JOSE ANDRES RAFFO v. MONICA M. MENENDEZ

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: August 2, 2023
• Docket: 22-2191
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed August 2, 2023. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D22-2191 Lower Tribunal No. 13-13632 ________________

Jose Andres Raffo, Appellant,

vs.

Monica M. Menendez, Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Abby Cynamon, Judge.

Law Offices of Alfaro & Fernandez, P.A., and Elbert Alfaro, for appellant.

Law Offices of Gonzalez & Associates, LLC, and Alexis Gonzalez, for appellee.

Before EMAS, SCALES and LOBREE, JJ.

PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See § 61.13(3), Fla. Stat. (2022) (providing that a trial court

may modify a parenting plan upon a showing of a substantial, material and

unanticipated change in circumstances, and modification is in the best

interests of the child); George v. Lull, 181 So. 3d 538, 540 (Fla. 4th DCA

2015) (“[T]he petitioning party has the extraordinary burden to prove the

substantial change in circumstances.”); Ezra v. Ezra, 299 So. 3d at 466, 468-

69 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020 (recognizing that the standard of review for modifying

a parenting plan is abuse of discretion and concluding that “the decision [of

the trial court] to afford the mother the sole parental responsibility for

educational and medical needs of the children is well-supported by

competent, substantial evidence.”).