Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence
If a motion to dissolve a Florida domestic violence injunction is filed in the incorrect division of a court, what is the next step? This was an issue in the case Marcionette v. Marcionette, 6D2024-0289 (Fla. 6th DCA August 29, 2025).
A domestic violence injunction was entered against the former husband in 2019. He attempted to have it dissolved in 2021, but his motion was denied. In 2024, the former husband filed another motion to dissolve the injunction, and the trial court dismissed it, holding he filed it in the wrong division, and therefore the court had no jurisdiction to dissolve the injunction. The former husband appealed the entry of the 2019 injunction, the denial of his motion to dissolve in 2021 and the dismissal of his 2024 motion to dissolve.
The appellate court dismissed the appeal of the 2019 and 2021 cases as untimely. However, it reversed as to the dismissal of the 2024 filing, holding “Here, it appears Marcionette filed his motion in the wrong division. ‘All circuit court judges have the same jurisdiction within their respective circuits.’ Malave v. Malave, 178 So. 3d 51, 54 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) [. . .] Therefore, a motion improperly filed in the wrong division should be transferred rather than denied. Chickering v. Bawa, 360 So. 3d 424, 426 (Fla. 4th DCA 2023) (‘When a case is filed in the wrong division, the proper remedy is to transfer the case to the appropriate division.’ (citing Golden v. Jones, 194 So. 3d 1060, 1063 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016))).”
Schedule your meeting with a Miami family law attorney to determine how the law may apply to the facts of your case.