In re Guardianship of Mickler

163 So. 2d 257
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedFebruary 26, 1964
DocketNo. 32752
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 163 So. 2d 257 (In re Guardianship of Mickler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Guardianship of Mickler, 163 So. 2d 257 (Fla. 1964).

Opinions

THOMAS, Justice.

This case reached this court because of an apparent conflict between the decision rendered in this cause by the District Court of Appeal, First District, and one rendered in a similar matter by the District Court of Appeal, Second District, In re De Hart, 114 So.2d 13. We set the case for hearing on jurisdiction and merits and concluded that actual, as distinguished from apparent, inconsistency existed so under our decisions assumed jurisdiction to determine the merits also.

Before adverting to the jurisdictional feature we will give a background of the litigation. Florence M. Mickler was an 81-year old widow who was living at Brooksville in Hernando County where she had made her home for more than half a century. For more than 35 years she and Eula L. Hendricks, who lives in Perry, Taylor County, had been close personal friends visiting each other frequently and occasionally taking automobile trips together. Finally the ravages of time reduced Mrs. Mickler to incompetency and in July 1961 she implored Mrs. Hendricks over the telephone to come for her because there was a movement on foot to send her to the “crazy house.”

Mrs. Plendricks went immediately to Brooksville where she found Mrs. Mickler in what might be accurately described as a sorry state. She seemed to need de-alcoholization. Her home was in disorder and was littered with whiskey bottles. Her person was in disarray; even her hair required grooming. Mrs. Hendricks evidently undertook to condition Mrs. Mickler then, a few days after, took Mrs. Mickler home with her. Later Mrs. Mickler, haunted by the fear of being sent to an asylum, decided she wished to remain with her old friend. The result was that Mrs. Hendricks secured an order of the County Judge of Taylor County adjudging Mrs. Mick-ler incompetent and appointing Mrs. Hendricks her guardian.

Afterward, in a proceeding we will presently describe, two distant cousins of Mrs. Mickler, Ursula D’Ferro and Rudy J. In-man, petitioned the court to revoke the guardianship proceedings. Their petition was denied. The controversy was then taken to the District Court of Appeal.

The court observed in its opinion that the pivotal question as the parties developed it, was whether venue should be laid in Hernando County, as appellants, the cousins, contended or in Taylor County, as insisted by the guardian.

The statement of the crucial issue adopted by the appellate court takes us immediately to Sec. 744.11 of the Florida guardianship law where we find the provision in paragraph (1) that in proceedings for the appointment of any guardian the venue shall be in the county where the incompetent resides.

Parenthetically, we comment that the original petition of Eula L. Hendricks bears the statement that Mrs. Mickler re[259]*259sided in Taylor County. The court gave some attention to paragraph (4) of the section hut we are not aware of any occasion to discuss the provisions of that section because there was no effort on the part of the guardian to switch the venue on account of a change of the domicile, inasmuch as the guardian had not been appointed in Hernando County from which Mrs. Mickler was moved. But the legislature did indicate, by providing that the venue would follow the domicile, that the appointment of the guardian should be in the county where the domicile was located.

The District Court of Appeal thought the whole dispute revolved around the factual proof as to Mrs. Mickler’s residence on the date of the appointment and rejected the contention of the guardian, supported solely by her own testimony, that the ward intended within the provision of the law to change her residence from Brooksville to Perry. The court, after stating the rule that such a change could be effected by a good faith intention to acquire a new legal residence accompanied by an actual removal, concluded that the overt act was absent if, indeed, we may add, the ward was mentally capable to make the decision.

The court then launched into a discussion of jurisdiction in cases of this sort referring to Sec. 394.22, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., providing that a person could be adjudged incompetent by the County Judge of any county “wherein the alleged incompetent resides or may be found.” So the power to act in the case reposed in the county judge of either Hernando County or Taylor County depending upon the place where the incompetent was “found” or resided. The actual power to act was in either.

The court interpreted the word “venue” to denote “limitation upon jurisdiction to entertain guardianship proceedings over the person and property of an incompetent * * *.” In other words, the court related jurisdiction to venue and decided the former was modified by the latter in situations like the instant one.

It was this treatment of the term “venue” that induced us to entertain the case for we have often decided that venue and jurisdiction have distinctly separate connotations. The latter signifies the power to act and certainly the county judge in either county had power to deal with an incompetent. On the other hand venue concerns the privilege of being accountable to a court in a particular location. The court interpreted the word “resides” as used in the act to mean “the last place of legal residence of the incompetent * * prior to the adjudication of incompetency.”

Pursuing the thought about the relationship of jurisdiction and venue, the court emphasized its view they were interlocked in the following language “it seems evident that the legislative intent was to rigidly fix jurisdiction in guardianship proceedings in the forum where in all likelihood the incompetent’s estate is located” and that ■'under paragraph (4):of Sec. 744.11 a means was afforded for “transferring the guardianship to another place upon' a proper showing of fact” in recognition of “the possibility of circumstances providing an exception to the requirements of subpara-graph (1) of said section.”

As we understand the pronouncement it was presupposed that despite the fixation of jurisdiction conditions could arise justifying the transfer of that jurisdiction to another court

The court continued by recalling decisions holding that persons sui juris were considered to have waived the “privilege” extended by venue statutes unless “timely asserted.” With these decisions we agree and we certainly have no criticism of the court’s observation, but it does point up, we think, the distinction between venue and jurisdiction which we feel should be [260]*260preserved. Fearing that the treatment of the problem by the District Court of Appeal would obscure this distinction and tend to confuse the law on the subject we were impelled to entertain the case.

The court distinguished this case from the decision of the District Court of Appeal, Second District, in In re De Hart, supra, in which it was shown that the next of kin, sui juris, filed a waiver to be appointed guardian while in the instant case no notice was given or waiver expressed. Quite the contrary, the next of kin here protested the appointment.

Since the county judges of both counties had the power to act, Art. V, Sec. 7(3) of the Constitution, F.S.A., and, in our view, jurisdiction should be considered apart from venue, we think that in the last analysis the question here is whether or not there was a waiver of the privilege of having the guardianship adjudicated in Hernando County. And many of the facts appearing in the record lead to the conclusion that there was none.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

J.P. v. J.N.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2017
In Re Conservatorship of Clayton
914 S.W.2d 84 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1995)
STATE DEPT. OF HWY. SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES v. Scott
583 So. 2d 785 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1991)
In re Brown
539 So. 2d 43 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1989)
Ago
Florida Attorney General Reports, 1985
In re Guardianship of Ettel
324 So. 2d 194 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1975)
Benedict v. Foster
300 So. 2d 8 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1974)
State ex rel. McGreevy v. Dowling
223 So. 2d 89 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1969)
Williams v. Ferrentino
199 So. 2d 504 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1967)
Glens Falls Insurance v. Edgerly
165 So. 2d 240 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1964)
Bambrick v. Bambrick
165 So. 2d 449 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1964)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
163 So. 2d 257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-guardianship-of-mickler-fla-1964.