied with the court’s judgment. The court entered such an order.

This appeal grows out of the mother’s attempt to circumvent the Florida court’s order by initiating an action in Pennsylvania, her present residence, through the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, Fla.Stat. ch. 88 (1969), F.S.A.; 9C U.L.A. 1 et seq. The Circuit Judge who entered the order in the divorce proceeding absolving the father of his duty to support while the mother was in contempt dismissed this proceeding, and the mother appeals.

Mrs. Cochran is subject to the continuing jurisdiction of the Florida court, which was not the case with Mrs. Hill in Hill v. Hill, Fla.App.4th 1967, 204 So.2d 346, on which the appellant relies. Here the Circuit Court expressly reserved jurisdiction to insure that its judgment would be complied with. It was not. Mrs. Cochran is in contempt of a Florida court which has jurisdiction over her case. Her remedy is simple: obey the law. The wise Circuit Judge who heard this case dismissed this proceeding because it is a patent circumvention of proper proceeding by a litigant with unclean hands. Mrs. Cochran knew from the outset that failure to comply with the visitation provision might jeopardize her right to receive support payments. The authority of the trial judge to enter the order suspending payments during contempt is clear. See Warrick v. Hender, Fla.App.4th 1967, 198 So.2d 348 and cases there cited. Fla.Stat. § 88.281 (1969), F.S.A., makes it plain that an order entered under the Reciprocal Act “shall not supersede any previous order of support issued in a divorce action . . . ”.

Florida law certainly governs the determination of duty of support in this case. Fla.Stat. § 88.081, F.S.A.1 probably would have supported this conclusion, but it is nevertheless grounded upon the overwhelming weight of Florida’s interest in this particular situation. The divorce was-granted here, the parties were resident here, the father still resides in Florida, the father and mother are both subject to the continuing jurisdiction of a Florida court. We have no reason to consider whether the language of Clarke v. Blackburn, Fla.App.2d 1963, 151 So.2d 325, to the effect that the court must “determine the duty of support under the laws of the responding state” is too broad. There is an ambiguity in Section 88.081, because if the choice of law question is referable to “any state where the obligor was present during the period for which support is sought,” a conflict of laws might still exist, but the case before us is a clear one.2 We regret that *294the taxpayers of Pennsylvania, subsidized by the taxpayers of the United States, are contributing to the support of these children. However, the fault lies clearly with the mother, now Pennsylvania’s citizen. We regret any situation in which innocent children are made pawns in a struggle between stubborn parents. We can say only that a suitable forum exists for the resolution of the parents’ differences and that a petition under the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act — this case involves the second petition Mrs. Cochran has filed in Pennsylvania — is not the answer. The able trial judge is correct.

Affirmed.

PIERCE, C. J., and LILES, J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • RAY v. Pentlicki, 375 So. 2d 875 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979)
    …the dissolution of marriage proceeding. In this respect we agree with the analysis of the court of appeals of Arizona in an identical situation. State ex rel. Arvayo v. Guerrero, 21 Ariz.App. 173, 517 P. 2d 526 (Ct.App.1974). Cf. Cochran v. Cochran, 263 So. 2d 292 (Fla. 2d DCA 1972) (where the same circuit court had suspended child support obligations in dissolution of marriage proceeding for noncompliance with order requiring recognition of visitation rights, trial judge properly dismissed subsequently initi…
  • von Eiff v. Leonor Azicri and Roberto Azicri, 699 So. 2d 772 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)
    …atening emotional development.8 In these situations, a child needs the stability that grandparents can provide.9 Moreover, children can become innocent pawns in power struggles by their loved ones when a family is disrupted. See Cochran v. Cochran, 263 So. 2d 292 (Fla. 2d DCA 1972). Allowing a parent without restraint to interfere with beneficial visitation in circumstances of death may exacerbate emotional trauma precisely when the child is most vulnerable. See Preston v. Mercieri, 133 N.H. 36, 573 A. 2d 12…
  • Stephens v. Stephens, 402 So. 2d 1301 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)
    …that “[a]ny order of support issued by a court of this state when acting as a responding state shall not supersede any previous order of support issued in a dissolution of marriage for separate maintenance action .... ” See also Cochran v. Cochran, 263 So. 2d 292 (Fla. 2d DCA 1972). Although the statute is broad enough to permit a responding court in a URESA action to initially determine the duty of support, this is not permitted when there is a previous order establishing support in the underlying dissoluti…
    1 / 2

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