Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
When a Florida family law case is appealed, the trial court may be limited in entering further orders on the issue being appealed because the appellate court assumes exclusive jurisdiction over the issue until an appellate opinion is issued. This was discussed in the case Stivelman v. Stivelman, 3D23-1811 (Fla. 3d DCA March 19, 2025).
Post-judgment litigation ensued between the parties after their divorce. The former husband filed a petition to modify his alimony obligation which was granted. The former husband was also awarded retroactive alimony from the former wife for his overpayment of alimony. The court ruled the former husband’s ongoing alimony obligation would be offset by the retroactive alimony owed by the former wife until the retroactive amount was satisfied. The former wife appealed.
Without reaching the merits of the former wife’s appeal, the appellate court reversed on grounds that the trial court entered the order on appeal before the appellate court relinquished jurisdiction on the matter that was previously appealed. The court held “In the instant appeal, the challenged order was entered by the trial court on September 12, 2023 before this Court issued its mandate in Stivelman II. As we have done previously, we are compelled to vacate the September 12, 2023, order because the Former Wife’s December 23, 2022, notice of appeal in Stivelman II divested the trial court of case jurisdiction to further adjudicate matters that are inextricably intertwined with and dependent upon the setoff order challenged in Stivelman II.”
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