Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
When a Florida family law judge adopts a final judgment, verbatim, which was prepared by one party’s lawyer, is this a reason to have the final judgment set aside? This was an issue in the case Broche v. Broche, 3D25-1052 (Fla. 3d DCA December 17, 2025).
This is a citation opinion, so background facts are not given. However, it appears the appellant complained that the judge adopted the final judgment verbatim. In affirming the judgment, the appellate court cited “See Tercier v. Univ. of Miami, Inc., 383 So. 3d 847, 854 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023) (“[W]e note that ‘Florida law does not prohibit the adoption, verbatim, of a judgment that has been proposed by a party to the litigation.’” (quoting Smith v. Wallace, 249 So. 3d 670, 672 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) and citing In re T.D. v. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs., 924 So. 2d 827, 831 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) (observing that no “post-Berg-Perlow decisions of this court requires reversal solely on the ground that a trial court has adopted a judgment prepared by one of the parties”))); Kendall Healthcare Grp., Ltd. v. Madrigal, 271 So. 3d 1120, 1122 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019) (rejecting appellant's argument “that the trial judge failed to exercise his independent judgment merely because he adopted verbatim [appellees’] proposed order”); Flint v. Fortson, 744 So. 2d 1217, 1220 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (“[W]hat is critical for a reviewing court is that a final judgment reflect the trial judge's independent decision on the issues of a case, not that the judge used words drafted by one of the parties to express that decision.”).”
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