Stephens & Stevens Marital & Family Law

Alimony:

Woodlief v. Woodlief, 415 So.3d 1208 (Fla. 5^th DCA 2025). Trial court denied wife’s request for permanent alimony because she had no need, but granted her 5 years of durational alimony at $500/month because “she was very anxious about her future.” Matter remanded because Court failed to make a finding of actual need. Judge Suzanne Bass affirmed in part, reversed in part.

Zargari v. Zargari, 416 So.3d 1172 (Fla. 1^st DCA 2025). Trial court erred awarding $6,000/month in alimony without considering wife’s ability to work part-time, or her potential income earned from a commercial property. Judge John Jay Gontarek affirmed in part, reversed in part.

Appeals:

Song v. Luo, 415 So.3d 338 (Fla. 3^rd DCA 2025). Appellate court summarily affirmed order after service of initial brief, as record provided appellant had immediate right of possession. Judge Christina Marie DiRaimondo affirmed.

Zargari v. Zargari, 416 So.3d 1172 (Fla. 1^st DCA 2025). Wife raised over a dozen issues without full elaboration or legal support. Appealing party must “make error clearly appear,” and this duty is not discharged by posing a question and the with asserting it was improperly answered by trial court, then dumping the matter in the lap of the appellate court for decision. High threshold for finding abuse of discretion restated. Judge John Jay Gontarek affirmed in part, reversed in part.

Saenz v. Diaz, 416 So.3d 352 (Fla. 3^rd DCA 2025). Order granting modification affirmed when no transcript provided, and there was no error on the face of the judgment. Judge Marlene Fernandez-Karavetsos affirmed.

Attorney’s Fees:

Mickler v. Iizuka, 415 So.3d 1175 (Fla. 5^th DCA 2025). Trial court erred denying a 57.105 motion based on a party pursuing a tort claim that had been previously released.  Judge Waddell Arlie Wallace, III reversed.

Discovery:

DOR o/b/oi Brown v. Gardner, 416So.3d 1167 (Fla. 5^th DCA 2025). Trial court erred ordering scientific testing, when Father signed voluntary acknowledgement of paternity which was not rescinded within 60 days. After 60 days, paternity can only be challenged on basis of fraud, duress or material mistake of fact. Judge Sandra C. Upchurch’s order quashed.

Oramas v. Asencio, 415 So.3d 302 (Fla. 3^rd DCA 2025). Discovery order allowing discovery of non-party’s finances quashed when neither record nor pleadings established relevancy. Judge Samantha Ruiz Cohen’s order quashed.

Disestablishment of Paternity:

Martinez v. Cuevas, 416 So.3d 371 (Fla. 5^th DCA 2025).  Trial court erred denying request to disestablish paternity of children born during marriage, when children were born after husband’s vasectomy, as the Husband should have known children were not his. Wife assured Husband it was his child provided basis for scientific testing. Discussion over split in districts over whether scientific testing constitutes newly-discovered evidence. Judge Sylvia A. Grunor reversed.

Enforcement:

Kelly v. Kelly, 414 So.3d 474 (Fla. 5^th DCA 2025). Portion of contempt requiring incarceration if purge not met, reversed when there are findings that party had ability to meet the purge. Judge R. Gregg Jerald affirmed in part, reversed in part.

Flaim v. Flaim, 417 So.3d 1 (Fla. 4^th DCA 2025).  Trial court reversed for failing to equally distribute an escrow refund check on property that parties had agreed to equally divide proceeds on. Judge Darren Shull reversed.

Injunctions:

Harrington v. Giancola, 415 So.3d 845 (Fla. 6^th DCA 2025). Domestic violence injunction supported by competent substantial evidence was affirmed.  Judge Andrew Marcus affirmed.

Life Insurance:

Woodlief v. Woodlief, 415 So.3d 1208 (Fla. 5^th DCA 2025). Trial court failed to find any special circumstances in ordering life insurance, and erred ordering an amount of security that exceeded obligations. Judge Suzanne Bass affirmed in part, reversed in part.

Parenting:

Keck v. Fortier, 414 So.3d 396 (Fla. 5^th DCA 2025).  Trial court erred, even without transcript, awarding majority timesharing to one party without making findings of fact regarding 61.13 factors, and awarding sole parental responsibility when same was not requested.  Judge Michael Takac reversed. 

Malek v. Malek, 414 So.3d 381 (Fla. 3^rd DCA 2025).  Paternity order that significantly limited Father’s timesharing was affirmed when order was supported by competent evidence.  Judge Christina Marie DiRaimondo affirmed.

Procedure:

Rodriguez v. Gonzalez, 415 So.3d 309 (Fla. 3^rd DCA 2025). Trial court granted motion to vacate magistrate’s order for lack of substantial evidence.  Court then entered magistrate’s order.  This suggests trial court might have used too differential of a standard, so matter remanded to use correct standard to evaluate motion to vacate. Judge Stacy D. Glick reversed.

Support:

Morrell v. Alsentzer, 415 So.3d 708 (Fla. 4^th DCA 2025). Fact child turned 18 did not prevent party from seeking child support from date of filing until child’s 18^th birthday. Judge Rosemarie Scher reversed. 

Gilberts v. Manderino-Gilberts, 416 So.3d 1183 (Fla. 5^th DCA 2025). Trial court improperly changed amount of child support agreed on by parties, and deviated from guidelines without findings of fact. Judge Kathryn M. Speicher reversed.

J.E.J. v. S.A.B., 416 So.3d 1186 (Fla. 6^th DCA 2025).  Trial court reversed because it included pass-through income in determining income, instead of considering the amount actually distributed. Certified conflict with Blair v. Blair, 214 So.3d 750 (Fla. 2^nd DCA 2017) and McHugh v. McHugh, 702 So.2d 639 (Fla. 4^th DCA 1997).  Explains Zold stands for proposition of “corporate purpose” test for retained earnings. When issue of whether income properly retained for “corporate purpose” rather than shielding it from an award of alimony. Judge Christine H. Greider reversed in part, conflict certified.

Frantz v. Crawford-Frantz, 415 So.3d 783 (Fla. 6^th DCA 2025). Trial court erred awarding retroactive support for periods of time in which the parties resided together. Judge Lisa S. Portier affirmed in part, reversed in part.