First District Reverses Child Support Decree

The First District Court of Appeal ruled today in Garren v. Oliver, a case in which the Appellant challenged the lower court’s judgment of paternity.  The First District found merit in one issue raised, specifically that the child support set did not use the “gross up” method for support calculation despite a schedule of timesharing that warranted it.  The First District Court reversed on this basis, finding that the use of the alternate calculation was mandatory.

Fourth District Rejects Petition for Writ of Certiorari

The Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled today in Carrillo-Jimenez v. Carillo, a case in which the Appellant had sought to strike a social investigation report which he alleged unfairly disclosed confidential communications between the parties’ minor children and their psychotherapist.  The Petition was denied based on the holding of Hughes v. Schatzberg, 872 So.2d 996 (Fla.4th DCA 2004), which held that a parent involved in litigation over the welfare of a child may not assert the psychotherapist patient privilege on behalf of the child.  The Court appeared to pay special attention to the petitioner’s motivation in seeking the writ.

Fourth District Court Reverses Denial of Health Insurance Coverage

In the case of Gaudette v. Gaudette, the lower court determined that it was unable to award the Appellant payment of her health insurance from the Appellee as “there was no evidence presented as to the cost of the Wife’s health insurance and if that cost would be affordable to the Husband with his limited income.  The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed yesterday on the basis that the Appellee’s own financial affidavit listed the cost of Appellant’s health insurance.  Finding this sufficient record evidence, on remand the Fourth District instructed the lower court to reconsider its findings on this issue.