Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
In order for due process requirements to be met in a Florida family law case, each party must be given notice and an opportunity to be heard. This was an issue in the case Saladino v. Saladino, 6D2024-2107 (Fla. 6th DCA June 20, 2025).
In this post-divorce litigation, the former wife sought to have the former husband held in contempt of the final judgment and of a pre-judgment standing order. A pre-judgment standing order was entered at the initiation of the case which stated it was in effect until the entry of the final judgment. The parties entered an agreed parenting plan and reserved on remaining issues for trial. The case proceeded to trial, and before the final judgment was entered, the wife filed a motion for contempt alleging the husband was not abiding by the parenting plan and he was not maintaining her car insurance in violation of the standing order. Without ruling on her motion, the court entered the final judgment. The wife then filed an amended motion for contempt, alleging the husband was withholding the child from her. Her motion did not request sole parental responsibility, suspension of the husband’s time-sharing or that the husband undergo a psychological evaluation. The husband did not appear at the hearing on the motion for contempt, and an order was entered granting all of the aforementioned relief not requested by the wife in her motion. The husband appealed.
The appellate court reversed, holding “The trial court violated Former Husband’s due process rights when it eliminated his timesharing, awarded Former Wife sole parental responsibility, and directed that he could only revisit these issues once he underwent a psychological evaluation. Because Former Wife did not seek this relief in her motion, this was error.”
The court additionally held “The trial court also erred when it awarded Former Wife relief under an expired order. We review de novo the standing order’s post-judgment validity. See McFatter v. McFatter, 193 So. 3d 1100, 1103–04 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016). The trial court’s standing order said that it would remain in effect until the trial court entered a final judgment, at which time it would terminate. Former Wife did not obtain a ruling from the trial court before it entered final judgment, and the trial court did not reserve jurisdiction to address it following the final judgment’s entry. The trial court could not award relief for this temporary order’s violation after it expired.”
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