Fredman v. Fredman

960 So. 2d 52, 2007 WL 1756970
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 20, 2007
Docket2D06-1674
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 960 So. 2d 52 (Fredman v. Fredman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fredman v. Fredman, 960 So. 2d 52, 2007 WL 1756970 (Fla. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

960 So.2d 52 (2007)

Leslie Ann FREDMAN, n/k/a Leslie Ann Melton, Appellant,
v.
David Lynn FREDMAN, Appellee.

No. 2D06-1674.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

June 20, 2007.

*53 Allison M. Perry of Law Office of Allison M. Perry, P.A., Tampa, for Appellant.

Robert M. Geller of Law Offices of Robert M. Geller and Associates, Tampa, for Appellee.

SILBERMAN, Judge.

In this post dissolution proceeding, Leslie Ann Fredman, n/k/a Leslie Ann Melton (the Mother), appeals a final order denying her supplemental petition and prohibiting her from relocating with the parties' two children to Texas. She contends that section 61.13(2)(d), Florida Statutes (2004), the parental relocation statute,[1] is unconstitutional because it abridges her fundamental rights to privacy and travel and violates her right to equal protection of the law. She also contends that the trial court abused its discretion in denying her request to relocate to Texas. We affirm, holding that the statute is constitutional on its face and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying her request to relocate.

The Mother and David Lynn Fredman (the Father) have two sons, born December 21, 1994, and December 22, 1997. The parties divorced in October of 2002, and the final judgment of dissolution of marriage incorporated the parties' marital settlement agreement (MSA). The parties have shared parental responsibility, with the Mother being the primary residential parent and the Father having liberal visitation, specifically including a minimum of one night per week and every other weekend. The MSA and the final judgment do not contain a restriction on the Mother's relocation with the children. At the time the parties entered into the MSA and provided *54 for the specific visitation, the Mother had a relationship with Mike Melton, whom she later married.

The Mother and Mr. Melton met while he was working on a project in Florida for an extended time. Mr. Melton lives in Ponder, Texas, with his son, and he now works in Ponder. The Mother works in Hillsborough County, Florida, and lives with the parties' two sons in a two-bedroom apartment in Brandon, Florida. On January 23, 2004, the Mother filed a supplemental petition seeking to modify the Father's visitation because she would be marrying Mr. Melton and relocating with the children to Mr. Melton's home in Ponder, Texas. Upon the Father's motion for injunctive relief, the court entered a temporary injunction prohibiting the Mother from moving the children to Texas.

At the final hearing in November 2004, the Mother testified to the benefits of moving the children to the small community of Ponder, Texas, particularly Mr. Melton's new 3000-square-foot home and the amenities at the nearby public school. The Mother testified that she earns $58,000 per year and has the possibility for advancement at her current Florida employment. The Mother testified that she planned to be a stay-at-home mom in Ponder, but if necessary she could find comparable employment there. The only people her children know in Ponder are Mr. Melton and his son. The Mother has no family in Ponder; her family lives in Oklahoma, two and one-half hours away from Ponder.

Mr. Melton testified that he worked in the oil and gas industry as a right-of-way agent, that he earned $70,000 to $90,000 per year, and that he could not find employment in his field of work in Florida.

The Father testified that he works a night shift from 11:00 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., that he exercised visitation with his children on Tuesdays and every other weekend, and that when he did not exercise visitation it was due to his work schedule. Since the Mother filed the supplemental petition, he has increased the overnight visitation because his new wife is home while he is working at night. The Father picks the children up from school on the days he has visitation. He testified that he helps them with their homework and that he enjoys recreational activities with his sons, including bowling and fishing.

The Father has extended family in Hillsborough County, including his mother, grandmother, uncles, aunts, and cousins. The Father testified that the children have seen their grandmother at least once a week throughout their lives. The Father sees his family every weekend, and the children have frequent contact with them, enjoying "boating, fishing, swimming, and just hanging out as a family" at their grandmother's home. The Father's family is also involved in a bowling league in which the children and the Father participate, so that the children spend time with the Father and his family on Tuesday nights. Furthermore, the Father testified that both the Father and the Mother attend the children's bowling league on Saturdays.

On December 10, 2004, after a final hearing, the trial court rendered an order applying the factors in section 61.13(2)(d) regarding relocation and denying the Mother's request for modification of visitation. On appeal, this court reversed and remanded for the trial court to use the proper legal standard set forth in section 61.13(2)(d)(4) regarding the proposed substitute visitation for the Father. See Fredman v. Fredman, 917 So.2d 1038 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006). On remand, the trial court reconsidered that factor, and in an order rendered March 24, 2006, found that the proposed visitation plan was "adequate to foster a continuing, meaningful relationship *55 between the children and the Father" but found, considering all the factors, that the move was not in the children's best interest. Thus, the trial court denied the Mother's supplemental petition and her request to relocate. The Mother now appeals from the trial court's March 2006 order.

I. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF RELOCATION STATUTE

Although the Mother did not raise the constitutionality of the relocation statute in the trial court, she challenges the facial constitutionality of the statute on the ground that application of the allegedly unconstitutional statute constitutes fundamental error which she can raise for the first time on appeal. See State v. Johnson, 616 So.2d 1, 3 (Fla.1993) ("A facial challenge to a statute's constitutional validity may be raised for the first time on appeal only if the error is fundamental."); B.C. v. Dep't of Children & Families, 864 So.2d 486, 491 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004) (recognizing that the facial unconstitutionality of a statute may be raised for the first time on appeal but that the unconstitutional application of a statute to a particular set of facts may not be raised for the first time on appeal). The constitutionality of the relocation statute appears to be a question of first impression in the State of Florida. We emphasize, however, that this opinion does not address the significantly amended version of the relocation statute in section 61.13001 but applies only to the version of the statute in section 61.13(2)(d).

Section 61.13(2)(d) provides as follows:

No presumption shall arise in favor of or against a request to relocate when a primary residential parent seeks to remove the child and the move will materially affect the current schedule of contact and access with the secondary residential parent. In making a determination as to whether the primary residential parent may relocate with a child, the court must consider the following factors:
1. Whether the move would be likely to improve the general quality of life for both the residential parent and the child.
2.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
960 So. 2d 52, 2007 WL 1756970, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fredman-v-fredman-fladistctapp-2007.