Notable Florida Decisions

Valid disclaimers executed under Florida Statute Chapter 739 eliminate an heir's right to inherit the owner's property interest and therefore preclude any claim to foreclosure surplus proceeds. Disclaimers need not comply with section 45.033(3) because involuntary transfers by inheritance are governed by ordinary inheritance laws, not the conditions precedent imposed on voluntary transfers.

Trial courts must consider evidence of domestic violence in custody modification proceedings and must specifically acknowledge in writing that such evidence was considered when evaluating the best interests of the child, regardless of whether the court grants or denies relief.

A motion to vacate a void dismissal order entered in violation of a bankruptcy automatic stay may be filed years after entry, as the passage of time cannot validate a void order.

A stay of execution entered by a trial court is automatically dissolved upon issuance of an appellate mandate, rendering a subsequent appeal challenging the stay moot.

Where a trial court's written sentencing order conflicts with the oral pronouncement regarding prosecution costs, the oral pronouncement controls.

A father's parental rights may be terminated for abandonment when he makes almost no effort to maintain a relationship with his child, even when incarcerated, if he fails on appeal to adequately challenge the trial court's factual findings regarding the frequency and substance of his contact efforts.

A pro se litigant who files more than sixty pleadings including approximately thirty repetitive and frivolous motions seeking identical relief, despite warnings and prior denials, abuses the judicial process and may be prohibited from further pro se filings and required to appear through licensed counsel.

An award of attorney's fees and costs predicated on a reversed or vacated judgment must itself be reversed, and the matter must be remanded for reconsideration of both entitlement and amount based on the actual prevailing party status determined by the merits appeal.

The trial court properly denied the motion to quash service of process where the counterclaim, despite ambiguous wording, was directed solely against the defendant in his capacity as trustee rather than in his personal capacity.

A trial court must confirm an arbitration award unless a motion to vacate or modify is filed within ninety days of notice of the award, and the court has no discretion to extend this mandatory statutory deadline.

Summary judgment was improper on the FDUTPA claim against Dundore because his affidavit refuting the plaintiff's allegations created a genuine dispute of material fact regarding whether he personally engaged in deceptive or unfair practices.

An equitable action to reform a written instrument, including a mortgage with an erroneous property description, is not subject to the five-year statute of limitations in section 95.11(2)(b), Florida Statutes, but is instead governed by the equitable doctrine of laches.

A petition for an injunction for protection against stalking that is legally insufficient on its face must be reversed and remanded with instructions to vacate the injunction. Challenges to non-injunctive portions of a non-final order are not appealable.

Section 627.70152 requires presuit notice before filing any suit arising under a residential property insurance policy, including declaratory judgment actions seeking only clarification of policy terms without monetary damages. The insured's declaratory judgment lawsuit arose under the insurance policy because its resolution required interpretation of the policy's terms.

A plaintiff seeking to amend a complaint to add punitive damages must make a reasonable showing by evidence in the record that would provide a reasonable basis for recovery; here, the plaintiff failed to meet this burden because her counsel misrepresented the deposition testimony regarding whether the defendant knew the railing was inappropriate and whether prior incidents were disclosed.

A trial court's alimony award must be reversed and remanded when it fails to make specific findings regarding the obligor's reasonable expenses and net income calculation, and when it imputes income to the obligee without particularized findings regarding work history, occupational qualifications, and the current job market.

Restitution for vehicle damage caused in an accident is not causally related to the offense of driving with a suspended license and therefore cannot be ordered, despite the 1993 statutory amendment expanding restitution criteria to include losses related to the defendant's criminal episode.

A special probation condition prohibiting a juvenile from associating with persons designated by a probation officer or parent/guardian is invalid under the Biller test because it lacks specificity and has no apparent relationship to the crime of battery on a law enforcement officer, relates to non-criminal conduct, and is not reasonably related to future criminality. A special probation condition prohibiting a juvenile from associating with anyone under supervision of the Department of Juvenile Justice or Department of Corrections is valid because it forbids conduct reasonably related to futu

Although Florida Statute § 718.113(8) prohibits associations from categorically prohibiting EV charging station installations by unit owners, installations that materially alter or substantially add to common elements remain subject to the approval requirements of § 718.113(2)(a), requiring seventy-five percent voter approval before commencement. The trial court properly granted a temporary injunction where unit owners installed an EV charging station without such approval, making unauthorized alterations to common property.

The majority affirmed the dismissal of the complaint, implicitly accepting that a debt collector may threaten attorney's fees in a demand letter if such fees could potentially be awarded under section 57.105(1) during subsequent litigation. The dissent argued the collector violated section 559.72(9) by asserting a right to attorney's fees that did not exist when the demand letter was sent.

The trial court violated Florida Statute § 744.331(5) by conducting the adjudicatory hearing at a different time and location than specified in the notice of hearing, and this violation deprived the appellant of due process. The magistrate lacked authority to unilaterally schedule a hearing before a circuit court judge after the appellant objected to the magistrate's involvement.

An amended complaint that changes the core factual allegation of who the defendant knowingly served alcohol to does not relate back to the original pleading under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.190(c), even though the defendant and general circumstances remain the same, because it predicates liability on a brand new factual narrative rather than supplementing the original narrative with new legal theories.

A Florida trial court may transfer jurisdiction over child custody modifications to another state under § 61.520 when it determines that state is a more convenient forum, but § 88.2051 requires that Florida retain continuing exclusive jurisdiction over child support modification when the obligor resides in Florida.

When a defendant serves successive § 57.105 safe-harbor notices raising the same grounds, the last notice controls and affords the plaintiff a final opportunity to avoid sanctions. A plaintiff's timely voluntary dismissal within the 21-day safe-harbor period following the later notice precludes sanctions on the earlier motion.

An attorney is subject to sanctions and referral to the Florida Bar for filing a petition containing fictitious citations and failing to disclose controlling adverse authority, regardless of whether the misrepresentation was intentional or resulted from submitting the wrong draft.

A defendant's valid waiver of postconviction proceedings in 2012 bars successive postconviction motions filed after a 2022 rule change requiring reappointment of counsel, except for claims limited to the execution process itself. Florida law does not recognize a statutory or constitutional right to effective assistance of postconviction counsel, and the requirement that postconviction counsel be competent means only that counsel meet minimum qualifications, not that counsel provide effective assistance. Speculative claims about potential drug shortages in lethal injection protocols, unsupporte

A trial court abuses its discretion in granting additur when the jury's verdict is supported by evidence and jury instructions that gave the jury discretion to award damages, even if unrefuted evidence supports a higher amount. The jury instructions and closing arguments in this case gave the jury discretion to award an amount that the greater weight of evidence showed would fairly and adequately compensate the claimant, and the jury could have logically arrived at its $55,652 award by excluding damages attributable to claims against other subcontractors and a counterclaim unrelated to the def

Section 627.428, Florida Statutes (2015), authorizes attorney's fees for a prevailing insured in litigation involving a breach of a Drew repair contract because such a contract is executed by the insurer and any dispute concerning it arises under the policy. Section 631.70, Florida Statutes (2022), does not preclude an award of attorney's fees where FIGA denies a covered claim or portion thereof by affirmative action other than delay, and here FIGA's pre-answer partial payment denial, affirmative defenses asserting non-coverage, corporate testimony, pretrial stipulation assertions, and summary

An enforceable express oral contract existed between the parties with sufficiently definite essential terms—Ruiz's payment of $600,000 in commissions in exchange for Diaz's $600,000 tree credit—and therefore unjust enrichment is unavailable as a matter of law. The parties' failure to specify which particular trees would be selected or the precise time for their removal does not defeat contract formation because these details are not essential terms. Where an express contract exists, the remedies of breach of contract and unjust enrichment are mutually exclusive, and a plaintiff cannot recover

Section 90.404(2)(c), Florida Statutes, by its express terms applies only to evidence of the defendant's own sexual offenses and does not permit a defendant to introduce evidence of sexual offenses committed by third parties under a 'reverse Williams rule.' Even if such evidence were admissible under section 90.404(2)(a), a defendant must proffer the victim's testimony to preserve a claim that exclusion of collateral offense evidence was error, and failure to do so precludes appellate review of the trial court's evidentiary ruling.