Fifth District Reverses Termination of Parental Rights Under Indian Child Welfare Act

In G.L. v. D.C.F., the Fifth District ruled today that the lower tribunal erred when it failed to provide notice under the Indian Child Welfare Act of a pending termination of parental rights to the appropriate tribal representatives.  While the issue was not raised as error below, failure to follow the ICWA was found to preempt the traditional law on preservation of error.

Second District Reverses Injunction

The Second District Court of Appeal reversed today in Barile v. Gayheart, a case in which the lower tribunal treated an insufficient petition for injunction against repeat violence as, instead, a petition for a domestic violence injunction.  The trial court’s switch resulted in a denial of due process to the respondent, resulting in reversal.

First DCA Reverses in Administrative Support Action

The First District Court of Appeal ruled today in DOR ex rel Rambert v. Williams, and reversed the lower court’s deviation from support based on a verbal parenting plan which was not court authorized.  Essentially, the First District found that only a written, authorized parenting plan could, by statute, justify a deviation.

First District Court Reverses Injunction

The First District Court of Appeal reversed today in Achurra v. Achurra, a case in which the lower tribunal entered a permanent injunction against domestic violence without first holding an evidentiary hearing on the allegations.  As a result of the lack of any evidentiary hearing on the matter, the District Court was forced to consider a case where the Petitioner presented no evidence to meet her initial burden of proving entitlement to relief.

Second District Reverses Child Support Calculation

The Second District Court of Appeal reversed a lower court yesterday in C.J.E. v. S.D.A., and was able despite the lack of a record to reverse the Final Judgment on its face alone.  This was because while there was retroactive support awarded to the Mother, it did not include child care costs.  The lower court was instructed on remand to include those costs in its calculation.

Fourth District Upholds Contempt Ruling but Reverses Modification of Timesharing

The Fourth District Court of Appeal issued a ruling yesterday in Norberg v. Norberg, a case in which the Former Wife appealed a finding of contempt resulting from a hearing she did not attend on the basis that there was no finding of ability to pay the purge amount and for other reasons.  The Fourth District found no error in the lack of a finding that the Former Wife could pay the purge, in that incarceration was not ordered.  Likewise, the lower court was affirmed for finding that the amount of damages was that stated by the Former Husband, as this was a credibility determination.  However, the lower court’s decision to modify timesharing was reversed, as there was no pleading seeking that relief before the Court.

Fourth District Court Overrules Magistrate who Overruled Court

The Fourth District ruled yesterday in Drdek v. Drdek, a rather unusual case in which one Magistrate found that the Former Husband was not in contempt for non-payment of alimony in that the retirement benefits he lived on were waived by the Former Wife in the MSA.  No exception was taken to that order, and the Court upheld the report of the Magistrate.  At a later contempt hearing, however, a different Magistrate decided that the previous ruling was incorrect, and overruled it on the basis that a manifest injustice would occur if contempt was not found.  At exceptions filed by the Former Husband, that second report was rejected on the basis of the law of the case.  The Fourth District Court, first pointing out that this is not the Law of the Case Doctrine, instead overturned the second ruling on the basis that the Magistrate lacked the ability to “correct errors of law committed by a predecessor,” as did the lower court.  As such, having taken no exception or appeal, the Former Wife was unable to seek a different result, and remand was ordered to determine if there was some other means of payment besides the retirement benefits.