Emilie Gonzalez v. Maria Del Pilar Alvarez

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: April 29, 2026
• Docket: 3D2025-1947
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed April 29, 2026. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D25-1947 Lower Tribunal No. 24-1937-CP-02 ________________

Emilie Gonzalez, et al., Appellants,

vs.

Maria Del Pilar Alvarez, Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Jose Luis Fernandez, Judge.

Valero Law PLLC, and David T. Valero and Amanda E. Valero-Vincent (Davie), for appellants.

Law Offices of Mendez & Mendez, P.A., and Sergio L. Mendez, Daniel J. Mendez, and Daniela C. Pachon, for appellee.

Before FERNANDEZ, LOBREE and BOKOR, JJ.

PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Applegate v. Barnett Bank of Tallahassee, 377 So. 2d

1150, 1152 (Fla. 1979) (“Without a record of the trial proceedings, the

appellate court can not properly resolve the underlying factual issues so as

to conclude that the trial court’s judgment is not supported by the evidence or

by an alternative theory.”); Mercer v. Raine, 443 So. 2d 944, 945 (Fla. 1983)

(“The exercise of discretion by a trial judge who sees the parties first-hand

and is more fully informed of the situation, is essential to the just and proper

application of procedural rules. In the absence of facts showing an abuse of

that discretion, the trial court’s decision excusing, or refusing to excuse,

noncompliance with rules . . . must be affirmed. . . . It is the duty of the trial

court, and not the appellate courts, to make that determination.” (quotation

omitted)).